Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at increased risk of persistent language and literacy difficulties. This study investigated the effectiveness of an 8-week parent-implemented shared book reading intervention designed to change parent and child book reading behaviours. Sixteen parents and their preschoolers on the autism…

Approximately 225,000 children from birth to age three are affected by developmental delays, and additionally, 49,000 are affected by a physical disability (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Fortunately there are policies and programs that help young children with disabilities achieve positive outcomes in school and live independent lives in the future.…

This paper uses data from the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a nationally representative multisite randomized trial, to quantify variation in effects of Head Start during 2002-2003 on children's cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes relative to the effects of other local alternatives, including parent care. We find that (1) treatment and control…

In this research, parents and children participated in a comprehensive book reading intervention designed to improve children's literacy. Over eight weeks during the summer, children in the intervention condition were encouraged to read one book weekly and parents were trained to foster reading comprehension. Forty-eight Grades 3 and 5 children…

This is a report on a one-year demonstration of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Home-Oriented Preschool Education Program conducted in Kanawha County, West Virginia, by the Kanawha County Board of Education. It involves 150 children, ages 3, 4, and 5 from a rural isolated section who watched 170 daily television lessons broadcast over a…

AS PART OF THE EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF FULL-YEAR HEAD START PROGRAMS, CHILDREN FROM A NATIONWIDE SAMPLE OF CENTERS WERE TESTED WITH FIVE INSTRUMENTS (PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST, PRE-SCHOOL INVENTORY, VINELAND SOCIAL MATURITY SCALE, DRAW-A-PERSON, AND BEHAVIOR INVENTORY). CENTERS WERE SELECTED TO BE REPRESENTATIVE OF PROGRAMS OF…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), was first launched in 1997 as a periodic longitudinal study of program performance. This report is the fourth in a series that uses data from the FACES 2006 cohort to describe…

Overview: A recent evaluation of children who had participated in the Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) as toddlers found that at kindergarten age, these children were performing at levels expected for their age, despite the fact that they had multiple factors putting them at risk for school failure. The Study: In the winter and spring of 2002, 135…

In order to expose disadvantaged preschool children to a variety of educational experiences and to health and social services, the New York State Legislature funded the State Experimental Prekindergarten Program (PreK). In 1975, a five-year longitudinal evaluation study was begun. The study has two major parts: (1) a general study of 5,800…