Research Findings: Very little research has examined whether the contributions of Head Start's Family Service Workers (FSWs) and family partnership services influence family and child outcomes. Using data from 215 families in the 2014 Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), this study used structural equation models to examine…

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…

This sequential mixed methods study evaluated the impact of the Chicago Parent Program (CPP) in 12 Baltimore Title I PreK programs on parent engagement and student outcomes from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Phase 1 (quasi-experiment; N = 11,996) compared PreK students whose parents enrolled in CPP with those whose parents did not enroll in CPP…

Research Findings: Structural racism places Black families at heightened risk for stress, parenting challenges, and child developmental concerns. These impacts on families persist across the lifespan, though Black families also thrive in spite of the oppression they face. Federally funded programs like Early Head Start (EHS) show promise in…

Research Findings In this study, we examined states' kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) policies between 2011 and 2018 and the possible impact federal funding policies may have had in their implementation. Between 2011 and 2018, 31 states received federal Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge awards and/or Enhanced Assessment Grants to support…

Two-generation programs are designed to provide services to children and their parents, yet the extent to which parents use family well-being and self-sufficiency services is not widely known. We used data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine the effect of early care and education on parents' use of family services. Demographic…

Research Findings: Family child care providers widely participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), yet their participation experiences have not been studied. To fill this gap, we used a mixed methods approach that combined survey data collected from a random sample of 224 CACFP-participating licensed family child care providers…

Research Findings: Marginal food security is less studied relative to food insecurity but may also have adverse effects on family outcomes. The present study examined whether parental stress mediated the relationship between marginal food security (MFS) and preschool-aged children's observed self-regulation at three early education centers located…

Research Findings: The ability to manage emotions is thought to be important for regulating stress at a physiological level, yet no prior published studies have examined young children's emotion understanding or knowledge in relation to the stress hormone cortisol. The present study investigated the statistical relation between emotion knowledge…

Research Findings: Many policy efforts designed to improve the quality of early care and education (ECE) settings in the United States have focused on increasing teachers' education levels, despite the weak evidence linking education to quality. Much of this evidence comes from studies with single-sector samples (e.g., only child care, Head Start,…

"Research Findings:" Teachers in early care and education (ECE) face tremendous challenges, which can lead to poor well-being, low job satisfaction, and high turnover rates. Thus, it is essential to understand the factors related to job satisfaction as well as the well-being resources that teachers need. The study used multilevel…

Research Findings: We examined whether Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms are associated with their engagement in high-quality conversations with children, and we considered the extent to which this association is consistent across classroom contexts and activities. Observations of Head Start teachers' conversations with children were…

Using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 Cohort, this study investigated the school readiness trajectories of 2,908 Head Start children from Head Start to kindergarten. Multilevel growth curve models examined differences by immigrant-origin status and the moderating role of enriching experiences. Research Findings:…

This study described infant/toddler teachers' (N = 106) perceptions of stress intensity and exhaustion (emotional, physical, mental) intensity. We examined the associations between stress and exhaustion and teachers' reports of stress sources and coping strategy use. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), teachers from Early Head Start…

Children from low-income families often enter kindergarten academically behind their higher income peers. Recent findings also indicate gaps in social-emotional aspects of school readiness, raising questions about cross-domain relations. Using a subsample (N = 3,485) of 3- and 4-year-olds attending center-based programming in the Head Start Impact…