As policymakers adopt policies for pre-K programs, they want to know that the programs are effective. Do the gains last? This brief report presents information that pre-k yields short-term academic gains; pre-k yields long-term academic gains; and pre-k yields substantial nonacademic benefits.

In an attempt to address risk factors associated with extensive nonfamilial child care, we implemented the preschool life skills (PLS) program (Hanley, Heal, Tiger, & Ingvarsson, 2007) in two community-based Head Start classrooms. A multiple baseline design across classrooms, repeated across skills, showed that the program resulted in a 5-fold…

The 17th edition of "The State of Preschool," the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) report on their annual survey of state preschool policies, provides government policymakers valuable information for planning short- and long-term responses to the crisis. The report includes information for every state on child…

Calls for universal preschool programs have become commonplace, reinforced by President Obama's call for "high-quality preschool for all" in 2013. Any program that could cost state and federal taxpayers $50 billion per year warrants a closer look at the evidence on its effectiveness. This report reviews the major evaluations of preschool…

The "State of Preschool 2018" is the 16th edition of the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER's) annual report tracking state-funded preschool access, resources, and quality. Since 2002, the preschool landscape has changed in many ways; and in others, it has remained the same--highlighting the need for a renewed…

"The State of Preschool 2017" is the 15th edition of the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) annual report tracking state-funded preschool access, resources, and quality. Since 2002, many states have made progress, a few have fallen behind, and a handful have emerged as leaders. As a result, disparities in access to…

"The State of Preschool 2016" is the latest edition of our annual yearbook report profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. NIEER's [National Institute for Early Education Research's] "State Preschool Yearbook" is the only national report on state-funded preschool programs with detailed information…

This article reports the outcomes of an experimental evaluation of "Read Well Kindergarten" (RWK), a program that focuses on the development of vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and decoding. Kindergarten teachers in 24 elementary schools in New Mexico and Oregon were randomly assigned, by school, to teach RWK…

The "2015 State of Preschool Yearbook" profiles state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This Yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2014-2015 school year as well as documenting more than a decade of change in state pre-K since the first Yearbook collected data on the 2001-2002 school year.…

More high quality child care is needed in the United States. This article evaluates the Better Kid Care (BKC) program produced by Pennsylvania State University Extension. Child care staff in Wisconsin were interviewed about changes they had made in their early childhood programs following participation in the BKC program. Findings show that 2…

Research Findings: Assessment and accountability have been given prominent attention in the field of education in recent decades. Educators have been debating what assessment is, how it is practiced in school, and how it is used for accountability purposes. A case study was conducted of the assessment practices in a Hong Kong preschool to…

Research Findings: An effective quality rating system will lead to quality assurance and improvement of early childhood education programs. Many studies have been conducted to examine the validity of quality rating instruments in Western countries, but few have been done in China. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the Beijing…

"Evaluation Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study evaluating the effects of an early childhood program or environment. This Brief evaluates the study "An Effectiveness-Based Evaluation of Five State Pre-Kindergarten Programs" (V. C. Wong, T. D. Cook, W. S. Barnett, and K. Jung.) States have high aspirations for…

The purpose of present paper was twofold. Firstly, it aimed at outlining the rationale for and the process of introducing an English language learning intervention to kindergarten children in a playful and supportive environment. It focused on developing children's oral skills through participating in creative child-appropriate activities and…

Research Findings: This article is a natural follow-up to intent-to-treat findings indicating that the MyTeachingPartner Consultancy, inclusive of online video resources and Web-mediated consultation, improved the quality of pre-K teachers' interactions with children. This study takes a close look at implementation fidelity within the effective…