The authors examine the effects of poverty-related adversity on child development, drawing upon psychobiological principles of experiential canalization and the biological embedding of experience. They integrate findings from research on stress physiology, neurocognitive function, and self-regulation to consider adaptive processes in response to…

Many people in non-native English speaking countries learn English as a second language at school. Moreover, most countries build it into the curriculum of national education ranging from elementary to university levels of education. As a compulsory subject in many countries, it is necessary that the students learn the language. They must be able…

Guided by a developmental-ecological framework and Head Start's two-generational approach, this study examined two dimensions of Head Start program quality, classroom quality and parent involvement and their unique and interactive contribution to children's vocabulary, literacy, and mathematics skills growth from the beginning of Head Start…

It is the responsibility of every early childhood program director to support the development of staff, to ensure that teachers and caregivers have the skills and understanding they need to provide the highest quality of services to children. For Head Start directors, this same responsibility is intensified by federal mandates and a mission…

The shifting ideological winds of foreign aid donors have driven their policy towards governments in poor countries. Donors supported state-led development policies in poor countries from the 1940s to the 1970s; market and private-sector driven reforms during the 1980s and 1990s; and returned their attention to the state with an emphasis on…

This case study will describe how the Stony Brook University Libraries instruction program partnered with another student support service (student computing office) to nurture a relationship with the Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) over several years to provide their students with the library research and computer skills needed to succeed…

While researchers have begun to examine the experiences of working class students in undergraduate education more closely, we know less about the experiences of working class students in graduate school. Through a nationwide survey of graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in Sociology, we examined the extent to which working class students…

Western Michigan University is building an innovative program to make welcome those students who were raised in foster care and to help them earn their diplomas without having to shoplift or trespass over the holidays. Many of the students have comfortable apartments on the campus, and a hall was kept open over the holiday break for dorm residents…

This study investigated a video-based self-evaluation package focused on Head Start teachers' use of praise. Fifty-one Head Start teachers were randomly assigned to one of three groups: immediate self-evaluation, delayed self-evaluation, or a control. The dependent measures were frequency of general and specific praise statements. The independent…

Dual enrollment is viewed by many as part of a promising college preparation strategy for a broad range of students. But as participation in dual enrollment has expanded across the country, there has been increasing attention paid to the rigor and authenticity of dual enrollment courses, particularly for those courses held on high school campuses…

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australian schools continue to have poor education and health outcomes, and the introduction of a new national curriculum may assist in redressing this situation. This curriculum emphasises recommendations which have been circulating in the sector over many years, to require teacher education…

This article focuses on the discursive characteristics of peer assessment interactions, drawing upon recent research into formative assessment within a task design involving extended project-based work tackled in groups by pupils. Case studies were conducted within two schools in socially deprived areas of Scotland. They included classroom…

Coaching is one of several professional development approaches being used in early childhood to facilitate improved teacher instruction to promote child outcomes. Despite its use, little is known about how coaching promotes teacher knowledge and skills (Sheridan, Edwards, Marvin, & Knoche, 2009). We reviewed the early childhood coaching literature…

Tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease of childhood. The CincySmiles Foundation (CSF) developed an instrument to evaluate Head Start parents' knowledge of oral health care practices and to identify barriers Head Start parents face when seeking dental treatment for their children. Data from Head Start parents (n = 675) across 3…

Most epidemiological studies agree that economically disadvantaged populations are the groups most vulnerable to mental health problems and report lower quality of life among these populations. However, it appears that access to social support plays a role in protecting against the chronic stress resulting from conditions such as poverty. This…