Statistics show that if a child is a low reader at the end of first grade, they are more likely to be a low reader by the end of fourth grade. The United States has enacted multiple educational initiatives to combat shortfalls that many children demonstrate in literacy, but the number of children reading on grade level in the elementary grades are…

Head Start and state prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can boost the school readiness of low-income children through the use of effective preschool curricula. Encouraging results from some studies suggest that children who receive targeted or content-specific curricular supplements (e.g., literacy or math) during preschool show moderate to large…

Specialized preschool programs can enhance the development of vulnerable young children at risk of special educational needs (SEN). Less is known about the potential of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provided for the general population. This study includes 2,857 children attending 141 ECEC centres in England and 310 with no ECEC. ECEC…

Students' school success in literacy and numeracy is often hampered by limited prerequisites in these domains, yet the effectiveness of different approaches to support students is unclear. Using professional training programmes for kindergarten teachers, we tested the effects of three kindergarten approaches in a quasi-experimental pre- and…

Plans to improve literacy instruction (N = 1,504) developed by teachers and early literacy experts in coaching sessions (N = 280) conducted in 31 Head Start classrooms were examined to describe a general trajectory of coaching with regard to content coverage, pedagogical emphasis (instructional material, teaching behavior), and progression (new,…

This the executive summary of the 2013-2014 study which provided the baseline year for the longitudinal study. The study included observations of teaching practices in a random sample of 199 Georgia's Pre-K classrooms and assessments of the language, literacy, math, general knowledge, and behavior skills of a sample of 1,169 children attending…

The purpose of the 2013-2014 Georgia's Pre-K Program Evaluation was to examine the learning outcomes for children and the quality of their classrooms during Pre-K, as the baseline year of the Pre-K through third-grade longitudinal study. The primary evaluation questions addressed included: (1) What are the learning outcomes for children attending…

This is the third edition of the ECERS-E, formerly called "Assessing Quality in the Early Years: Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-E)." The ECERS-E is an instrument for measuring quality in literacy, numeracy, science and diversity as observable in pre-school in relation to child cognitive and social/behavioural…

A socioeconomic status (SES) gap in mathematical knowledge emerges early and widens prior to school entry. To address this gap, a curricular intervention, "Pre-K Mathematics," was developed and found to be effective in prior efficacy research. In the present project, the next step was taken in evaluating this intervention. Specifically,…

This study examined associations between quality of social and physical environments in preschools and children's development of academic, language, and literacy skills, and the extent to which preschool quality moderated the associations between child risk and development. Participants were a diverse sample of 540 four-year-old children in…

Twenty-six Head Start preschool classrooms participated in a yearlong intervention designed to link the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework with authentic assessment practices. Teachers in intervention and pilot classrooms implemented an assessment approach that incorporated the use of a curriculum-based assessment tool, the development of…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) collects data on a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs, classrooms, teachers, parents, and children examining the quality and effects of Head Start. Three waves of data collection have occurred: in 1997, 2000, and 2003. Information presented in this publication is…