The combination of verbal and nonverbal channels provided by the arts can offer valuable opportunities not only for students with language delays but also for English language learners. More generally, arts enrichment may help to bridge the gap that often separates home and school for children from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. The arts…

In 2012-2013, AISD pre-K students demonstrated growth in receptive vocabulary on a nationally-normed test. Students enrolled in multiple programs showed greater growth in receptive vocabulary in their native language than did other pre-K students. [Funding for this report was provided by Title I funds.]

In this article, we describe an inclusive educational programme for a young boy severely affected by autism. The programme is exemplary not only academically, but also in terms of what children need socially and emotionally. It represents best practices in action. Given the wide agreement about what constitutes best education practices, but the…

Among risk factors associated with reading difficulties, poverty and underdeveloped oral language skills can be particularly detrimental to reading success. The City Early Reading First (CERF) project implemented a comprehensive curriculum, professional development, intensive mentoring, and home supports to enhance children's language, literacy,…

A language and literacy intervention was implemented in 10 Head Start classrooms. Teachers were trained in specific book reading and conversation strategies. The focus of the intervention was to train teachers how to increase opportunities for language and vocabulary development in young children. At the end of the year, children in the…

This article describes the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition, an assessment designed to test preschool children in vocabulary acquisition, screen both for giftedness and mental retardation, and measure English language proficiency in individuals for whom English is not a primary language. Its administration, standardization,…

Vocabulary learning is central to reading ability and academic achievement. Vocabulary researchers and educators have viewed its essence as a process of associating the pronunciations and meanings of words in memory, and they have paid little attention to the contribution that spellings might make to vocabulary learning. We review theory and…

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care is an ongoing, prospective, 3-year longitudinal study of over 1,300 full-term healthy infants and families from 10 sites across the United States. While the sample is not nationally representative, the subjects come from major regions of the country: the…

This article examines whether changes in the ethnic minority composition of the standardization sample for the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III) can be used as the sole explanation for children's better test scores when compared to an earlier edition. Analysis suggests other factors may explain improved performance. (Contains…