Little evidence supports that siblings with autism exhibit the same behaviors; however, some findings suggest that level of functioning shows familial aggregation. We tested this notion among multiplex families participating with the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) Consortium, using scores on the "Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third…

Objective: As a follow-up to an earlier cross-sectional study (Holmbeck et al., 2003), the current multimethod, multi-informant investigation examined individual growth in psychosocial adjustment across the adolescent transition in 2 samples: young adolescents with spina bifida (SB) and typically developing adolescents (N = 68 in both groups at…

This study addressed questions about the relations between personal characteristics and aspects of home environments and young children's subsequent academically relevant peer interaction behaviors in kindergarten in a sample of 108 preschool-age children (57 males, 51 females) from 2 Midwest cities and neighboring communities. A year prior to the…

Evidence from intervention studies, quantitative genetic and molecular genetic studies suggests that genetic, and to a lesser extent, shared environmental influences are important to the development of reading and related cognitive skills. The Northeast-Northwest Collaborative Adoption Projects (N2CAP) is a sample of 241 adoptive families,…

This study examined relations among children's individual experiences, global classroom quality, and school readiness. Preschool children from low-income backgrounds (N = 138; M = 62.16 months; SD = 3.93; range = 55-70) were observed in their early care and education settings, and their language and cognitive skills were assessed. Research…

Head Start is a federally funded preschool program for poor children designed to help close the gap between those children and their more advantaged peers before they begin public schooling. Given that Head Start appears to have positive long-run impacts on its recipients, a natural and important next question to ask is: What are the channels…

Research Findings: This study examined the stability of preschoolers' peer play behavior across the school year and the relations between emotion regulation, receptive vocabulary, and the trajectory of social competence deficits. Participants were 331 preschool children attending Head Start; they were primarily African American and from a low-SES…

Background: Studies have suggested that nonmaternal care (NMC) may either carry risks or be beneficial for children's language development. However, few tested the possibility that NMC may be more or less protective for children with different family backgrounds. This study investigates the role of the family environment, as reflected in the…

This report describes Head Start classroom activity, contains data on the children from a testing program, and includes teacher ratings of pupils on a Classroom Adjustment Checklist. (Individual data is being preserved for follow-up studies.) Classroom observations were made in 13 of 27 Head Start classrooms, while testing activities and teacher…

Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature…

This summary on studies on preschool intervention through social learning indicate that a child's mode of orientation and his general level of competence and maturity are, in large part, derived from his social environment. To the extent that specific aspects of that environment can be identified as significant antecedents to behavioral…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the research literature on three-tier models of reading and behavior and to provide a descriptive analysis and meta-analytic review of these models. An in-depth review of 17 articles was conducted on the similarities and differences between and among three-tier models of reading (n = 5), models of behavior…

The authors introduce readers to the research documenting racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness. They describe the key tests, including the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), and several intelligence tests, and describe how they have been administered to several important national samples of…

A total of 125 white children from three counties in Georgia (selected as representative of small rural and medium and large industrial urban populations) were administered a battery of tests in three phases of their schooling: (1) during the summer preceding their admission to the first grade, (2) near the end of the first grade, and (3) near the…

Using Ecological Systems Theory and stage sequential modelling procedures for detecting mediation, this study examined how early developmental contexts impact preschoolers' performances on a measure of sustained attention and impulse control. Data from 1273 European-American and African-American participants in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care…