Research Findings: We tested whether a universal classroom peer pairing intervention -- "Buddy Up" -- would strengthen dyadic peer interactions among preschoolers (N = 140; M[subscript age] = 56.49 months; 53.6% boys; 77.9% Latinx). The "Buddy Up" intervention was informed by Intergroup Contact Theory, which specifies the…

A growing number of toddlers are attending childcare institutions as part of China's establishment of its infant-toddler childcare service system. However, there is limited empirical evidence available regarding the quality of these childcare services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of teacher - child interactions in…

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: Talking about emotions with their caregivers help young children develop emotional competence, and is particularly beneficial for children who display elevated externalizing behaviors. However, prior descriptive work has shown that teacher-child emotion talk in preschool classrooms is scarce. As children are spending increasing…

Research Findings: The present study examines the unique and joint effects of individual teacher-child relationships and overall quality of teacher-child interactions on the motivation of 2,745 kindergarten children (51% girls; ages 5--6) from an ethnically and linguistically diverse county. Teachers reported the closeness and conflict in their…

Research Findings: This study investigates the role of fine motor and mathematics instruction in mathematics achievement in an international sample of kindergarteners from the United States and China. Multilevel modeling was used to assess the interaction between students' entering skills and classroom time spent on basic math, higher-order math…

Research Findings: This study examined the relation between classroom behavioral composition and teacher-child interactions in preschool classrooms and the potential for teachers' experience, education level, and area of study to buffer against the challenges of teaching in classrooms with high levels of disruptive behaviors. Classroom behavioral…

Preschool process quality and activity setting are considered important aspects influencing child engagement. As such, it is important to understand how educational settings can promote engagement, particularly for children with disabilities and/or at risk. This observational study describes process quality and activity setting in inclusive…

This article examines similarities and differences in Chilean teachers' competences, which were organized into profiles, and the associations of these profiles with children's language development. Teacher-child interactions were assessed when the children were 12 (n=99) and 30 months old (n=73), using the Adult Sensitivity Scale, the Evaluation…

Research Findings: Growing international evidence points to high-quality teacher-child interactions in early learning environments as key contributors to children's learning and development. Little is known, however, about the longitudinal effects of these experiences, particularly in the Chinese context. In this study, we addressed the question…

Research Findings: Adults' attitudes about attachment relationships are central to how they perceive and respond to children. However, little is known about how attachment styles are related to teachers' attitudes toward and interactions with infants and toddlers. From a survey of 207 students taking early childhood (EC) courses at 4 U.S.…

Research Findings: The roles of child lexical diversity and maternal sensitivity in the development of young children's inhibitory control were examined in 100 low-income Hispanic Spanish-speaking children. Child communication utterances at age 2½ years were transcribed from 10-min mother-child interactions to quantify lexical diversity. Maternal…

Research Findings: Banking Time is a set of techniques designed to promote positive, supportive relationships through 1-on-1 interactions between teachers and children. Web-based training resources were made available to 252 preschool teachers who received different levels of support as a component of a professional development intervention, and…