Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of the Teaching Early Literacy and Language (TELL) curriculum package for improving the early literacy and oral language skills of preschoolers from low-income families. Method: In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), TELL was implemented in 30 TELL and 28 business-as-usual classrooms.…

High-needs urban educators often evaluate students based on lower grade level standards and less rigorous curricula that result in a lack of student self-efficacy and engagement. The problem is that students in mathematics experience transformative feelings of negative self-efficacy that lead to a lack of student engagement and achievement. The…

In a group randomized trial of 45 elementary schools, a whole-child health and wellness curriculum introduced as a regular part of the educational programming was compared to education as usual over 2 years with a 2-year follow-up. The curriculum focused on integrating multiple SEL skills--mindfulness, compassion, and physical awareness--with the…

Social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula are being increasingly implemented with young children; however, access to comprehensive programs can be prohibitive for programs limited by finances, time, or other factors. This article describes an exploratory case study that investigates the use of creative activity in the direct promotion of empathy…

This quantitative study was conducted to determine if (a) there was a significant difference in the percentage of student office discipline referrals before and after Social- Emotional Learning (SEL) implementation in 3rd through 5th grade, (b) there was a significant difference in the percentage of student in-house mental health referrals before…

This study examined the efficacy of the TELL preschool curriculum for promoting the acquisition of oral language and early literacy skills in preschool children from low-income families. National assessment results indicate a sustained and persistent achievement gap in the reading skills of children from more- versus less-advantaged backgrounds…

This study examined the impact of knowledge-building curricula on raising reading achievement for students from high-poverty backgrounds. The overall purpose of the study was to contribute to our understanding of curricula that may be effective in closing achievement gaps for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds compared to…

This study involved a pilot implementation of an evidence based school readiness intervention in new community contexts. The Head Start Research Based, Developmentally Informed (REDI) program was implemented in preschools on and near a Native American reservation with both indigenous and non-indigenous students and teachers. The REDI curriculum…

Background: Most children do not eat enough fruits and vegetables (FV). Schools are a critical setting for supporting children to consume FV. To fill a gap in available materials, a classroom curriculum was developed and evaluated to determine impacts on student FV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Methods: A pre-/post-intervention…

Launched in 2016 and led by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (The Trust), CoolThink@JC is scaling the study of computational thinking to primary 4-6 students across the territory. By early 2023, the CoolThink network had enrolled 204 schools in six cohorts, achieving a critical mass of schools that will have adopted the 14-hour curriculum…

This research brief describes the professional development (PD) experiences of Head Start staff (program directors, center directors, teachers, and other staff), using nationally representative data from the spring 2017 round of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014-2018 (FACES 2014). First we describe the landscape of PD for a…

The model in which the interactions of administrators, teachers, and other school personnel contribute to school improvement is identified as distributed leadership in the literature. Distributed leadership can lead to transformational change within the school that indirectly leads to instructional improvements in academic capacity. Additionally,…

The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences has called for targeted efforts to engage underserved youth in environmental education programs that support environmental literacy and contribute to the development of a diverse workforce pipeline for environmental science-related occupations. Evidence suggests that career knowledge among…

This study examines teacher implementation of an adolescent literacy curriculum designed as an intervention for students reading two years below grade level. Specifically, this work focuses on the adaptations made by four experienced teachers in a single school that sustained implementation of this curriculum after the intervention trial had…

Purpose: Many children begin school with limited vocabularies, placing them at a high risk of academic difficulties. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention program, "Story Friends," designed to improve vocabulary knowledge of at-risk preschool children. Method: Twenty-four early-childhood…