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…

Building on extensive feedback from the field as well as vigorous new research on how best to support infant and toddler development and learning, the authors have revised and updated the widely used "Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale." ITERS-3 is the next-generation assessment tool for use in center-based child care programs for…

The Nuffield Early Language Intervention is designed to improve the spoken language ability of children during the transition from nursery to primary school. It is targeted at children with relatively poor spoken language skills. Three sessions per week are delivered to groups of two to four children starting in the final term of nursery and…

In this study 44 undergraduate students in a language development course participated in service learning with preschool homeless and low-income children as a course requirement. Students completed a survey, questionnaires, reflective journaling, and small-group debriefing sessions. Based on current views on brain-based learning from cortical…

MyTeachingPartner (MTP) is a teacher professional development program designed to improve the quality of teacher-child interactions in pre-kindergarten classrooms and children's language and literacy development. The program includes language/literacy activities and two Web-based resources--video exemplars of effective interactions and…

The Community Connections preschool program (herein referred to as Community Connections) was developed to help prepare children in home-based child care for success in school and in life. It has three goals: (1) to make state prekindergarten classroom experiences available to children in home-based care, (2) to extend classroom learning…

The federal Early Head Start (EHS) program began in 1995, and a randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 17 EHS programs. In all, 3,001 low-income families (35% African American, 24% Hispanic, and 37% White) with a pregnant women or an infant under the age of 12 months were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group (with…

This article discusses the kinds of instructional activities that young children need to develop basic language and literacy skills based on recent research and program evaluations. This includes approaches to develop alphabetic understanding, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and oral language. Activities and materials from the Pre-kindergarten…

The purpose of this study was to describe the level of language maturity and the effect of a preschool language program on the language development of urban, Southern 4-year-olds. The 147 subjects (57 lower status blacks, 40 lower status whites, and 50 upper status whites) all participated in five-day per week prekindergarten programs. Dependent…

The implementation of a comprehensive reform model for early childhood programs, Curiosity Corner, developed by the Success For All Foundation at the request of the New Jersey Department of Education, is evaluated in this study. The program was implemented in 27 child care and preschool classes in 4 high poverty urban areas and outcomes were…

This is a followup study of second and third grade children who experienced differential treatment during their kindergarten year. A total of 72 disadvantaged black children comprised the sample which was divided into three groups. Group A received a special sequential Learning to Learn Program. Group B participated in a traditional kindergarten…

A Parent Assistance Plan (PAP) was designed to teach parents to work on their children's language at home. Of four matched groups of nursery children, one received PAP, one PAP plus Distar language at school, one Distar only, and one no treatment. PAP groups showed significantly greater language development. (Author/SJL)

The Saginaw Prekindergarten program for educationally disadvantaged children is designed to provide 4-year-old children with an environment that will enable them to develop skills needed for future success in school. The process evaluation conducted in 1995 consisted of an on-site, half-day classroom observation at 8 of the 15 prekindergarten…