Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with persistent academic achievement gaps, which necessitates evidence-based, scalable interventions to improve children's outcomes. The present study reports results from a replication and extension of a family-based training program previously found to improve cognitive development in lower-SES…

This study examined benefits of connecting meaning, speech, and print in vocabulary learning for kindergarten English learners. Students screened eligible with limited English proficiency were randomly assigned to two instruction conditions. Both groups received direct instruction in high frequency root words. One condition featured added…

The researchers examined how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in a small northern California school district assessed Spanish speaking English learning (EL) Latino children suspected of language impairments. Specifically we sought to (1) determine whether SLPs adhered to federal, state, and professional guidelines during initial assessments and…

This paper uses data from the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a nationally representative multisite randomized trial, to quantify variation in effects of Head Start during 2002-2003 on children's cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes relative to the effects of other local alternatives, including parent care. We find that (1) treatment and control…

Full-day pre-K students from the 2001-2002 cohort were more likely to pass the 2010 7th-grade reading TAKS than were kindergarten students from the 2002-2003 cohort who were assumed eligible for pre-K but did not attend pre-K in 2001-2002. There is a full report and a separate executive summary report. [For the executive summary of this study, see…

This study was designed to determine the amount of information obtainable when age-cluster norms (whereby student norms are available for 2- to 3-month age-group norms) are used instead of the usual grade-level norm grouping procedures. This distinction is particularly significant for studies of young children. Data included pre- and post-test…

The purpose of this study was to examine which of three instructional modalities was more effective in enhancing the ability of nonnative English speaking children to read during the first grade. In this study, sixty-three first-grade children were randomly selected from four first grade classes from two primary schools in a university town in a…

The Monongalia County (West Virginia) Even Start Program is a comprehensive, rural, home-based family literacy program that provides families with adult literacy education, parenting education, and early childhood education. Although all Even Start programs conduct some home visits, the Monongalia County program is unique in that home visits are…

Austin Independent School District provided full-day prekindergarten to 5,196 4-year-olds in 2008-2009 at 66 schools. Seventy percent or more of students made measureable gains on a test of receptive vocabulary, and average gains showed growth about two times greater than that expected for 4-year-olds after a 7-month period.

A study of the language proficiency assessment practices of 859 school psychologists, when working with bilingual or limited English proficient students, found that 62 percent of school psychologists conducted their own assessments and most often used the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised or the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody.…

This paper presents the development of the Arabic Picture Vocabulary Test (APVT), derived from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, for use in assessing the aural-vocabulary of newly arrived limited English proficiency children, from kindergarten through grade three, whose first language is Arabic. The APVT, an individually administered…

This report summarizes evaluation results from AISD's prekindergarten program during school year 2000-2001.

This article describes the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition, an assessment designed to test preschool children in vocabulary acquisition, screen both for giftedness and mental retardation, and measure English language proficiency in individuals for whom English is not a primary language. Its administration, standardization,…

In 1986-87, the Austin (Texas) Independent School District converted from a full-day prekindergarten program for low-achieving children to a half-day program to serve more limited-English-proficient (LEP) and low-income children (thereby meeting eligibility criteria in conformance with Texas House Bill 72). Half-day instructional time was 60% of…

This report summarizes evaluation results of the AISD prekindergarten program for the 2001-2002 school year.