The transition to kindergarten (TTK) occurs at a stage in a child's development when it can have a direct impact on later school success. For children with disabilities, TTK may be especially challenging, and U.S. federal policy provides limited guidance and mandates related to use of practices to support children with disabilities and their…

Vocabulary plays a critical role in later reading achievement of emergent bilingual children (EBC) who are learning two languages. Given emerging vocabulary intervention research for EBC, we synthesize studies on vocabulary interventions designed for preschool and kindergarten EBC to provide the cumulative knowledge on the following dimensions:…

We explore the classification accuracy of a parent and teacher report measure, the Inventory to Assess Language Knowledge (ITALK), to screen for developmental language disorder (DLD) in bilingual children. Participants were 120 Spanish-English bilingual children with typical development (TD) and 19 bilingual children with DLD, ranging in age from…

Early learning and development standards (ELDS) describe the knowledge, skills, and dispositions young children should demonstrate before kindergarten. This article describes a review of state ELDS for children from birth to 5 years of age to determine if they included information and guidance about the learning needs of young children with…

We conducted an exploratory study to investigate teachers' confidence and agreement with children when teachers and children identified close classroom friendships. Participants comprised six kindergarten teachers and 110 children, including 26 children with disabilities. Data were gathered from a friendship nomination questionnaire completed by…

This article reports on a 4-year follow-up study from the Learning Experiences and Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Their Parents (LEAP) randomized trial of early intervention for young children with autism. Overall, participants from LEAP classes were marginally superior to comparison class children on elementary school outcomes specific…

The "Getting Ready" intervention aims to strengthen parent-teacher partnerships to promote positive child outcomes. This study focused on the team process and social validity of the intervention when young children displayed challenging behaviors. Qualitative analysis yielded seven themes that provided a rich description of the preschool…

This article describes the use of "Teacher Impression Journals" during a larger study that examined the efficacy of an intervention program designed to promote kindergarteners' positive attitudes toward peers with disabilities (i.e., the "Special Friends" program). The journals were designed to gather information about…

This efficacy study investigated whether a class-wide disability awareness curriculum would result in increased close friendships for 26 kindergarteners with disabilities enrolled in six inclusive classrooms. Findings suggest that participation in a disability awareness curriculum alone does not lead to increased friendships. Evidence suggests…

This study investigated teachers' perspectives about two interventions designed to promote kindergarteners' attitudes toward peers with disabilities. Interviews with teachers were conducted following the 6-week interventions. Teachers shared views on the best and most difficult aspects of the interventions, perceived benefits for teachers and…

The transition to kindergarten is regarded as a critical early childhood developmental milestone with important implications for later school outcomes. Despite its importance, few empirical studies examine kindergarten transition and fewer examine transition from the perspective of multiple stakeholders. The goal of the current study was to…

The purpose of this multiple baseline study across participants was to examine a narrative retell intervention with guided self-monitoring on narrative macrostructure skills in low-income African American young children at risk for language disorders. Three target 4-year-old children in a mixed-age kindergarten class of nine students participated…

The purpose of this study was to examine (a) how parents and their kindergarten-age children talk about disabilities when they read books that include characters with disabilities and (b) the relationship between the frequency of mother/child comments about disabilities and children's attitudes toward peers with disabilities, as measured by…

The study assessed the value of maternal writing mediation in predicting children's early literacy. Thirty kindergartners with hearing impairment (HI) and their mothers participated. Mothers were videotaped at home while helping their children write words, and the children's early literacy was assessed in the kindergarten. Maternal writing…

This study investigated the effects of a supplemental early reading intervention program on the phonemic awareness and alphabetic principle skills of students identified as at risk for reading failure. Seven kindergarten students and one first-grade student received 20 min of supplemental reading instruction 3 days a week for 16, 12, and 8 weeks.…