This fifth annual "Boston Opportunity Agenda Report Card" provides the most up-to-date information available on Boston's education pipeline, from kindergarten through college graduation, including measures for school readiness, 3rd grade reading proficiency, 10th-grade academic proficiency, high school completion, dropout rates, college…

This study investigated the effects of a parent-child home numeracy intervention on the mathematics scores of first grade students attending urban, Catholic schools. The participants included 60 parents (29 Black; 2 Asian; 1 Latino; 26 White; and 2 other) from two urban, Catholic schools. Parents, randomly assigned to the experimental group,…

This "Eighth Annual Report Card" tracks progress on Boston's goals for educating learners of all ages. The report lays out Boston Opportunity Agenda's current metrics, the baseline that has been established for the future, and the progress to be made over the course of the next five years. This report card contains the most up-to-date…

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial was used to investigate the effects of two forms of shared reading on children's language and literacy skills. Parents of 80 children in the preparatory year of school participated in an eight-week home reading intervention. Families were assigned to one of three groups: dialogic reading (DR), dialogic…

Set in the context of a choice-saturated public school system, this study examines the school choice process of low-income parents who participated in Louisiana's 2008 voucher program. Based on semistructured interviews with 16 parents at 1 Catholic school, we report that spirituality, small class and school size, character/values, familiarity,…

The kindergarten was, in all countries but Germany, a foreign import. The most familiar aspect of its diffusion to American scholars is the spread of Froebel's teachings into England and the United States by emigrants who had left the German Confederation after the failure of the revolutions of 1848-49. Familiar as well are the propaganda efforts…

This study is the first to examine the effectiveness of the "Fun FRIENDS" programme, a school-based, universal preventive intervention for early childhood anxiety and promotion of resilience delivered by classroom teachers. Participants (N = 488) included children aged 4-7 years attending 1 of 14 Catholic Education schools in Brisbane,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of "MathFacts in a Flash" software in helping students learn math standards. In each of their classes, the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in a small private Roman Catholic school from the Pacific Northwest were randomly assigned either to a control group that used…

This study investigated the effect of a social and emotional learning skills curriculum, the "You Can Do It! Early Childhood Education Program" (YCDI), on the social-emotional development, well-being, and academic achievement of 99 preparatory and grade 1 students attending a Catholic school in Melbourne, Australia. One preparatory and one grade 1…

This "Sixth Annual Report Card" reflects the progress that is being made throughout Boston's entire education pipeline. More than 77,000 school-age children live in the City of Boston. The vast majority, 93%, attend a school in the Boston Public Schools system, a Boston Charter public school, or a Boston Catholic school. The goal with…

The phenomenon of the "middle-years dip" in mathematics engagement and achievement has been a cause of concern for over a decade. This paper presents an example of one upper-primary classroom identified as having higher than average levels of student engagement, with the purpose of documenting specific teaching strategies that align with…

In Paraguay conditions for rural children living in poverty are often difficult. At least 14% of children age 5 years and younger show moderate to severe physical stunting (UNICEF 2009). More than half of the children in primary school have repeated at least one grade by the time they complete the sixth grade. Rural families living in poverty, who…

This article presents the findings of an exploratory survey of the ethnic attitudes and identities of a random sample (n=352) of three-six-year-old children in Northern Ireland. The survey represents one of the first of its kind to explore how young children's awareness of ethnic differences develops in contexts where ethnicity is not marked by…

The role of the Skalel family and their founding of Whitby School in 1958 were the spark that started the Montessori movement in the United States. Ann Skalel was impressed with the Montessori method, having seen it in practice in Ireland, that she wanted to start such a school in Greenwich, CT for her grandchildren. Tragically, Skalel and her…

In his 2006-2007 policy address, the chief executive of Hong Kong committed HK$2 billion to enhancing holistic early childhood education through the instigation of a school voucher scheme. The new paradigm of a child-centered curriculum is considered necessary to keep pace with international quality educational developments. The paradigm of…