Two-generation programs are designed to provide services to children and their parents, yet the extent to which parents use family well-being and self-sufficiency services is not widely known. We used data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine the effect of early care and education on parents' use of family services. Demographic…

Research Findings: In recent years, several initiatives have been put into place both federally and state-wide to expand access to high-quality early education programs. At the center of these efforts are the tools that measure program or classroom quality. The present study compares the psychometrics of two such tools used in Michigan, the…

Research Findings: The ability to manage emotions is thought to be important for regulating stress at a physiological level, yet no prior published studies have examined young children's emotion understanding or knowledge in relation to the stress hormone cortisol. The present study investigated the statistical relation between emotion knowledge…

"Research Findings:" Teachers in early care and education (ECE) face tremendous challenges, which can lead to poor well-being, low job satisfaction, and high turnover rates. Thus, it is essential to understand the factors related to job satisfaction as well as the well-being resources that teachers need. The study used multilevel…

Research Findings: We examined whether Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms are associated with their engagement in high-quality conversations with children, and we considered the extent to which this association is consistent across classroom contexts and activities. Observations of Head Start teachers' conversations with children were…

Research Findings: Very little research has examined whether the contributions of Head Start's Family Service Workers (FSWs) and family partnership services influence family and child outcomes. Using data from 215 families in the 2014 Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), this study used structural equation models to examine…

Using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 Cohort, this study investigated the school readiness trajectories of 2,908 Head Start children from Head Start to kindergarten. Multilevel growth curve models examined differences by immigrant-origin status and the moderating role of enriching experiences. Research Findings:…

Family-program partnerships in early care and education have the potential to influence young children's development through multiple pathways. Guided by the Head Start (HS) Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) framework, the current study uses data from the 2014 HS Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) to examine the direct, and…

Based on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study Year-5 wave, 1,983 children were identified as Head Start eligible children (503 Head Start enrolled children, 1,435 Head Start eligible nonparticipant) to address: (1) How do child and family characteristics differ between Head Start participants and non-participants? (2) How do Head…

Research Findings: Preschool teachers' relationships with children are a critical component of classroom quality. We draw from a sample of N = 2,114 children attending Head Start to examine child-centered profiles of experiences across two dimensions of classroom interaction quality that are often considered separately: individual teacher-child…

Research Findings: Better understanding the correlates of teacher stress is critical to develop effective, targeted prevention and intervention efforts to decrease early childhood educator stress and ultimately improve outcomes for educators and young children. Previous studies of early childhood educator stress have mostly focused on teacher…

Research Findings: A constellation of social positions of difference can contribute to substantial variation among children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. Using data from the "Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey" 2009 cohort, the present study identified intersectional typologies of cultural…

Research Findings: This study examined associations between observed emotion-focused teaching practices and preschool children's emotion expression, emotion-related behaviors, and learning behaviors. Four centers located in large midwestern and mid-Atlantic metropolitan areas participated in the study. Of these, one center was a Head Start…

Although writing is a critical foundational skill and teachers' approaches to writing is connected to development, writing instruction in preschool is often limited, infrequent, and narrow. While research has investigated literacy environments of preschool classrooms, often with a focus on reading, less is known about writing environments. Thus,…

Research Findings: Children's oral language skills lay the foundation for later literacy and can be fostered through responsive conversations with teachers. However, such conversations are rare in preschool, particularly between teachers and dual language learners (DLLs), or students who speak a minoritized language at home. DLLs benefit when…