The goal of school readiness programs is to prepare students for skills that they will need to be successful once they enter the K-12 system. However, there are many different views on that constitutes a successful school readiness program and which characteristics of school readiness programs result in improvements to the number of students that…

Music-based speech language interventions have shown promise to support young children with autism, other speech and language deficits, and Dual Language Learners (also known as DLL, English Language Learners, or ELL). Online edtech learning programs may produce greater positive outcomes for children by including parents as mediators of the…

The acquisition of literacy skills is a complex and multi-faceted process that begins long before typical school-based literacy instruction. The present study sought to examine and expand research regarding the independent and interactive contributions of neuropsychological development, movement, play, and music on the development of literacy…

This paper reports the results of a randomized controlled trial evaluating "We Have Skills," a brief curriculum designed to teach early elementary students academic and social skills as well as improve teacher efficacy in classroom management. Intervention efficacy was tested with 127 teachers, randomly assigned to condition, and 2,817…

Parents of children who are newly identified as deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) face many decisions surrounding communication and intervention, including where to receive early intervention (EI) services. This study explored the experiences and perspectives of parents of DHH children enrolled in a center-based, family-centered EI program focused on…

To reduce the risk of pediatric obesity, behaviorally-focused parental education is needed. This study examined the feasibility of guided goal setting in a pediatric obesity prevention intervention for low-income parents of young children. Parents from Head Start participated in a six-week nutrition, activity, and parenting intervention that…

Measuring program outcomes is required for documenting effectiveness of interventions with youths participating in programs funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative. The California CYFAR program provided programming for youths aged 5-8, which necessitated the development of an…

We examined parents' satisfaction with multiple aspects of their children's individualized education programs (IEPs). Parents (n= 142) raising children ages 4 to 8 years old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reported their satisfaction with four aspects of their children's IEPs: (a) content of the IEP document, (b) services provided, (c)…

Background: Few nutrition interventions in kindergarten classes have been evaluated, and none has been tested for program effectiveness, implementation, and dissemination. Building a Healthy Me (BHM) is a nutrition intervention for kindergarteners that is classroom-based and includes a family component. This study evaluated the public health…

Since 1998, early childhood education and support services were funded by 50-cents-per-pack tobacco tax through Proposition 10 funding in California. In November, 2016, another proposal was endorsed by voters to add $2.00-per-pack tobacco tax for purposes unrelated to early childhood services, yet the decline of cigarette consumption will…

Increasing diagnoses of autism have led to pressure to improve the quality of educational services for children with autism by incorporating evidence-based practices (EBPs) into school programs. However, this process has been difficult, and both autism researchers and educators report frustration concerning the gap between research and practice.…

Transitional kindergarten--the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2--is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the…

Transitional kindergarten--the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2--is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for Kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the…

Children from low-income families are more likely than those from higher income families to have poor social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes. One approach that has helped parents and their young children is home visiting, which provides information, resources, and support to expectant parents and families with young…

In Fiscal Year 2015-16, the California Children and Families Act has appropriated an average of $440 per child from the state tobacco tax revenue to support early development of children ages 0-5. Based on the proportion of live births in each county, First 5 Kern administered over $10 million of the state funding to support 41 programs in Child…