Positive Indicators in Middle Childhood

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Positive Indicators in Middle Childhood
Kristin Anderson Moore, Ph.D.
Presented at the ISCI inaugural conference June
28, 2007
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Stages of Childhood
0-5
6-11
12-17
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Middle Childhood
Early Childhood
Adolescence
Emerging Adulthood
Birth
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Overview of Existing Conceptual Frameworks

• Input/Contextual Models
• Americas Promise - The Alliance for Youth Five
  Promises
• National Research Council
• Forum for Youth Investment
• Search Institute 40 Developmental Assets
• Outcome Models
• National Research Council
• The Five Cs
• Boys and Girls Club of America

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Inputs
Mixed
Healthy Start
Resources And Networks
Basic Care and Services
Safety
Health
Material Well-Being
Low-birth Weight babies
Safe Places with Structured Activities
Safe and Stable Places
Economic Security
Teen Births
Consistent Fair, Monitoring of Behavior
Structure
Child Poverty
Health Behavior Social Environment
Caring Relationships
HS Dropout
Supportive Relationships
Healthy Relationships
Support
Educational Attainment
Caring Adults
Idle Teens
Education
Opportunities to Belong
Infant Mortality
High Expectations And Standards
Role Models
Child Deaths
Positive Social Norms
Safety
Boundaries and Expectations
Violent Teen Deaths
High Expectations
Emotional and Spiritual Well-Being
Support for efficacy And Mattering
Challenging Experiences
Constructive Use of Time
Parental Employment
High Quality Instruction
Effective Education
Opportunities for Skill Building
Place in Community
Single Parent Families
Integration of family, School, and Community
Opportunity to Give Back
Opportunities For Contribution
Social Relationships
Empowerment
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Healthy Start
Resources And Networks
Basic Care and Services
Inputs
Safety
Safe Places with Structured Activities
Safe and Stable Places
Consistent Fair, Monitoring of Behavior
Structure
Caring Relationships
Supportive Relationships
Healthy Relationships
Support
Caring Adults
Opportunities to Belong
High Expectations And Standards
Role Models
Positive Social Norms
Boundaries and Expectations
High Expectations
Support for efficacy And Mattering
Challenging Experiences
Constructive Use of Time
High Quality Instruction
Effective Education
Opportunities for Skill Building
Integration of family, School, and Community
Opportunity to Give Back
Opportunities For Contribution
Empowerment
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INPUTS
Basic Health and Material Resources
Safe, fair, structured places
Caring, supportive relationships with adults and
peers
High expectations, role models, standards and
boundaries
Challenging education and skill- building
opportunities
Opportunities to contribute
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Outcome Domains
Physical health
Education, Competence, Intellectual development
Psychological development And identity,
Self-efficacy, Confidence, Character
Social connection, Caring, Helping others
Civic engagement, Leadership
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• Outcome Domains
• Physical health
• Educational competence, intellectual development
• Psychological development, self-efficacy,
  confidence, character
• Social connection, caring, helping others
• Input Domains
• Basic health and material resources
• Safe, fair, structured places
• Caring, supportive relationships with adults and
  peers
• High expectations, role models, standards and
  boundaries
• Challenging education and skill-building
  opportunities

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Principles for a Monitoring System of Indicators
for Middle Childhood

• Indicators need to represent varied domains of
  development and key development tasks
• Both positive and negative indicators need to be
  included
• Measures must be reliable and valid but feasible
  also
• Indicators must track outcomes that are malleable
  and be able to capture changes
• Indicators should balance well-being and
  well-becoming

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Bedrock Indicators
Context Race and ethnicity Foreign-born
parent Family structure and living
arrangements Poverty Secure parental
employment Current health insurance coverage No
usual source of health care/no medical
home Extra-curricular activities/out-of-school
care Parent education
Well-being Difficulty speaking English Blood-lead
levels Asthma Behavioral/emotional problems Food
security General health status Activity
limitation Overweight Diet quality Mortality Mathe
matics and reading achievement
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Recommended Indicators for Middle Childhood

• Inputs/Contexts
• Positive
• Parent-child relationships
• Parent health behaviors
• High-quality out-of-school opportunities
• School supportiveness
• Peer encouragement for positive
  behaviors
• Negative
• Depression/parental mental health problems
• Dangerous neighborhoods
• Negative peer behaviors
• Self-care
• Lack of teacher engagement

• Child Outcomes
• Positive
• School Engagement
• Self-regulation
• Healthy behaviors
• Social skills/competence
• Reads for pleasure
• Negative
• Intolerance
• Depressed/poor mental health
• Overweight
• Lonely/lacks friends
• Behavior problems

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School Engagement

• Definition and importance
• Malleability
• Measurement
• Parent Report
• Teacher Report
• Student Report

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• National Survey of Americas Families (NSAF)
  Adult Interview
• Cares about doing well in school.
• Only works on schoolwork when forced to.
• Does just enough schoolwork to get by.
• Always does homework.
• RAPS-TE The Teacher Report of Student Engagement
  for Elementary School
• In my class, this student seems tuned in.
• This student comes to class unprepared.
• This student does more than required.
• RAPS-SE The Student Self-Report for Elementary
  School
• Ongoing school engagement subdomain
• I work very hard on my schoolwork.
• I dont try very hard in school.
• I pay attention in class.
• I dont work very hard in school.
• When Im in class I just act as if Im working.
• How important is it to you to do the best you can
  in school?

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Healthy Behaviors

• Definition and importance
• Evidence of Malleability
• Measurement

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National Survey of Childrens Health (NSCH) How
often does (he/she) wear a helmet when riding a
bike, scooter, skateboard, roller skates, or
rollerblades? Would you say never, sometimes,
usually or always? During the past week, on how
many nights did (CHILD) get enough sleep for a
child (his/her) age? During the past week, on
how many days did (CHILD) exercise or participate
in physical activity for at least 20 minutes that
made (him/her) sweat and breathe hard, such as
basketball, soccer, running, swimming laps, fast
bicycling, fast dancing, or similar aerobic
activities? Americas Promise In a typical day,
how many times does your child eat a piece or
serving of fruit? In a typical day, how many
times does your child eat vegetables? During the
past seven nights, on how many nights did your
child get enough sleep for a child her/his age?
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Social Skills/Competence

• Definition and importance
• Evidence on malleability
• Measurement

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• National Survey of Childrens Health (NCSH)
• He/She shows respect for teachers and
  neighbors.
• He/She gets along well with other children.
• He/She tries to understand other peoples
  feelings.
• He/She tries to resolve conflicts with
  classmates, families, or friends.

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Tolerance

• Definition and importance
• Evidence on malleability
• Measurement
• Measure development is needed

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National Promises Poll How much is this like
you? I get along well with people of different
races, cultures, or religions.
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Behavior Problems

• Definition and importance
• Evidence on malleability
• Measurement

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NSCH He/She argues too much. He/She bullies,
or is cruel or mean to others. He/She is
disobedient. He/She is stubborn, sullen, or
irritable.
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Contextual Indicators

• Parent-Child Relationships
• Definition and importance
• Evidence on malleability
• Measurement

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Parent-Adolescent Relationship Scale Identificatio
n with parents I think highly of him/her. S/he
is a person I want to be like. I really enjoy
spending time with him/her. Perceived parental
supportiveness How often does s/he praise you
for doing well? How often does s/he criticize
you or your ideas? How often does s/he help you
do things that are important to you? How often
does s/he blame you for her/his problems? How
often does s/he make plans with you and cancel
for no good reason?
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Neighborhoods

• Definition and importance
• Evidence on malleability
• Measurement

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NSCH How often do you feel CHILD is safe in
your community or neighborhood? People in this
neighborhood help each other out. We watch out
for each others children in this
neighborhood. There are people I can count on
in the neighborhood. There are people in this
neighborhood who might be a bad influence on my
child/children. If my child were outside
playing and got hurt or scared, there are adults
nearby who I trust to help my child. Americas
Promise How often do you think your child is
safe going to or from school? How often do you
think your child is safe in your community or
neighborhood? How often do you think your child
is safe in the after-school programs she/he is
in? How much do you agree or disagree with the
following statements Our neighborhood has safe
parks or playgrounds for children to play in
during the day. In our neighborhood, people
watch out for each others children.
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• Conclusions
• Middle childhood is a neglected developmental
  stage.
• Important constructs can be identified.
• Measures of critical constructs for middle
  childhood are scarce and scattered, and
  psychometric work is very limited.
• Development and testing of good measures is
  urgently needed.

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Research in the Service of Americas
Children www.childtrends.org www.childtrendsdatab
ank.org