Evaluation data is needed to demonstrate the impact of 4-H science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programming on children and youth. However, collecting evaluation data from cloverbuds (ages 5-7) is particularly challenging given their developmental age. We adapted an observational Cloverbud evaluation tool to measure basic life…

Story Talk is an evidence-based language intervention that has produced significant increases in children's vocabulary (Wasik & Hindman, 2020). This paper begins with a discussion of the importance of language development in learning to read, which is the basis for Story Talk. Next, a description of Story Talk components and the strategies…

Realist evaluation (RE) is increasingly adopted to assess the effectiveness of social programs. RE goes beyond measurement of outcomes, providing insight into how and why programs work by focusing on how participants experience and respond to programs within certain contexts. A RE was conducted on Healthy Start-Départ Santé (HSDS), an early…

The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) is the national evaluation of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. MIECHV was authorized by Congress in 2010 and started a major expansion of evidence-based home visiting programs for families living in at-risk communities. The study is being…

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grants help states and communities improve early childhood systems to support child development, equitable access to quality services and supports, and family well-being. Truly interdisciplinary, ECCS promotes cross-sector systems change initiatives that focus on integrating health care, mental health,…

This article describes an infant and early childhood mental health-informed therapeutic visitation program that offers clinical support, systems-level advocacy, and developmentally appropriate guidance to families navigating the child welfare and family court systems. The program offers treatment, permanency, and placement planning for infants,…

Successive UK government policies have strengthened the phonics element of the National Curriculum for English in England. The policies have included inviting publishers to submit completed self-assessments of their systematic phonics programmes. The self-assessment criteria focus on what is deemed to be 'high-quality provision', as defined in the…

Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 requires early intervention teams craft individualized and effective plans to meet the needs of young children with special needs and their families (Küpper, 2012). Many early intervention teams, however, may struggle to follow a process that results in…

Program monitoring is an important and necessary assessment practice within the field of early childhood deaf education. Effective program monitoring requires a focus on both the consistent implementation of intervention strategies (fidelity) and the assessment of children's ongoing progress in response to interventions (progress monitoring).…

Many early childhood assessment practices involve table top testing that requires young children to behave like an adult (e.g., follow adult directives, attend to task, and answer questions). Research and professional policy standards have identified and mandated alternatives. Authentic assessment is the alternative to conventional testing…

The State Family Outcomes Measurement System Framework (S-FOMS) is a framework originally developed by the Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center that identifies seven key components of a high-quality family outcomes measurement system at the state level. This document contains background information about the framework's seven components, 15…

In 2010, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), provided states with the opportunity to apply for funding to build and expand evidence-based home visiting programs in their states and to incorporate community collaboration components, referred to as early childhood comprehensive systems (ECCS). For Texas, this…

This article suggests that many of the 16-year-olds who don't achieve a C or better in GCSE English may have had parents who didn't recognise the value of talking to them from the moment they were born. It argues that a bringing together of health visitors, Sure Start centres and primary schools could help lift many children out of the cultural…

The State Family Outcomes Measurement System Framework (S-FOMS) is a framework originally developed by the Early Childhood Outcomes Center that identifies seven key components of a high-quality family outcomes measurement system at the state level. The seven components are: (1) Purpose; (2) Data collection and transmission; (3) Analysis; (4)…

The Utah State University Sound Beginnings program originated in 2007 as a laboratory school to serve children with hearing loss from birth to age 6 years old living in Northern Utah. Sound Beginnings offers an interdisciplinary listening and spoken language educational option for families through the following services: toddler and preschool…