The adaptive behavior of kindergarten children who attended accredited and non-accredited preschools

In an age of seeking improvement of educational methods and settings, accreditation of preschool and after school programs may be one way to validate and promote the content of such programs. It was the purpose of this study to examine possible effects on the development of children after having attended an accredited preschool.;The subjects were kindergarten students in three accredited Montessori schools and three non-accredited, non-Montessori schools. The accredited schools were selected in the Tempe and Mesa, Arizona area because of their availability. Then three non-accredited schools were randomly selected from the same region. The final sample consisted of 27 subjects in the accredited group and 29 subjects in the non-accredited group. Parents gave their permission for their child's participation in the study in March, 1991 and completed a questionnaire.;The kindergarten teachers of the subjects completed the classroom edition of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. This instrument uses the teachers' observations and knowledge of the students. Scores are summed scores in the behavioral domains of communication, daily-living and social and motor skills. These are areas of development usually defined as goals for preschool programs. Accreditation procedures for Association Montessori Internationale, American Montessori Society and National Association for the Education of Young Children include validation of these domains in the accreditation process. These three organizations are recognized as the leading accrediting organizations of programs for young children.;All information was collected and analyzed by October, 1991. An Analysis of Variance was used to determine the effect of accreditation on the scores of the children on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Significance was determined in the Domain of Daily Living Skills with the Scheffe Test. Further analysis with the Fisher Test resulted in significant results in the domain of Daily Living Skills and the Domain of Communication Skills. Information from the parents was analyzed and no effect because of gender of the child or preschool history or education of the parents was determined. The education of the parents was nearly equal in both groups, and resulted in no difference. Accreditation did make a significant difference when the gender of the child and preschool history were examined.;Recommendations for further study with other devices and other programs to determine the educational value of the Montessori Method were offered. Further study of the results of the accreditation of programs for young children was recommended.