Background: The Student Assistance Program (SAP) is mandated kindergarten to 12th grade in Pennsylvania schools to address barriers to student academic success. Following student referral, SAP teams use a systematic process to inform recommendations for school or community-based services. To evaluate program outcomes, a review of student SAP…

This study examines growth in language and math skills during the summer before kindergarten; considers variation by family income, race/ethnicity, and dual language learner status; and tests whether summer center-based care sustains preschool gains. Growth in skills slowed during summer for all children, but the patterns varied by domain and…

Access to early learning before kindergarten has wide-ranging positive effects for children--effects that are evident from a child's early years into adulthood. Despite these facts being well-known within many education spaces, children from low-income families and children of color lack consistent access to public early learning programs. This…

In 2021, California made historic investments in early learning to expand transitional kindergarten (TK) to serve all of California's 4-year-olds. Transitional kindergarten began in California in 2012 as a free public school program for 4-year-olds who were not yet eligible for kindergarten (a non-compulsory grade). Yet by 2019, just 28 percent of…

Kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs) are frequently used to understand students' early literacy skills. Amidst COVID-19, such assessments will be vital in understanding how the pandemic has affected early literacy, including how it has contributed to inequities in the educational system. However, the pandemic has also created challenges for…

The current study examined the relationship between teachers' cultural competence and Multitiered System of Supports (MTSS) referrals for students belonging to racial/ethnic minority groups. Teachers serving grades kindergarten through five in two schools in a large, urban school district in Connecticut participated in the study. MTSS referrals…

Charter school policy represents two simultaneous forms of accountability, in which schools are accountable to both parents and authorizers. This study of a K-8 charter renewal decision interrogates these accountability relationships and the role of race and power in privileging the interests of particular stakeholders over others. Using…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how preparation for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse children influences early childhood teachers' motivation to remain in teaching. This study is grounded in Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Early childhood teachers were sent an online survey and asked about their teacher preparation, job…

This article explores the concept of literacy futurisms as guided by the 2019-2021 Scholars of Color Transitioning into Academic Research Institutions cohort, who conceptualize themselves as part of an emergent literacy research collective. Drawing on the knowledges of our ancestors and children, we offer dimensions of a framework-in-the-making…

The family--school relationship develops largely during face-to-face interactions between parents and teachers. Research shows that reciprocal and informal communication reinforces collaboration, especially between schools and families from minority groups. Yet, teacher practices regularly express a reluctance to implement reciprocal…

Ethnic and racial disparities in educational outcomes, such as test scores, are a core issue of educational research. While the role of student and family factors in the formation of such disparities is well established, existing studies fail to draw a similarly clear picture of how teachers contribute to ethnic and racial achievement gaps. In…

Although considerable literature illustrates how students' experiences and identities are racialized in mathematics education, little attention has been given to Asian American students. Employing ethnographic methods, this study followed 10 immigrant Chinese-heritage families to explore how the racial narrative of the model minority myth was…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of Oregon's public schools. The purpose of the Statewide Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the goals referred to in ORS 329.015. This report also provides a tool that makes…

In this paper we analyze the extent to which a mandated kindergarten assessment predicts 3rd grade outcomes, and the academic progression for students from 3rd grade to high school. We find that the kindergarten assessment strongly predicts 3rd grade outcomes, with the math skills assessment being especially predictive of 3rd grade academic…

School psychologists are encouraged to empower parents to be active partners in their child's education, including providing social-emotional supports. Typical parent engagement efforts involve trying to get parents to attend school meetings, which may overlook other ways parents can meaningfully support students. The current study examined…