Early childhood education in Kenya serves the critical purpose of preparing young children for primary education. Notwithstanding the associated benefits for society as a whole, the government of Kenya is involved minimally. Indeed, parents are responsible for planning, developing and managing different early childhood programs. Consequently,…

In this article, the author describes the growth and acceptance of achievement tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), over the past century, advocating that many SAT claims of equity, uniformity, technical reliability, and prediction, over traditional measures of academic achievement have been found to be illusory. Summarizing a series…

The purpose of the present study was to document the development and standardization of the "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" and to examine its factor structure, internal consistency, and criterion validity. Data from a nationally representative sample (N = 1,471) of preschool children with and without disabilities were…

The current study presents case reports of six children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who received intensive applied behavior analysis within the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS[R]) system and successfully integrated into mainstream education. The participants' interventions followed curricular…

To reduce the high repetition rates in early years of primary school, the government of Cambodia piloted a school readiness program (SRP) in the first two months of Grade 1 of primary school. This study examines whether such intervention has effects on students' immediate acquisition of school readiness skills as well as students' longer term…

Planning effectively for children with diverse backgrounds, learning styles, and school-readiness levels can be daunting. To better understand and respond to such challenges, early elementary educators need to become familiar with what it means to be a ready school, so they can assess and implement strategies to ensure success for all students. In…

The authors examined the way that teachers perceive the academic abilities of young boys before the start of formal schooling. Using a 1998 nationally representative sample of 10,956 boys assessed at the start of kindergarten, the authors showed that teachers perceive young boys who are shorter than the perceived norm as less academically capable…

In 2009, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Committee to Improve High School Graduation Rates and Achievement, led by then-Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia, released a report of 10 key recommendations for ensuring more students graduate from high school, and they graduate ready for college and careers. Among these 10 recommendations was…

Education leaders across the country confront a growing challenge: too many students are not college ready when they leave high school. Although indicators exist to identify students at risk of dropping out of high school, few indicators of students' college readiness are currently in place, and few districts have linked indicators to practices…

"Contemporary Debates in Childhood Education and Development" is a unique resource and reference work that brings together leading international researchers and thinkers, with divergent points of view, to discuss contemporary problems and questions in childhood education and developmental psychology. Through an innovative format whereby leading…

Every European nation has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and therefore has an obligation to protect and promote, with equity and without discrimination, the rights of all children. Yet, across Europe, the majority of poor Roma children face a challenging present and a difficult future. Their possibilities to succeed in life…

Many parents are concerned with helping their children prepare for the transition to kindergarten. For some children, the anxiety of entering kindergarten is matched by the anxiety of leaving the surroundings in which they have been nurtured and cared for, especially if it is a situation that has been a consistent one for the child over a long…

Routines are an important feature of family life and functioning in families with young children. Common daily routines such as dinnertime, bedtime, and waking activities are powerful organizers of family behavior and may be instrumental to children and families during times of transition, such as elementary school entry. Daily routines were…

This document consists of the single 2001 issue of a journal reporting new research in early childhood development conducted by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The issue focuses on pre-kindergarten programs, highlighting a recent assessment of the skills of entering…

The National Center for Educational Achievement (ACT/NCEA), a department of ACT, Inc., defines College and Career Readiness as when a student has reached an academic achievement level that indicates they are likely to have success in postsecondary learning or training that leads to skilled careers. This paper provides answers to the following…