School effectiveness is a topic of interest addressed by numerous research projects focused on clarifying which variables contribute to the explanation of educational performance. This research aims to find out to what extent social, cultural, and academic variables at the student and school levels, as perceived by families, influence performance,…

The far-reaching impacts of the teacher-child relationship, including academic achievement and social/behavioral adjustment, have been well-documented. At the same time, literature also suggests that teacher perceptions of teacher-child relationships are impacted by the race/ethnicity match or mismatch between teacher and child, with matching…

This within-subjects experimental study investigated the influence of the arts on cortisol for economically disadvantaged children. Participants were 310 children, ages 3-5 years, who attended a Head Start preschool and were randomly assigned to participate in different schedules of arts and homeroom classes on different days of the week. Cortisol…

Research to increase the early vocabulary development of urban students has emphasized the central role of teachers and the ways in which teachers use intervention curricula and strategies in their classroom contexts. This study explores teachers' fidelity to different components of a vocabulary intervention, specifically their use of prescribed…

Item response theory (IRT) models are the main psychometric approach for the development, evaluation, and refinement of multi-item instruments and scaling of latent traits, whereas multilevel models are the primary statistical method when considering the dependence between person responses when primary units (e.g., students) are nested within…

This study uses data from a comprehensive database of U.S. early childhood education program evaluations published between 1960 and 2007 to evaluate the relationship between class size, child-teacher ratio, and program effect sizes for cognitive, achievement, and socioemotional outcomes. Both class size and child-teacher ratio showed nonlinear…

This study used ECLS-K 1998-1999 data to evaluate whether specific kindergarten teaching practices predicted school-year learning gains differently, depending on children's ethnicity, SES, and fall test scores. Exploratory factor analyses guided the creation of four literacy and five math instruction composites from teachers' reports of their…

The purpose of this study was to explain the variability in data collected from a single-case design study and to identify predictors of communicative outcomes for children with developmental delays or disabilities (n = 4). Using SAS® University Edition, we fit multilevel models with time nested within children. Children's level of baseline…

There is a dearth of research on Tier 1 instruction designed to improve the mathematics achievement of English learners. This study examined the impact of a core kindergarten mathematics curriculum on the mathematics achievement of Spanish-speaking English learners (SS-ELs). Secondary aims tested for differential response to the curriculum among…

There is a dearth of research on Tier 1 instruction designed to improve the mathematics achievement of English learners. This study examined the impact of a core kindergarten mathematics curriculum on the mathematics achievement of Spanish-speaking English learners (SS-ELs). Secondary aims tested for differential response to the curriculum among…

This study investigates potential predictors of teacher-child relationships (i.e., closeness and conflict) focusing on child gender, teacher-child ethnicity match, and teacher education. Additionally, the study explores the possible moderation effect of teacher education on the associations between teacher-child relationships and child gender or…

Data about processes and outcomes of preschool teacher education is scarce. This paper examines the opportunities to learn (OTL) of prospective preschool teachers (N = 1,851) at different types and stages of preschool teacher education and their relation to general pedagogical knowledge (GPK), mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK), and…

Understanding differences in oral language abilities is vital, particularly for children from low-income homes and minority children who are at an increased risk for academic failure because of differences or deficits in language use or exposure before they enter school. The purpose of this study was to investigate oral language performance,…

Purpose: This study examined normative change in children's levels of social competence and parent-child interactions (PCIs) from kindergarten through second grade as well as relations between levels of PCI and children's social development. Methods: Multiple waves of data were collected from parents and teachers of 379 children ranging in age…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of diagnostic formative assessment feedback on early literacy skills. The participants were 12 first-grade general education teachers and 51 of their students who were assigned to the following treatments, diagnostic feedback and skills feedback (control) which lasted for 10 weeks. During the…