Researchers, educators, professional organizations, administrators, parents, and policy makers have increased their involvement in the assessment and evaluation of early childhood education programs. This interest has developed swiftly during the last decades. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National…

Various issues related to positioning infants and children with central nervous system dysfunction in order to conduct videofluoroscopic swallowing function studies are discussed. Extensive illustrations demonstrate solutions to specific problems. (DB)

Quantitatively describes the gait development of a group of African children to determine how pattern changes would relate to growth and maturation. A total of 65 children from the Gusii tribe of southwestern Kenya, ranging in age from 13 to 69 months, were selected for study. (Author/RH)

Abilities of 2-, 5-, and 7-year-old children to interpret, judge acceptability of, and produce class extensions were assessed. It was concluded that increasing ability to deal appropriately with class extensions is primarily due to general advances in language acquisition rather than to any development unique to the class-extension word-formation…

Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were measured in 535 children from 3 months to 3 years of age. Results suggested that changes in wave V latency with age are due to central (neural) factors and that age-appropriate norms should be used in evaluations of ABR latencies in children. (Author/DB)

Long-term effects on auditory electrophysiology from early fluctuating hearing loss were studied in 27 children, aged 5 to 7 years, who had been evaluated originally in infancy. Findings suggested that early fluctuating hearing loss disrupts later auditory brain stem electrophysiology. (Author/DB)

Consistency in characteristics of maternal behavior with different siblings was investigated among 65 economically disadvantaged families, each having two children. Quality of infant/mother attachment was assessed when firstborn children were 12 and 18 months old, respectively, and when secondborn children were 12 months old. When children were 24…

Discusses individual differences in attachment relationships as they relate to individual differences in mental representation, that is, in the individual's "internal working models" of attachment. Compares individual differences in security of attachment to each parent as assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation in infancy to diverse…

Presents two bodies of research relevant to the question of intergenerational continuity of attachment quality: studies documenting the effects of separation or disruption in the family of origin, and studies in which parents reported on their childhood attachments. Interprets this research within a theoretical perspective derived from the works…

This article reviews methods for assessing vocabulary of young children with hearing impairments including naturalistic observation, parent report measures, and standardized vocabulary tests. It also describes procedures to assess word-learning processes. Cautions on the use of assessment tools with this population are reviewed and suggestions are…

Hearing sensitivity was examined prospectively in 114 young children as a function of otitis media with effusion (OEM)status in years 1, 2, and 3. Results indicated that children classified as bilaterally OME positive in years 1, 2, and 3 had significantly poorer hearing than children classified as bilaterally OME free at these periods. (Contains…

To assess consistency between maternal and professional assessment of child performance, 31 mothers of disabled children (6-36 months old) participating in an intervention program completed measures of infant development, behavior, and characteristics. Maternal and staff assessments were found to be highly similar. Implications for programs are…

This paper presents tables for converting raw scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to Mental Development Index and Psychomotor Development Index values. The tables were developed to generate index values for young children with developmental delays, based on recent revision of the scales and standardization procedures. Methodology is…

Discusses the reasons that newborns and young infants cry, the communicative effect and perception of crying, crying in sick and healthy infants, the sound spectograph, and crying for the use of clinical diagnostics. (RJC)

Contends that educational historians have overlooked the significance of urban "infant schools" in the early 1800s as precursors of kindergartens in the United States. Argues that the failure of these schools to succeed does not obscure their importance as preparation for the kindergarten movement that followed. Discusses origins and…