This study examined the direct and indirect associations of teachers' depressive symptoms with children's math achievement through teachers' reports of family-teacher relationships and children's approaches to learning (ATL) in Head Start. This study included 3- and 4-year-old 1,547 children (49% female; 27% White, 24% Black, 41% Hispanic/Latino,…

A successful school start is possible with a long and collaborative transition process. In this action research, the one-week transition program in preschool education in Turkey was extended to 8 months and supported with teacher--parent communication to examine children's transition experiences during the process. The data were collected from 23…

This paper describes the research protocol for the Educational and Developmental Gains in Early Childhood (EDGE) Study, which will examine the implementation of two years of funded kindergarten prior to the first year of school in Victoria, Australia. EDGE will examine whether children's language, cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioural…

Quality Early Childhood Care and Education programs are beneficial to children in numerous ways. Consequently, from time immemorial, various stakeholders not only in Botswana, but the world over, has embarked on various efforts to try to provide such services. However, several challenges in the provision of Early Childhood Care and Education…

Head Start, the largest early learning program in the United States, provides free federally funded, high-quality early learning for children alongside wraparound supports for parents. Its mission includes helping families achieve self-sufficiency and economic security, such as by helping parents access and succeed in college and workforce…

In 2011, the "Let's Count" professional learning program was developed into an elective distance education subject offered at Charles Sturt University. The resulting subject, EMC101: Let's Count, has been offered every year since 2012, and has to date been completed by 796 students. This paper details the subject design and provides…

This Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) Services Snapshot summarizes key data on demographics and services for children from birth to age five and pregnant women served by all Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. The data in this Snapshot is a subset of the annual Program Information Report (PIR) submission to the Office of Head Start.…

Decades of research suggest that both Head Start and public pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs boost low-income preschoolers' kindergarten skills. What is not yet well understood is whether there are relative advantages of transitioning from Head Start after 1 year into a school-based public pre-k program for the year immediately before…

Purpose: This research note evaluated the collaboration, recruitment, enrollment processes, as well as outcomes of an online, self-managed parent training program (Success With Stories [SWS]) concurrent with a Head Start school curriculum. Method: This case examination presents the research processes used to examine an online program concurrent…

The interrelationships between math and behavioral skill development prior to school entry are not well understood, yet have important implications for understanding how to best prepare young children for kindergarten. This study addresses this gap by utilizing a sample of 1,750 children (53% male; 47% White, 16% Black, 16% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and…

In the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), problem-solving skills are part of science and engineering practices for K-12 students in the United States. Evaluating these skills for the youngest learners is difficult due to the lack of established measures. This paper reports on our process of developing an observation instrument to measure…

Head Start teachers are central to providing constructive adult-child interactions that prepare preschool-age students for school and future successes. The qualitative study included interviews with teachers and explored teacher values, teacher perception of the organization, and teacher well-being in regards to improving student outcomes.…

Limited literature assessed the relation between family engagement in education and young children's socioemotional and behavioral functioning. This study investigated these associations longitudinally among urban and low-income, predominantly Latinx preschoolers (n = 69) and their mothers. Initial home-school conferencing predicted lower levels…

Research Findings: Peer play interactions are important contexts for supporting early learning both at home and at school for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. The current study used structural equation modeling to examine whether teacher-reported learning behaviors in the classroom mediated the relationship between parent-reported…

Research in the United States (U.S.) documents that young Latino children whose families are characterized by demographic risk factors disproportionately lack the early literacy skills needed to successfully transition to kindergarten. Quantitative studies using comparative samples have found lower quality home learning environments and lower…