This document summarises key findings and recommendations from an analysis of Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data conducted by the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) in 2022. AERO's report marks the first time that the skills considered through the Language and Cognitive Skills (school-based) domain in AEDC have been…

In Australia and many other countries, the provision of the healthiest possible start in life for all children has been a priority for government. Evidence to support the importance of the early years for future development has accumulated over the past two decades [1]. Patterns of childhood development predict health, wellbeing, learning and…

High-achieving kids from low-income families too often fall into the achievement trap; as they progress up the grades, their academic performance falls, and they are far less likely to remain star students than are middle-class or wealthy high-achievers. So says the first U.S.-wide analysis of high-achieving students from poor families (published…

Engaging students in worthwhile learning requires more than a knowledge of underlying principles of good teaching. It demands considerable practice as well as images of what good teaching in particular situations and for particular purposes might look like. This volume provides these images. These cases were written from authentic, unrehearsed…

This article describes how young children's early relationships with caregivers and other significant adults, such as teachers, do far more than introduce and mediate their literacy experiences. These relationships are the experience, and only with time and development do young children differentiate from these experiences the signs and symbols as…

Fractions and algebra are critically important components of the mathematics education of the youth. Unfortunately, however, students have typically struggled in these areas. For this reason, teachers and researchers have focused their attention on these topics for at least the past century. This article discusses what research shows regarding…

Throughout history, societal investments in children have resulted in increased prosperity for individuals, communities, states and nations. This proved to be the case for California in the 1950s and 1960s, when the state strongly supported children's futures. Despite once following this path to prosperity, California has de-prioritized children…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low Income Elementary School Children" (S. B. Miles and D. Stipek). In two groups of…

Education specialists have written volumes on the best ways to help children learn to read and write, but who is helping them navigate the potentially treacherous waters of social interactions? While in school to study, children are also preoccupied with understanding the rules governing social relationships. Issues of trust and loyalty, rivalry…