The present study examined the concurrent validity between two different classroom observational assessments, the Danielson Framework for Teaching (FFT: Danielson 2013) and the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS; Reddy & Dudek 2014). Twenty-four administrators from 8 high-poverty charter schools conducted 324 annual teacher…

The CLASS-PreK instrument is widely used to evaluate early childhood classrooms, but how classrooms using Montessori, the world's most common alternative education system, fare on CLASS is understudied. Because CLASS focuses largely on teacher-child interactions as the situs of learning, but in Montessori theory, child-environment interactions are…

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: Evidence suggests that teachers are effective at improving the social and emotional readiness of low-income children. However, few measures are available to assess teachers' use of specific social-emotional practices within their classrooms. This paper compares an observational measure of teachers' social-emotional practices,…

This study assessed the influence of a 10-week teacher emotionally supportive quasi-experimental intervention on the perceived teacher emotional support (PTES), basic psychological needs (BPNs) satisfaction, emotions of anxiety and enjoyment, and emotional engagement of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Strategies targeting the…

Although proponents suggest that universal social-emotional learning (SEL) programs promote academic achievement, few studies have directly tested these outcomes under routine conditions in schools. Forty first-grade classrooms participated in an effectiveness trial in which schools (N = 13) were randomly assigned to implementation of a universal…

A sample of 496 early childhood teachers was assigned randomly in two phases to a series of professional development (PD) interventions. Phase I intervention was a 14-week course on effective teacher-child interactions. Participants were then re-randomized into Phase II intervention, which consisted of individual, interactions-focused coaching.…

This study examined the effects of the BEST in CLASS intervention professional development component when delivered online in comparison with in person and a control group. A total of 29 early childhood teachers serving young children demonstrating challenging behaviors were included as participants. Data were collected on teachers' classroom…

Professional development (PD) is a potentially important mechanism for enhancing classroom practices and children's learning. In this large-scale randomized controlled trial, we examined the effectiveness of language and literacy PD, with and without coaching, offered at scale to early childhood educators (n = 546) across 1 state. Relative to the…

The common features attributed to face-to-face classroom are rather difficult to emulate in a virtual learning environment. This is because participants may not feel obligated to participate when they do not see each other physically. This study examined the instructors' strategies in fostering interaction in their online classes. Using the…

Language difficulties are frequently characterized by a significantly lower mean length of utterances (MLU) among children experiencing neglect. More opportunities to experience positive interactions, such as in early childhood education (ECE) settings, could help increase these children's MLU. This study aims to examine the relationship between…

Georgia's Pre-K Longitudinal Study followed a statewide sample of 1,169 children who attended Georgia's Pre-K Program in 2013-14 through their 4th grade year in 2018-19. The study was conducted by researchers at the Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The following summary…

The purpose of this evaluation study was to examine children's longitudinal academic and social outcomes associated with attendance in Georgia's Pre-K Program and to examine the quality of the classrooms attended. This report covers pre-k to 4th grade outcomes collected between the 2013-2014 and 2018-2019 school years as well as a sub-study…

The purpose of this cluster randomized group study was to investigate the effect of multitiered, dual-language instruction on children's oral language skills, including vocabulary, narrative retell, receptive and expressive language, and listening comprehension. The participants were 3- to 5-year-old children (n = 81) who were learning English and…

Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) partnered with the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and Marshall University to conduct a five-year study of the quality of the West Virginia Universal Pre-K (WV Pre-K) program. The study was designed to examine the effectiveness of the…