Introduction: North Carolina (NC) has widespread Black-White/Hispanic racial disparities in exclusionary discipline (punishment removing children from normal learning environments), with disparities varying substantially by school district. Exclusionary discipline is an added risk factor for numerous negative academic and social outcomes. This…

North Carolina policymakers are interested in which screening and monitoring assessment scores in grades K-3 best predict reading proficiency at the end of grade 3 in order to help educators identify at-risk students, place them in interventions, and monitor their progress. Since 2013, the state has routinely administered screening and monitoring…

More than half of North Carolina's grade 3 students struggle with reading. The percentage of students scoring below proficient in reading at the end of grade 3 was 55 percent in 2017/18. That percentage has remained largely unchanged, at above 50 percent, since 2013/14, when North Carolina passed its K-3 Read to Achieve literacy act. Read to…

More than half of North Carolina's grade 3 students struggle with reading. The percentage of students scoring below proficient in reading at the end of grade 3 was 55 percent in 2017/18. That percentage has remained largely unchanged, at above 50 percent, since 2013/14, when North Carolina passed its K-3 Read to Achieve literacy act. Read to…

This study examines whether the physical location of Pre-K programs--whether in elementary school buildings or stand-alone centers--leads to differences in student outcomes in elementary school. Over the past several decades, public investment in Pre-K programming has burgeoned. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, 32…

Substantial evidence has established that individual differences in executive function (EF) in early childhood are uniquely predictive of children's academic readiness at school entry. The current study tested whether growth trajectories of EF across the early childhood period could be used to identify a subset of children who were at pronounced…

Behavioral regulation is an important school readiness skill that has been linked to early executive function (EF) and later success in learning and school achievement. Although poverty and related risks, as well as negative parenting, have been associated with poorer EF and behavioral regulation, chaotic home environments may also play a role in…

There is growing consensus among researchers and practitioners that children's socialemotional readiness makes unique contributions to their successful transition to and progress through school. However, many children still begin school ill-prepared for the behavioral demands they will encounter in the classroom. This study examines the joint…

This study tested whether individual executive function (EF) tasks were better characterized as formative or reflective indicators of the latent construct of EF. EF data that were collected as part of the Family Life Project (FLP), a prospective longitudinal study of families who were recruited at the birth of a new child (N = 1,292), when…

This study examined the preschool predictors of elementary school narrative writing skills. The sample included 65 typically developing African American children, ranging in age from 5.0 to 5.5 years, and was 44.6% male. Targeted preschool predictors included measures of phonological processing, core language abilities, prereading skills, and…

The extent of developmentally appropriate practices was studied in 103 kindergarten classrooms across North Carolina. Ninety-three teachers and 93 principals were also surveyed to determine predictors of classroom quality. Only 20 percent of the classes met criteria for developmental appropriateness, and quality was predictable from teacher and…