Arts enrichment provides varied channels for acquiring school readiness skills and may offer important educational opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse needs. Study 1 examined achievement within an arts enrichment preschool that served low-income children. Results indicated that students practiced school readiness…

This article describes Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative, an accountability system implemented in 2005-06 that measures students' gains in college readiness, college credits earned, and degree or certificate completion. The goal of the initiative is to increase educational attainment by focusing on the critical momentum points…

Using data from the National Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project (N = 1851), the current study examined relations among cumulative family and social risk, assessed during infancy and the preschool years, and children's prekindergarten achievement, self-regulatory skills, and problematic social behavior, testing if these…

Over the past decade, there has been an increased need for the development and use of psychometrically acceptable measures to assess the behavioral and emotional strengths of young children served in statewide preschool and Head Start programs. One measure developed to address this need is the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale…

This article analyzes, "A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," a recently released report from the U.S. Department of Education. It begins with an analysis of the strengths of the report. The Blueprint argues for increased college access and more federal attention to public education.…

We know that social competence contributes to young children's adaptation to, and cognitive learning within, classroom settings. Yet initial evidence is mixed on the social competencies that Latino children bring to kindergarten and the extent to which these skills advance cognitive growth. Building from ecocultural and developmental-risk theory,…

This study examined developmental associations between growth in domain-general cognitive processes (working memory and attention control) and growth in domain-specific skills (emergent literacy and numeracy) across the prekindergarten year and their relative contributions to kindergarten reading and math achievement. One hundred sixty-four Head…

Most Mauritian children face a language challenge as they leave their homes and start school. While most Mauritian children speak a French-lexified Creole as home language, the Mauritian primary education programme promotes English as the main language of literacy and the only written medium of instruction. In such a context, the preschool has the…

"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…

This study examines early childhood educators' beliefs about "what" children need prior to before entering kindergarten. Focus group interviews were conducted with early childhood educators from three learning settings: public center-based programs, private center-based programs, and family child care centers. Qualitative methods were used to…

The education system is complex, but at its core, it is a learning partnership between the student, the family and teachers. This partnership -- supported by the Ministry -- is ultimately responsible for ensuring every learner receives a high quality education. A high quality education enables learners to realize their full potential and…

Inspired by innovative change already taking place in British Columbia communities and developed through many months of consultation with educators, students, parents and other British Columbians, BC's Education Plan responds to the realities and demands of a world that has already changed dramatically and continues to evolve. The engagement and…

Surveyed 260 school districts about kindergarten screening tests. Found tremendous variability in responses: 34 different tests were used in screening; main purposes of screening were to identify handicapped and gifted students, group students in kindergarten classes, make school readiness placements, and plan and individualize instruction.…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law, which changed the kindergarten entry age so that children must turn 5 by September instead of December to enroll. The new grade level was put into place to promote school readiness for California's youngest learners. It also established a new grade…

The Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP), a randomized, classroom-based mental health intervention, aimed to improve teachers' behavior management of preschoolers' dysregulated behavior. The current follow-up study examines potential impacts on academic skills of first graders by enhancing their ATL. This investigation seeks to answer three…