The influence of an intensive pre-school 3educational experience on the intellectual functioning of UTE Indian children

The Problem Research data accumulated by staff members of the Bureau of Indian Services, Counseling Center, and Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah indicated that the Ute Indian children were retarded in academic achievement. Average performance by Ute children on standardized achievement tests administered at the first grade level was nearly one year behind that of the average non-Indian child. This difference grew to as much as four years by the time Ute children reached the high school level. Research, while not conclusive, advanced considerable evidence supporting the hypothesis that pre-school educational experience could positively affect achievement and intellectual functioning of the socially disadvantaged or culturally deprived child. For the present study an attempt was made to determine through comparisons on a longitudinal basis (pre-test and post-test) and with 􁪽 control group whether or not intellectual functioning (as measured by standardized instruments) of culturally disadvantaged Ute India􁪽 children could be improved significantly through involvement of the experimental group in an intensive pre-school educational experience. Subjects Forty-five of sixty-five Ute children electing to attend a nine-week nursery school program during the summer of 1963 became the subjects for the experimental group. This group averaged 46 months of age. Thirty-five of forty-one Ute children electing to attend a nine-week pre-kindergarten program during the summer of 1963 became the control group for the study. This group averaged 65 months in age. All subjects in both groups were enrolled tribal members insuring a minimum of five-eighths Ute blood. Instruments Through use of a pilot group and on the basis of several other criteria the Van Alstyne Picture Vocabulary Test (VPVT) and the Columbia mental Maturity Scale (CMMS) were selected as instruments to be used in assessing level of intellectual functioning.