Coaching is an individualized approach to professional development where educators work towards specific teaching goals with support and feedback from a designated colleague or expert. Coaching appears to be increasingly common in early childhood education (ECE) classrooms, and a number of local, state, and federal policy initiatives over the past…

For more than a decade, Florida's Palm Beach County has been building a system of prevention and early intervention services to promote and support the healthy development and school readiness of children from birth to age 8. The county began this effort with a set of programs focused on serving families in four targeted geographic areas that have…

This study explored the impact of using best practices identified in previous studies in designing age-appropriate websites for middle and high school youth. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, 31 middle and 22 high school youth took part in six focus groups across four states. Participants were introduced to a website specifically designed for…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

"Literacy Express" is a comprehensive preschool curriculum designed for three- to five-year-old children. It is structured around units on oral language, emergent literacy, basic math, science, general knowledge, and socio-emotional development. It can be used in half- or full-day programs with typically developing children and children…

The Project on State-Level Child Outcomes was initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to examine the effects on children of waiver policies related to state welfare reform efforts prior to the passage of federal welfare reform legislation. This report details the project's examination of child well-being in the context of…

Activities of the Institute for Development of Human Resources provide the information contained in this document. This first large-scale project of the institute was in parent education of disadvantaged mothers in the north central Florida area. The purpose of the project was to investigate a way in which early intervention into the lives of…

DESCRIBED ARE THE COMPONENTS OF PROJECT KNOW HOW (PKH), AN OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM. DESIGNED TO ATTACK INDIVIDUAL FAMILIAL POVERTY, PKH INVOLVES A PRESCHOOL TRAINING PROGRAM BEGINNING IN THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE AND CONTINUING TO SCHOOL AGE, A SALARIED ASSISTING MOTHERS PROGRAM, A FATHER'S PROGRAM, AND A FAMILY HEALTH…

Most teachers and the public believe that children in kindergarten and the primary grades benefit from small classes because of children's need for individualized instruction and teacher attention. This report, part of a comprehensive policy study of early childhood education, presents a review of the research on the effect of class size on…