For over five decades, teen parent programs (TPPs) have offered mothers an opportunity to increase their self-sufficiency and invest in their children's development. Yet to date, no systematic review has examined overall effects of these programs on parenting behaviors or child developmental outcomes. Using a meta-analytic database of 25 studies,…

This paper uses meta-analytic techniques to estimate the separate effects of the starting age, program duration, and persistence of impacts of early childhood education programs on children's cognitive and achievement outcomes. It concentrates on studies published before the wide scale penetration of state-pre-K programs. Specifically, data are…

Despite evidence that high-quality preschool programs have substantial, long-lasting impacts on young children's developmental outcomes, associations between preschool quality measures and children's cognitive outcomes within preschool programs are generally small or null. Using data from a large urban prekindergarten program, we examined…

We have many reasons to invest in preschool programs, including persistent gaps in school readiness between children from poorer and wealthier families, large increases in maternal employment over the past several decades, and the rapid brain development that preschool-age children experience. But what do we know about preschool education's…

We assessed impacts on classroom quality and on 5 child language and behavioral outcomes of a 2-year teacher professional-development program for publicly funded prekindergarten and kindergarten in Chile. This cluster-randomized trial included 64 schools (child N = 1,876). The program incorporated workshops and in-classroom coaching. We found…

Despite consensus that school absenteeism has negative consequences for children's life outcomes, until recently, little was known about the prevalence of absenteeism or its potential to moderate the impacts of school-based interventions. This study provides evidence from a randomized experiment of a preschool intervention involving 1,876 children…

Publicly funded prekindergarten programs have achieved small-to-large impacts on children's cognitive outcomes. The current study examined the impact of a prekindergarten program that implemented a coaching system and consistent literacy, language, and mathematics curricula on these and other nontargeted, essential components of school readiness,…

Grounded in person-environment fit theory, this study examined whether low-income mothers' preferences for education moderated the effects of employment- and education-focused welfare programs on children's positive and problem behaviors. The sample included 1,365 families with children between ages 3 and 5 years at study entry. Results 5 years…

The authors examined the effects of antipoverty programs on children's cumulative poverty-related risk and the relationship between cumulative poverty-related risk and child outcomes among low-income families. Samples included 419 children ages 3-10 years in the New Hope program and 759 children ages 2-9 years in the Minnesota Family …

Explores why mental health has been a contested issue in Head Start and describes recent efforts to bring mental health closer to the center of the program agenda. Describes areas of challenge and innovation that might further the program goal of improving the well-being of parents and children in poverty. Concludes with recommendations for…

Reviews the literature on delinquency that shows key early childhood factors which are associated with later antisocial or delinquent behavior. The review focuses on programs which have demonstrated long-term effects on antisocial behavior or delinquency, as well as their cost effectiveness. The article reveals that programs combining family…