In the push to boost young people's social and emotional learning (SEL), assessment has lagged behind policy and practice. We have few usable, feasible, and scalable tools to assess children's SEL. And without good assessments, teachers, administrators, parents, and policymakers can't get the data they need to make informed decisions about SEL.…

Parents, professionals, and policymakers agree that quality is crucial for early education. But precise, consistent, and valid definitions of quality have been elusive. In this article, Robert Pianta, Jason Downer, and Bridget Hamre tackle the questions of how to define quality, how to measure it, and how to ensure that more children experience…

In this article the author's research reports that giftedness is a combination of advanced development and creativity. It is developmental in nature in that it begins as potential (generally in young people), evolves into achievement within recognizable domains during the school years, and becomes increasingly advanced (compared with peers)…

Think of all the skills that children have to learn when they come into the world: smiling, turning over, responding to people, communicating, eating solid food, crawling, standing, and on and on. These skills are expected to emerge naturally over time and it is known more or less when they should. This timetable for skills to emerge is commonly…

In this paper we discuss several key challenges encountered when conducting a study of the continuity of participation in the child care subsidy program. While many of these issues are familiar to those who have studied participation dynamics in other assistance programs, and to those familiar with survival analysis, we describe these challenges…

This technical report presents issues related to defining and applying accountability systems for young children, including those with disabilities. It notes that reaching shared perspectives on definitions of accountability systems and their constituents remains complicated by the number of levels to which such systems can apply (e.g., child-,…

This manual provides a state-of-the art review of child neglect in the United States, its nature, causes, and the implications of that knowledge for preventive and remedial intervention. After an introduction, the first chapter considers the definition of neglect including types of neglect, the withholding of medically indicated treatment from…

A survey was conducted to determine states' progress towards developing a definition for developmentally delayed infants and toddlers as required by Public Law 99-457, Part H. Results of the survey, conducted in the summer of 1988, indicated that many states had made a great deal of progress toward developing a policy regarding the definition of…

As a product of the Early Childhood Subcommittee of the National Education Statistics Agenda Committee of the National Forum on Education Statistics, this report evaluates the types of data needed to assess the status of children in their preschool years, evaluate the impact of their early experiences, and address policy questions related to early…