Civic engagement is recognized as a critical process to address environmental and other societal issues. To examine the intersection between environmental education and civic engagement, as reported in the peer-reviewed literature, we undertook a systematic mixed studies review to identify environmental education program outcomes related to civic…

Since the NC Pre-K (More at Four) Program began in 2001-2002, a variety of statewide evaluation studies have been conducted by the FPG Child Development Institute. These annual evaluations have included several studies of program services, classroom quality, and children's outcomes during pre-k as well as longer-term into kindergarten and third…

As a result of public discussions regarding Germany's standing on international rankings of student achievement, increased attention was focused on enhancing cognitive stimulation in preschools. There are some concerns that preschool curricula that focus more on cognitive stimulation rather than on socio-emotional skills might neglect the…

The current study evaluated the initial efficacy of three intervention programs aimed at improving school readiness in preschool children with externalizing behavior problems (EBP). Participants for this study included 45 preschool children (76% boys; M[subscript age] = 5.16 years; 84% Hispanic/Latino background) with at-risk or clinically…

Reviews twelve experimentally-designed longitudinal studies of infant education programs. Suggests that the more intense programs, those that had more hours of contact with children and included parents and children, had more positive intellectual effects on the children, parent behaviors, and family life circumstances. (KH)

Since the early 1980s we have been engaged in the design, implementation, and evaluation of "cognitive acceleration" programs, which claim to enhance students' general intellectual processing skills. We have published extensive data showing long-term effects of these programs on students? cognitive development and academic achievement. In this…

Early evidence from an evaluation of the Child and Family Resource Program (a Head Start demonstration) suggests that this program influences parent-child interaction in ways that promote children's social and cognitive development. (Author)

Research Findings: Integrated services for young children and families are part of the new policy landscape in early childhood, but there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of these programs and how they develop on the ground. This study examined the use of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) as both a summative program evaluation tool…

A preschool program in rural Bangladesh was evaluated in terms of cognitive and social outcomes of children. The preschools provided a half-day program, 6 days a week, with free play, stories, and instruction in literacy and math. Four hundred children between 4.5 and 6.5 years were assessed, half in preschools and half in villages where there…

This review draws on research literature concerning preschool programs for at-risk children in the United States. Studies cited are those that meet relatively high standards of research quality. The term "at-risk" refers to children who are considered liable to develop behavioral problems and experience school failure because of their…

An elementary-school self-contained gifted class was compared to a control group on a general test of cognitive ability. Program participants exhibited significantly higher gains than did controls, and at the end of the program, participants also rated the quality of their school life more highly than did controls. (Author/JDD)

Educators, researchers, and policymakers now acknowledge the importance of early childhood education for all preschool children. Unfortunately, studies have found that while most preschool children spend at least a portion of their days in care outside the home, they are not in settings of sufficient quality to produce later learning outcomes.…

Preliminary findings of an analysis of Head Start research evidence amassed from 1965 to the present are reported in this document, along with a summary of conclusions from related studies of preschool programs. Specifically presented are long-term findings of the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies concerning the lasting benefits of preschool…

Used hierarchical linear modeling to explore the effects of the social context of Chapter 1 prekindergarten classrooms on 4-year-olds' learning. Found that children made smaller gains on the Preschool Inventory over the preschool year in classrooms with higher concentrations of minorities, children with special needs, recent immigrants, and…

An evaluation of the New York State Experimental Prekindergarten Program was begun in 1975 to provide longititudinal data on the effects of prekindergarten on children's development over a period of 5 years. Data were collected on a variety of items, including children's test performance at various times, family background, ratings by teachers,…