This report examines how performance standards in reading and math on PLAN[R], the organization's college and career readiness assessment for 10th graders, compare to performance on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide assessment of 15-year-old students' academic achievement. The results show that the performance…

Nearly all governors have designated a state early childhood advisory council to advise policymakers in the state on how to best meet the needs of children from birth to school entry. Early childhood advisory councils in the states vary in their structure and scope, but all of them provide recommendations on improving the quality, availability,…

To add to the emerging early intervention research on universal supports for children, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase teachers' use of two universal behavioral supports on target children's behavior. The children targeted for this study were at elevated risk for problem…

Emotions and behaviors observed during challenging tasks are hypothesized to be valuable indicators of young children's motivation, the assessment of which may be particularly important for children at risk for school failure. The current study demonstrated reliability and concurrent validity of a new observational assessment of motivation in…

The effects of economic hardship and language isolation in children's neighborhood communities were examined to determine their influence on young children's developmental outcomes on measures of academic and social skills above and beyond child and family characteristics that included home language, disability, gender, and mother's education…

This paper investigates the socioeconomic contexts navigated by low-income children enrolled in the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP), as they made the transition from preschool to elementary school. The authors focus on the following two questions. First, do families' exposure to poverty-related risks (i.e., low income, maternal…

To achieve President Obama's stated goal of providing a world-class education to every child in America, the administration has designed a blueprint for a reenvisioned federal role in education through the reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA"). The new "ESEA" will raise the bar for…

Pathways offer a promising strategy for transforming high schools and improving student outcomes. However, to achieve these desired results, pathways must be of high quality. To guide sites in planning and implementing such pathways, a design team of experts developed the criteria outlined in this document. Sites can choose to go through a…

This study of four national English language arts college readiness standards sets compares content alignment and level of alignment of the standards statements in three comparison sets to a benchmark set, the American Diploma Project (ADP), and analyzes the cognitive complexity of all four sets. Specifically, this report addresses two primary…

New discoveries in neuroscience suggest that school readiness interventions might come too late if they start after the child is three years old. Many of the skills needed to succeed in school are shaped during a baby's interactions with his or her caregivers. Unfortunately, the level of support and resources provided for new mothers and their…

ZERO TO THREE's "Parenting Infants and Toddlers Today" survey presents an opportunity to explore areas where African American, Hispanic, and White parents may differ in their perceptions of infant development. The article highlights some of the differences in these racial and ethnic groups, such as parents' understanding of early social and…

This study examined the direct and interactive effects of stress reactivity and family adversity on socioemotional and cognitive development in three hundred and thirty-eight 5- to 6-year-old children. Neurobiological stress reactivity was measured as respiratory sinus arrhythmia and salivary cortisol responses to social, cognitive, sensory, and…

This study examines the prevalence of home-school match in childrearing beliefs and socialization practices (control and support) and their relation to ethnicity and readiness skills of children (n = 310) making the transition from publicly sponsored Pre-k to kindergarten. Home-school match was operationalized both as a continuous absolute measure…

Much of the current debate about children's transition to school focuses on children's readiness for school. Indeed, Boethel (2004, p. 17) describes transition as the "focal point of readiness." Typically, this focus extends to considering children's competencies--particularly their skills and abilities--at the time of starting school.…

This study looks at attendance in the early grades of elementary school. In particular, the authors focus on students enrolled in Pre-Kindergarten (PreK) and Kindergarten (K). They follow these young students over several years to determine their pattern of chronic absence (CA), defined as missing more than one-ninth of days enrolled, and their…