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Table 2 Overview and summary of variables assessed in Learning4Kids

From: App-based learning for kindergarten children at home (Learning4Kids): study protocol for cohort 1 and the kindergarten assessments

Level Domain Name (short form) Method Cronbach’s α Variable details / Subtests
Educator Socioemotional development EBD Survey .82a /.84a Milestones in children’s social and emotional development
  Problematic behaviour SDQ Survey .66 a /.70a / .86a /.64a /.76a Subscales: Emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems; prosocial behaviour
  Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Conners’ scale Survey .85a ADHD Index; short form
  General child competencies - Survey - Concentration, language skills, vocabulary, grammar, mathematics skills, motor skills, social and emotional competencies, logical thinking
  General child development - Survey - Age-appropriateness of child’s development, school readiness, special needs
  Media usage - Survey - Number and usage of different media in the kindergarten (e.g. books, games, tablets)
  Social popularity - Survey .74a Acceptance, rejection and disregard by other children in the kindergarten
  Kindergarten attendance - Survey - Start of kindergarten attendance, daily attendance in hours
Family Home Literacy Environment HLE Survey .79-.89 Shared reading, linguistic activities, literacy exposure, literacy instructions, formal HLE
  Home Numeracy Environment HNE Survey .80-.83 Mathematical activities, number / mathematics exposure and instructions, formal HNE
  Book title recognition TRT Checklist .87 Checklist on selected children’s book titles, mixed with fake distractor titles
  Math game title recognition MTRT Checklist .69 Checklist on selected children’s mathematical game titles, mixed with fake distractor titles
  Educational aspiration - Survey .64 Parental educational aspiration for child
  Media usage - Survey - Number of different kinds of media at home, children’s and parental media usage
  Movie watching - Survey .74 Parental and child video and movie watching during the week and on weekends
  Attitudes towards digital media - Survey .75 Parental attitudes towards media
  Media literacy - Survey .81/.86 Children’s and parental media literacy
  Family background - Survey - Migration background of parents and child1, spoken languages at home, educational background of parents, occupation of parents2, monthly income, number and age of siblings, family living conditions
  Learning disabilities - Survey - Family history of dyslexia, dyscalculia, AHDH
  Shared reading FES adapted3 Observation of shared reading .84 Verbal dissociation, nonverbal behaviour, use of questions, explanations of letters/words, phonological explanations, free language level, balance of conversation (child / parent)
  Dice game play FES adapted3 Observation of game play .87 Counting, nonverbal behaviour, mentioning of numbers, free language level, explanations of mathematical concepts, comparing / ordering, references to everyday life
  Parents’ behaviour and living conditions HOME adapted4 Observation in the family .64 / .46 / .69 Parents’ behaviour towards the child, parents’ attitudes towards the child (affection and warmth), families’ physical environment and living conditions
  Miscellaneous parent-child interactions HOME adapted4 Interview - Number of children’s games, frequency of museums visits, teaching of colours and scales, communicativeness of the child, physical contact with the child, TV usage
Child Mathematical competencies MARKO-S Test .82 Numbers, ordinal number bars, cardinality, number division, inclusion and relations.
   WVT/ number sequence forwards Test .79 Number sequences forwards
   WVT/ number sequence backwards Test .70 Number sequences backwards
   WVT/ predecessors and successors Test .81 Number predecessors and successors
   WVT/ Numerical knowledge Test .87 Number symbol knowledge, knowledge of numeric representations
   MBK-0; Calculating task Test .78 Mathematical multiplication and subtraction
  Linguistic competencies AWST-R (verbs and nouns) Test .65 Active / expressive vocabulary
   PPTV Test .95 Passive / receptive vocabulary
   WVT; rhyming task Test .79 Rhyming words, phonological awareness
   WVT; letter sound identification Test .88 Identification of first letter sound, phonological awareness
   WVT; letter knowledge Test .88 Productive letter knowledge
   WVT; letter knowledge Test .79 Receptive letter knowledge
   SETK 3-5; plural forms Test .82 Plural forms of (non-)words, grammar
   EuLe 4-5; early literacy Test .79 Early literacy knowledge, concept of reading and writing
  Intelligence CMMS Test .92-.96b Short nonverbal intelligence test, general reasoning ability, abstract thinking
  Concentration KKA Test .88-.98c Short-term selective attention and concentration
  Working memory WVT; working memory Test .80d Digit span working memory task -forward
  Rapid naming - Test - Rapid automatized naming of objects/pictures
  Self-concept BSLS-M Test .72 Mathematical self-concept
   BSLS-S Test .75 Literacy self-concept
   BSLS-pro Test .69 Prosocial self-concept
   BSLS-anti Test .82 Antisocial self-concept
  Prosocial behaviour - Test .78 Prosocial behaviour, sharing
  1. Notes: 1Migration background: At least one parent or the child being born outside of Germany
  2. 2SES: highest family occupational prestige [28]
  3. 3FES: adapted version of the “Family rating scale” ([30], cf. [31])
  4. 4HOME: selected items from the “Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment” (cf. [31, 32])
  5. aPreliminary reliability index (N = 119) due to on-going assessment
  6. bCMMS split-half reliability according to Esser [33]
  7. cKKA reliability according to Krampen [34]
  8. dWVT; working memory reliability according to Endlich et al. [35]
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BMC Pediatrics

ISSN: 1471-2431

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