Recorded presentation

Carol L. McAllister, PhD, Dept of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto Street, 220 Parran Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, 412-624-7778, allister@pitt.edu, Patrick C. Wilson, PhD, Department of Anthropology, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1J 1J3, Canada, Beth L. Green, PhD, NPC Research, Inc., 5200 SW Macadam Avenue, Suite 420, Portland, OR 97239-3857, and Jennifer L. Baldwin, Department of Anthropology, Dept of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto Sreet, 221 Parran Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261.

This presentation will explore the perspectives and experiences of low-income, predominantly African American families in regards to child development and school readiness. Using a social ecology model of health, as exemplified in the IOM report From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, our study focused on issues of social and emotional health, and the health-promoting functions of the social environment, as key pathways to early childhood learning. Employing a diversity of qualitative methods (open-ended interviews, ethnographic case studies, participant observations), the study involved 150 parents of children who participated in the national Early Head Start evaluation and who were interviewed again just prior to their child's entry into kindergarten. Our findings indicate the importance of listening to parents' perspectives on school readiness, as well as the centrality of social and emotional development to children's learning. We stress that definitions of school readiness, like experiences relating to school entry, are culturally variable, and we contribute the insight that contextual factors, including the school environment, community, and policy developments, all influence children's social and emotional readiness for school. Integrated into this discussion is the recognition that parents also need supports as they foster their children's transition into school. We argue that school readiness is a public health matter and that public health researchers and practitioners have an important role to play in addressing issues of social and emotional health related to childhood learning and in the creation of social environments that support rather than undermine children's comprehensive development.

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