Early Childhood Intervention

According to the Children at Risk Consequences for School Readiness and Beyond article, a recent study was performed to examine the role of early childhood intervention. The RAND researchers identified what the known research literature about the number of children at risk of school failure. Along with the risk of school failure they looked at the consequences for their performance in school and subsequent life outcomes. The results stated that high-quality early intervention programs can lay in compensating for early disadvantages. This article listed a few indicators that illustrated resource disparities in early childhood. The first being poverty has been shown to be a detrimental in early childhood. The second being that research
has demonstrated that neighborhoods of concentrated poverty provide more limited opportunities for young children.
The third being that healthy child development is supported by regular access to healthcare. The last being early home literacy-building activities that are associated with better school performance in kindergarten and beyond include reading to a child on a regular basis. This article mentioned that one of every five children are affected due to implications for how prepared for kindgerdate they are when entering. There are many assessments that are provided for a recent nationally representative kindergarten cohort indicate that disadvantaged children enter school behind more advantaged peers. On risk factor is that the child is in a single-parent home, a children in a family that has received welfare, or a children that does not speak English at home. According to the article that a result is that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to meet grade-level expectations on core subjects. In conclusion a child that comes from a disadvantaged background or low-level have the risk of it affecting
their adulthood.
This article had me slightly confused. It bounced from idea to idea without giving a clear transition from one to the next. I do believe that children that come from disadvantaged background does have a harder time with being successful both in life and at school. While reading the article I was making connections to students I have worked with in the past and with a student I currently work with. These children with low backgrounds have a harder time adjusting to kindergarten, as well as understanding terms and concepts that are given to them. Unfortunately children that experience a disadvantaged background do have a greater risk of experiencing adulthood. I personally have a family member that was adopted due to his previous homelife being very dysfunctional which ended up affecting his adulthood. He is currently 34 and has been incarcerated since he was 18. After re-reading the article I was able to grab a better understanding of what the text was saying and I can agree with the thoughts, ideas, and results that were mentioned.
According to the Defining the Term “At-Risk” article “at-risk” is used frequently to describe a child and have a quite strong intuitive meaning.
Even though many people use this term to describe children there is not a clear definition of the term or even who the represents. This term is widely used as some would argue that all children are at risk while others have a higher risk than others. Children with disabilities, low self-esteem, or have been abused are considered to be more at risk than the other children. In the article it stated that some even say the child should not be viewed as at risk, but the entire family should be considered at risk. Families that are in poverty, single parenthood, and low parental education levels have a tendency to be found as a undermine to children’s development. A third thought on the term at risk focus on the community, neighborhood, or even a school that is considered to be an at risk environment. This includes a low-income community with high crime rate or a high school with a low graduation rate. When one mentions that a child is at-risk people tend to wonder what they children is at risk of and some come to stay that it is a phrase to refer to a poor life outcome in general. The life outcomes can range from school failure, to death, incarnation, sports competence, academic skills, to even sexual initiation, which all are focused on to improving and creating goals to overcome them. The article stated that there are
programs that are being asked to develop logical models, provide program plans, and even implement evaluation strategies to help these children overcome the at risk status. To assess risk a survey can be conducted or administrative data or statistic can be used. If a child were to be assess the center or program can obtain data about the child from school records or from parents. If a family they are able to use data from the school or other staymes like Medicaid or food stamps. If a community is being used there are able to pull locate area data from the U.S. Census or the American Community Survey. Overall there are measures that are used to assess “at risk” and they all differ depending on if it is a child, family or community. To measure a child they use any abuse or trauma, having a disability or illness, or having exhibited behavior problems. For a family they measure poverty, low level of parental education, large number of children, not owning a home, single parenthood, elface dependence, family dysfunction, parental mental illness, parental substance use, or family illness. Lastly for a community they measure rate of poverty, crime, unemployment, or teen parenthood in the community. According to the article in conclusion it is vital to note that “at risk” isa concept that reflects chance or probability, it does not imply certainty. I personally found this article very informative but also opinionated. It included a handful of information I was aware of, but made it clear to me why I personally was unsure of the term “at-risk”. While reading the article I found myself questioning if it was more opinions rather than facts, due to the fact it never gave a clear reason or definition of what “at-risk” means. I do agree with the information that “at-risk” can be considered a child, family, or community depending on the situation and statistics. I personally feel that a child that is considered at-risk comes from a family and/or community that is at-risk. The ideas throughout the article seemed to reaction and connect with one another really well, as the flowed together easily. Overall I found this article as a great source of information, giving me more of a clear explanation of what what when it means to use the term “at-risk”.