f security or acceptance and promote maladjustment. Children appear to be better adjusted toward kindergarten when they have formed close rather than conflicting ties with their teachers (Birch & Ladd, 1996). Maladjustment is prevalent among children who remain friendless or are rejected by their classmates. The determinants in deciding the behavior type a child will pursue is based upon the notion to maximize rewards such as fun, arousal and common interests and minimize costs such as punishment and negative affective states. Antisocial behavior is found in those children whose style of relating produces a higher ratio of costs, and conversely pro-social behavior is found in those children who style of relating produces a higher amount of rewards. The better-adjusted children display pro-social behavior and form relationships with their peers and teachers resulting in a higher scholastic achievement level. A complex network of influences initiates the effects of early preschool intervention over time rather than by any single mechanism (Reynolds, 1996). Reynolds studied school achievement in the sixth grade and the impact of early childhood programs. The results of Reynolds studies were to answer three questions: Do preschool participants perform better than non-preschool participants in school achievement?, Do family-process and cognitive factors mediate the effects of preschool intervention?, and Are the effects stable from early childhood to middle childhood?. The factors that influence achievement in the 6th grade were cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry, and parent involvement in school. The results were that the family support hypothesis and the cognitive advantage hypothesis were not sufficient enough to determine preschool effectiveness. Reynolds went on to learn that teacher ratings of school adjustment show that preschool graduates are more likely to come to school ready to learn, and parental involvement is ...
