Early fine motor ability is significantly associated with later achievement, even after controlling for typical child-level predictors of school outcomes. Previous longitudinal studies have confirmed this but typically have not included low-income, at-risk populations. Research has distinguished two different aspects of fine motor skills: those…

Described in this report is a home-based, cognitive-affective intervention program involving 93 mothers and their children. This demonstration program sought to show that the principal cognitive element missing from the experience of low-income children in preparation for schooling is a sufficient amount of concept-building verbal interaction in…

Middle and upper class 3- and 4-year-old children were exposed to three consecutive 5-week treatment conditions in the naturalistic setting of a half-day laboratory nursery school program. During the first treatment condition, the teacher emphasized low level cognitive questions; during the second, high level cognitive questions; and during the…

The Pennsylvania Preschool Inventory (PPI) was developed as a straight-forward and efficient measure of the relative cognitive development of the young child, offering an alternative to more complicated, elaborate assessment instruments. Results of the inventory are potentially relevant to both current and future school success of children between…

This final report of an ESEA Title III program compared the impact of a 3-year interracial preschool program on cognitive and social development on two treatment groups and a control group. Group 1 had parents and children participating in a preschool classroom, and the parents also participated in parent education programs. Group 2 had a separate…

This report focuses on three main questions: (1) To what extent does a Head Start experience accelerate the rate at which disadvantaged preschoolers acquire cognitive skills? (2) Are the Planned Variation models, simply by virtue of sponsorship more effective than ordinary nonsponsored Head Start programs? and (3) Are some Planned Variation models…

This document contains appendixes to the Rand report which include: (1) recommendations for program evaluation and research made by a panel of 12 black professionals, (2) reaction papers by three black professionals and three Spanish-surnamed professionals, and (3) an expanded discussion of the technical measures proposed in the main report. Major…