Purpose: Many preschoolers, especially those from low-income households, would benefit from instruction to enrich their vocabulary and language repertoires. Yet, explicit instruction of vocabulary and language skills generally occurs infrequently in early childhood education settings. This study investigated the additive effects of teacher-led,…

Purpose: Many preschoolers, especially those from low income households, would benefit from instruction to enrich their vocabulary and language repertoires. Yet, explicit instruction of vocabulary and language skills generally occurs infrequently in early childhood education settings. This study investigated the additive effects of teacher-led,…

For young Spanish-speaking children entering U. S. schools, it is imperative that educators foster growth in the home language and in the language of instruction to the fullest extent possible. Monitoring language development over time is crucial for promoting language development because it allows educators to individualize student instruction.…

Research Findings: This study used the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to examine barriers to teachers’ implementation of a supplemental academic language curricula. Despite high satisfaction with this scripted curriculum, three past studies indicated heterogeneity in teachers’ fidelity of implementing the curriculum as well as difficulty…

Research Findings: This study used the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to examine barriers to teachers implementation of a supplemental academic language curricula. Despite high satisfaction with this scripted curriculum, three past studies indicated heterogeneity in teachers fidelity of implementing the curriculum as well as difficulty going…

Extensive bodies of literature examining child language acquisition and early literacy development indicate that the language and literacy opportunities young children have at home and in school settings, including the nature of their language interactions with adults and their exposure to books and stories, are consequential for mastery of…

Little analytical scrutiny has been devoted to teacher accommodation of academic language at the early childhood level, despite being a critical school-level factor to consider when addressing at-risk learners' academic needs. The present study investigates how fifteen Head Start teachers support three components of academic language during…

Curricula are one of the most widely used educational inputs, yet few are developed and evaluated scientifically with a dearth of programs targeting academic language. This manuscript describes an iterative approach to the development of a tiered academic language curriculum supplement for prekindergarten (pre-K) and kindergarten (K) students. A…