This large scale multi-year project evaluates the effectiveness of the Raising a Reader program and the Family Nights program as implemented according to manualized procedures in actual preschool and home environments. Specifically, these programs were added as a supplement to some classrooms that were already participating in the Texas Early…

Children in the United States are less active and more overweight today than at any time in history, and there has been a dramatic increase in obesity. Obesity can lead to physical and psychological health issues. Many adults recognize the health issues that can stem from childhood obesity, but may not be aware of the clear implication of the…

The context of military service has changed greatly since the events of 9/11. The forward deployment of service members to active war zones, which involves the issues of separation, time away from home, and eventual reunion, increases the vulnerability of their families to multiple, negative short-term and long-term effects. This article explores…

Glycemic index (GI) represents the postprandial glucose response of carbohydrate foods, and glycemic load (GL) represents the quantity and quality of carbohydrate consumed. A diet lower in GI and GL may improve diabetes management. A 9-week intervention regarding GI and GL was evaluated among adults in the age range of 40-70 years who had had type…

In this article, the author shares some of the ideas from 10 programs that make change happen in their community. Among others, the Sunshine House in Greenwood, South Carolina has implemented a program in selected markets that they called "Families First." This program is geared for families who have experienced a lay-off or reduction in work…

Between one-half and three-fourths of children entering foster care exhibit behavioral or social-emotional problems warranting mental health care. This paper, condensed and updated from a technical report prepared for Casey Family Programs in 2005, reviews evidence-based and promising interventions for the most prevalent mental conditions found…

REL Pacific at McREL, 1 of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), serves educators in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), Guam, Hawai'i, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic…

Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty, was the first comprehensive CCT program in a developed country. Launched in 2007 by New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), Family Rewards offered cash assistance to low-income…

The purpose of this study was to provide resources for families such that they would be well equipped to provide academic support at home; hence examining the impact of providing said resources and the subsequent impact on a first grade child's reading development. In this study, the researcher took a group of twenty students and divided them into…

Children living in poverty face considerable developmental risks. This report presents interim results from an evaluation of parental employment and educational services delivered within a two-generational, early childhood program targeting low-income families who are expecting a child or who have a child under age 3. This study is part of the…

This report sets out to estimate the total annual expenditures on children in New York City and to create a "fiscal map" to detail them. This fiscal map describes these expenditures according to a series of classifications, including age of child (early childhood, elementary, and high school); source of funding (public, tax-related, and…

This article presents the continued effects of a home-based intervention programme on child development outcomes and parenting practices in Bahrain. The intervention is the "Mother-Child Home Education Programme" (MOCEP) which was implemented in Arabic in the Kingdom of Bahrain beginning in 2001. One hundred and sixty-seven poor,…

The fastest-growing student population in U.S. schools today is children of immigrants, half of whom do not speak English fluently and are thus labeled English learners. Although the federal government requires school districts to provide services to English learners, it offers states no policies to follow in identifying, assessing, placing, or…

Only 8 percent of children born into poverty graduate from college by the age of 25. Consider what that means for the estimated 500,000 New York City kids living in poverty. It is a fact: The better educated a person is, the better her chances of upward mobility. So when fewer than one in 10 children born into poverty reach their academic…

"Kids' Share 2012: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2011," a sixth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends over the past 50 years in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that the size and composition of expenditures on children have changed considerably, but children have not…