Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, this study examined the cross-lagged relations between behavioral engagement and reading achievement in elementary school and whether these cross-lagged relations differed between low-socioeconomic status (SES) and mid-…

Many very young children attend early care and education programs, but current information about the quality of center-based care for toddlers is scarce. Using 2 observation instruments, the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, Toddler Version (CLASS-Toddler), 93 child care…

Although high-quality early care and education (ECE) is widely accepted as one of the most effective means for promoting early learning and development, many ECE programs have limited impact perhaps because of issues with how ECE quality is defined and measured. This study seeks to expand definitions of ECE quality by asking which preschool ECE…

The Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) was developed in response to a lack of validated instruments designed specifically to measure the quality of inclusive practices, and it is based on research evidence on the effectiveness of specialized instructional strategies for meeting the individual needs of children in inclusive settings (Odom, 2004;…

Teacher-child relationships have been linked to children's classroom engagement and to academic achievement. However, researchers have paid minimal attention to individual child factors that predict the development of these relationships. In the current study, we examined executive function (EF) prior to school entry as a predictor of…

Although publicly-funded prekindergarten (pre-k) programs have been designed to promote children's school readiness, programs have tended to support early literacy skills to a greater degree than early language skills. Given the importance of both language and literacy skills for children's reading acquisition and academic achievement, the present…

Participation in high-quality preschool can improve academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes for students of varying backgrounds, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., Andrews, Jargowsky, and Kuhne 2012; Barnett 2008; Camilli et al. 2010; Karoly and Bigelow 2005; Reynolds et al. 2007). However, some studies…

This descriptive study provides a snapshot of the correlations between a child's learning experiences a year before entering kindergarten and the reading/literacy skills a child has entering kindergarten. Early literacy assessment scores were used to evaluate the effectiveness of four categories of learning experiences prior to entering…

The Early Childhood Directors Leadership Institute (ECDLI) project addressed a need for effective professional development with a series of Institutes using the Program Administration Scale (PAS), the Program Management Inventory (PMI), and the Plan-Do-Study-Act model, over a 3-year period. Each of the 100 participating program directors in the…

The perceived benefits of outdoor learning have influenced recommendations and policies alike in early childhood education, yet one component (garden education) in Head Start preschools is inconsistent and researchers do not yet know why. The purposes of this qualitative interview study were to explore preschool teachers' experiences and…

"Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life" presents research findings on the effects of early childhood programs and practices in the first decade of life and their implications for policy development and reform. Leading scholars in the multidisciplinary field of human development and in early childhood learning…

This case study examined the effect of quality preschool programming on child outcomes in a blended inclusive preschool program implemented in an urban school system in the piedmont of North Carolina. The blended inclusive preschool program was a newly initiated program in this district and had been in place for only 1 school year. The purpose of…

Recent findings from the Kids Activity and Learning Study complement North Carolina's multidimensional approach to promoting school readiness by emphasizing the integrated nature of motor and cognitive development in early childhood. Children whose motor skills improved the most over the course of an academic year also tended to demonstrate the…

This study examines the community-wide effects of two statewide early childhood policy initiatives in North Carolina. One initiative provides funding to improve the quality of child care services at the county level for all children between the ages of 0 to 5, and the other provides funding for preschool slots for disadvantaged four-year-olds.…

Research Findings: The present study examined the transition practices reported by 59 pre-kindergarten (pre-k) and 186 kindergarten teachers in the rural Southeastern United States, and asked if transition practices related to skills at the beginning and end of kindergarten for 387 children. Analyses indicated kindergarten teachers offered more…