A comparison of preschool attainment record ratings by parents and teachers of forty five-year-old lower- and middle-income children

Abstract

Preschool Attainment Record Attainment Quotients and Category scores were compared to determine whether there were significant differences between the way parents and teachers evaluate 5-year-old children. The subjects were 20 Head Start and 20 middle-income children as well as their mothers, fathers, and teachers. A total of 120 Preschool Attainment Record interviews were collected, 40 with teachers and 80 with parents. Attainment Quotients and Category scores were calculated by computer.

A repeated measurement design was used to test for significant differences in Attainment Quotient and Intellectual, Social, and Physical Category scores. No significant differences were found for mothers', fathers', and teachers' Attainment Quotients. There was a significant difference between parents' and teachers' ratings for Intellectual and Social Category scores for lower-income boys.

Attainment Quotient means were grouped and analyzed for differences in ratings within and between the five preschool centers used in the study. Attainment Quotient means were highest in the two middle-income centers. Attainment Quotient means were also compared for first and later-born children. No significant difference existed between ratings by mothers, fathers, and teachers.