As part of a larger longitudinal project on the assessment of preschoolers' social-emotional development, children's social information processing (SIP) responses to unambiguous hypothetical situations of peer provocation were assessed for 298 four-year-olds from Head Start and private childcare settings. Measurement focused on emotions children…

This study used data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 4-year-old cohort to examine associations among family characteristics, home and classroom environments, and the emergent literacy skills of Head Start children. Results from hierarchical linear models suggest that both family and classroom contexts play a…

In the 1998 reauthorization of Head Start, Congress mandated that the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) determine, on a national level, the impact of Head Start on the children it serves. As noted by the Advisory Committee on Head Start Research, this legislative mandate required that the impact study address two main research…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ˜ 6,950), a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001, we examined school readiness (academic skills and socioemotional well-being) at kindergarten entry for children who attended Head Start compared with those who experienced other types of child care…

Background: Language minority students, who are mostly immigrant students tend to perform at lower levels in school and to be at risk of school failure when they are limited in English proficiency (LEP). Objective: Based on the previous studies that addressed the importance of students' social skills for school success, I examined the social…

Research has demonstrated mixed results regarding differences in social and emotional characteristics between gifted and typical populations. The purpose of this secondary analysis of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) is to investigate the affective characteristics of early mathematics and literacy ability…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 13,970), we examined whether two aspects of school-family connections, parental involvement and communication quality, accounted for the association between classroom composition and children's academic and socioemotional functioning following the transition to…

Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort were used to examine the extent to which early parenting predicted African American children's kindergarten social-emotional functioning. Teachers rated children's classroom social-emotional functioning in four areas (i.e., approaches to learning, self-control, interpersonal…

Growing evidence has linked center-based early care and education settings to improvements in children's cognitive skills. Additional research is needed to more carefully delineate when and for whom these associations are most pronounced. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ˜ 6,350; Flanagan & West, 2004),…

The urban-rural continuum provides unique contexts for development. Differences in access to resources and childrearing norms and practices in urban, suburban, and rural areas may be linked to disparities in early achievement. Yet, few studies examine associations between urbanicity and children's early academic skills. Using nationally…

Research Findings: Previous research has suggested that children from immigrant families face multiple stressors associated with acculturation. One component of acculturation that has not been widely explored in relation to children's socioemotional development is limited English proficiency (LEP). Given that English is the main language used in…

Recent studies reveal early and wide gaps in cognitive and oral language skills--whether gauged in English or Spanish--among Latino children relative to White peers. Yet, other work reports robust child health and social development, even among children of Mexican American immigrants raised in poor households, the so-called "immigrant…

We revisit Harry L. Gracey's perspective of kindergarten as academic boot camp where, at school entry, children acquire the student role through a structured program of activities. We provide further insights into the crucial mechanisms of socialization that occur in U.S. kindergartens by examining the relationship between within-class ability…

A substantial body of research has reported significant associations between children's levels of self-control and a variety of academic and behavioural outcomes. As a result, studies have begun to investigate the factors involved in the development of self-control. The current study builds on this body of research and examines the extent to which…

The association among mothers', fathers', and infants' risk and cognitive and social behaviors at 24 months was examined using structual equation modeling and data on 4,200 on toddlers and their parents from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. There were 3 main findings. First, for cognitive outcomes, maternal risk was directly…