Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC) is a standardized model of positive behavior support designed to deliver individualized interventions for preschool-aged children with severe and persistent challenging behaviors. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare effects of PTR-YC with those of a "business as…

We examined the relations between teachers' use of comments during book reading sessions in preschool classrooms and the vocabulary growth of children with low and moderately low language ability. Using data from a larger randomized controlled trial, we analyzed comments defined as utterances that give, explain, expand, or define. Comments were…

This study described the commenting practices of Head Start teachers, and the relationship of comments to the expressive and receptive vocabulary growth of children with below-the-mean language ability across one year of preschool. Participants included 52 Head Start teachers, and 489 children (247 early intervention candidates and 242 Head Start…

In this study, the researchers aimed to design, plan and implement a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) model to support Pre-K children's skills and knowledge in STEM as well as to improve Pre-K teachers' attitudes and professional skills to plan and integrate STEM concepts in their daily classroom activities. Four classrooms from a…

Early interventions aim at promoting a good mother-child relationship as basis for a good socio-emotional development, especially in high-risk populations, and at correcting already unfavorable patterns of interaction and are common today. Insecure attachment, both of the child and of the mother, has been identified as a risk factor for early…

Many preschool language-focused interventions attempt to boost language and literacy skills in young children at risk in these areas of development, though the long-term effects of such interventions are not well-established. This study investigated kindergarten language and reading skills, specifically the subcomponents of vocabulary, decoding,…

We investigate the classwide efficacy of INSIGHTS, a universal social-emotional learning intervention for early elementary grades, on observed teacher practices and student behaviors. Twenty-two elementary schools (87% free/reduced lunch) were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or an attention-control condition. Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms…

Two intervention approaches designed to address the multifaceted academic and cognitive difficulties of low-income children who enter pre-K with very low math knowledge were tested in a randomized experiment. Blocking on classroom, children who met screening criteria were assigned to a Math + Attention condition in which the Pre-Kindergarten…

The purpose of the Childhood Resiliency Effects from Schoolwide Treatment (CREST) Pilot was to implement a comprehensive school wide social and character development program aimed at decreasing violence among students and assisting students exposed to violence in Belize City. This one-year pilot program implemented portions of the Positive Action…

This study examines changes in parent support and child emergent literacy skills over time as children moved from Head Start into kindergarten. It compares the transactional parent-child influences in families randomly assigned in Head Start to receive an enriched home visiting program that emphasized parents as teachers relative to a control…