Education researchers and practitioners have been exploring for years the key factors impacting children's academic engagement. Still, relatively little is known about the role of children's social cognition in their academic engagement. Accordingly, the current study focuses on the potential indirect associations between young children's social…

Research Findings: Preschoolers' vocabulary skills and inhibitory control have been demonstrated critical for later school success; however, the ways in which the individual classroom experiences dynamically interchange with these skills is still unclear. In this paper, we examine the role of children's individual engagement with teachers, peers,…

Student engagement is one of the most important factors of an effective classroom throughout the P-16 spectrum. Of late, many have attempted to define engagement and establish best practices for maximising it in the classroom. In the process, a number of sources have implied or encouraged a false dichotomy between engagement and compliance. This…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of embedding special interest areas (SIAs) in whole-group (WG) instruction on engagement and out-of-seat (OOS) behaviors for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in general education classrooms. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the functional…

Based on a complex dynamic system approach, this study examined the dynamic of interactions between adults (a teacher and teaching assistant) and two children with ASD. We observed two preschool classrooms, each containing one child with contrasting ASD characteristics. Child engagement and adult participation during welcome time activities were…

Studies suggest that the learning environment can act as a third teacher in contributing towards student academic success. A variable within the physical learning environment that has received little attention in the literature is the interior lighting. Because of budget constraints and age, most American public school classrooms have fluorescent…

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) changes according to context. Limited research has been conducted to understand how TSE can vary in relation to student characteristics or the student-teacher relationship (STR) in preschool. The aims of the current study were to 1) examine student-specific TSE variability among monolingual English-speaking and…

Daily report card (DRC) intervention provides a structured method for increasing communication between teachers and parents regarding student behavior; however, limited research has investigated the effectiveness and acceptability of DRC intervention with preschool students. Additionally, effectiveness of DRC intervention is enhanced when parents…

Background and aims: Social interactions in preschool and a child's gender are, in cross-sectional studies, related to the child's overall levels of hyperactive behaviour and engagement in preschool activities. However, whether social interaction and gender can predict children's engagement and hyperactivity is not thoroughly investigated. This…

Imagine a day in the classroom where you can devote all your energy to student learning instead of battling challenging behavior. In "Motivated to Learn," you will gain evidence-based approaches for engaging students and equipping them to better focus in the classroom. With this book's straightforward strategies, you can learn to…

Children's engagement is an important construct often reported in early intervention and early childhood special education. However, its utility depends on its definition, measurement, theory of change, and empirical evidence. Our purpose is to discuss innovations in children's literacy engagement (CLE) and report empirical evidence demonstrating…

A number of researchers have found behavior-specific praise (BSP) to be an effective strategy for increasing student academic engagement. Performance feedback is often used to promote teacher BSP; however, variations in how performance feedback is provided have been proposed and it is unknown whether one strategy may be more effective than others.…

Many young children entering early childhood programs demonstrate challenging behaviors that place them at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBDs), which impact their future success in school. The purpose of this study was to conduct a conceptual replication of BEST in CLASS by examining child outcomes from BEST in CLASS--Web, a web-based…

The aim of the current study was to identify latent profile groups based on observed teachers' classroom quality and the relations of the latent profile groups to teacher age, teaching experience and children's classroom engagement and disaffection. Observations of 57 Vietnamese kindergarten teachers were conducted in the domains of emotional…

Background/Context: State-funded prekindergarten has expanded rapidly in the U.S., and there are expectations that it will have longer-term positive effects on later academic and nonacademic outcomes (e.g., Phillips et al., 2017). There is strong evidence of pre-k effects on measures of kindergarten readiness (e.g., Gormley et al., 2005; Weiland…