弱勢照顧補助措施對幼兒認知發展的影響評估

Evaluation on Effect of Subsidies in Cognitive Development of Children from Vulnerable Families

許多國家都將實踐教育公平與社會正義做為重要的施政目標，而對弱勢家庭與其孩子進行相關補助與助學措施，以協助這些孩子獲得學習與教育的成功，更往往被視為實踐該目標的重要工具。學前教育做為個人啟蒙與發展的關鍵階段，許多弱勢群體幼兒可能在此階段即已蒙受發展不利的影響，因此在學前教育階段對弱勢家庭所提供的額外補助與照顧措施，究竟對這些家庭幼兒學習落後的改善是否具有成效，是相當重要的研究問題，但臺灣目前這方面的研究成果仍相當有限。基於上述，本研究運用對三到六歲學前幼兒認知發展，與其家長資料的兩波追蹤調查，進行貫時性的影響評估，以回答上述的重要問題。本研究結果顯示以補助措施鼓勵孩子就讀公幼，藉以改善弱勢家庭經濟狀況的效果並不明顯；弱勢照顧補助的領取，對家庭學習資源供給及提升僅發揮少部分的效果，領取各類弱勢補助家庭，明顯劣勢仍持續存在。整體而言，透過弱勢照顧補助的給予，冀望對弱勢家庭在學前教育有較佳的選擇，及改善家庭教育資源，進而產生縮小弱勢家庭幼兒認知發展差距的效果並不明顯，反映臺灣地區弱勢照顧補助措施成效有其侷限性。

In many countries, education equity and social justice are regarded as important goals. Relevant subsidies and assistance for vulnerable families to help these children succeed in learning and education are often regarded as important instruments to achieve the goals. Preschool education is a key stage of personal enlightenment and development; however, many children from vulnerable families have already been adversely affected by this stage. Therefore, this study discussed whether additional subsidies and assistance measures for vulnerable families could effectively improve their adverse preschool education conditions. Research results related to this issue are quite limited in Taiwan. From the above, this study conducted a diachronic influence evaluation by means of a longitudinal survey of the cognitive development of children aged three to six years old and their parents’ information to answer the above important questions. The results of this study showed that the effect of subsidies on encouraging children to attend public preschools and improving the economic conditions of vulnerable families was not significant and that subsidies played an insignificant role in the supply and promotion of family learning resources. The families who received subsidies still had obvious disadvantages. On the whole, the effect of subsidies on narrowing the gap in the cognitive development of children from vulnerable families by providing better choices for preschool education and improving family education resources was not significant. From this, the effect of subsidy measures was rather limited.