In the fall of 2008, a coalition of Minnesota foundations commissioned a local research organization to assess the state's ability to undertake a major improvement in school readiness and early learning services for disadvantaged children. The findings were discouraging. Richard Chase, working at the research arm of St. Paul's Amherst H. Wilder…

Response to intervention (RTI), the controversial three-tiered, triangular instructional model is getting stretched in new directions by educators who favor holistic, proactive support strategies over formal remediation. A senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia Buysse…

This is the fourth report of a process evaluation of Palm Beach County Prime Time, Inc., an intermediary organization dedicated to improving the quality of afterschool programs, by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. It covers the 2007-2008 program year, which was the inaugural year of Prime Time's formal Quality Improvement System (QIS)…

Examines the ways in which anxiety appears in children's narratives about their transitions to secondary school. Features a pilot study that focused on Year 5 and 6 children (n=90) in two London, England primary schools. Explores the positive functions of anxiety as part of a development process. Includes references. (CMK)

Presents theory and research to help preschool teachers understand literacy-enriched play centers, in terms of their purposes and outcomes. Describe a pilot project using play centers in a preschool classroom and provides guidelines for planning and using such a center. (ET)

This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a pilot project by the Studio in a School (SIAS) arts group to place professional artists in six preschools and kindergarten programs in New York City public schools. The SIAS program provided both on-site, hands-on visual arts training of teachers and aides and direct…

The requirement that schools in England and Wales assess their students, at age seven, in English and mathematics has created a demand for an assessment of students at their entry to statutory schooling. This paper reports on the development and standardization of a test of mathematical concepts for students aged four and over (four plus) as they…

This article describes the Ounce of Prevention Fund's journey to institutionalize doula services in the state of Illinois. The Ounce's doulas help strengthen the new relationship between mother and child by working with the mother to help her better understand and anticipate the progression of the third trimester of pregnancy, the child-birthing…

County school administrators and supervisors, school counselors, school psychologists, teachers, Parent Teacher Association members, clergymen (both Protestant and Catholic), a consulting psychiatrist, and members of the County Medical Society of Lewis County, New York all worked together (November 1959-June 1963) "to organize the resources…

The document--two thirds of which consists of appendixes--presents the final report of Project PREP (Preschool Recreation Enrichment Program), which evaluated a handicapped preschool children's recreation program emphasizing motor, socialization, self concept, and language development. The need for preschool recreation programs for handicapped…

Research shows that home visitation programs targeted at the developmental needs of children can foster their well-being. The Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Project, funded by the Head Start Bureau in 2004, supports the quality of care that kith and kin caregivers provide to infants and toddlers enrolled in home-based Early Head Start programs.…

This report provides descriptive information on the research, demonstration, and evaluation programs of the Office of Child Development during fiscal year 1974. An overview describing the role, function, and long range goals of the Office of Child Development is presented. Specific research, demonstration, and evaluation projects (both…

This report describes a six-week Homestart pilot project designed to provide Head Start-type services to young children in their homes. The program consisted of three components: (1) home visits, in which Piagetian tasks were introduced to encourage verbal interaction between parent and child; (2) weekly group meetings for the children which…

This report presents a study of policy issues related to the provision of early childhood and family education services in Minnesota. Chapter One consists of an executive summary and recommendations. Chapters Two and Three overview the concept, rationale and implementation of Minnesota's early childhood and family education pilot programs.…

Techniques are described which were used to develop and establish the Young Parents Program, a pilot project used to develop and expand the homebound instruction function of Norwalk Hospital by providing broadening family functioning type experiences to pregnant girls in the Norwalk, Connecticut, schools. The instructional objectives listed are…