The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) released a report that applies two methodological approaches new to the WWC that together aim to improve researchers' understanding of how early literacy interventions may work to improve outcomes for students in grades K-3. First, this report pilots a new taxonomy developed by early literacy experts and…

"Second Step" is a universal social-emotional learning program designed to decrease antisocial behaviors, increase prosocial behaviors, and increase knowledge about content curriculum. Given the international focus of using Second Step to improve social-emotional skills, it is especially important to provide an updated synthesis on the…

The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…

Reading Recovery is one of the most researched literacy programs worldwide. Although there have been at least 4 quantitative reviews of its effectiveness, none have considered all rigorous group-comparison studies from all implementing nations from the late 1970s to 2015. Using a hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) v-known analysis, we examined if…

Over the past two decades, the number and types of after-school programs (ASPs) have increased substantially as a result of increased federal and private spending and because ASPs are perceived to provide wide-ranging and far-reaching benefits to students, families, schools and the public. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is…

Meta-analyses of the findings from 29 studies including 4,194 early childhood practitioners showed that different practitioner belief appraisals (endorsement, importance, self-efficacy) were related to the intent to use and the adoption and use of different kinds of early childhood practices (developmentally appropriate practices, curricular…

The focus of this paper centers around timing associated with early childhood education programs and interventions using meta-analytic methods. At any given assessment age, a child's current age equals starting age, plus duration of program, plus years since program ended. Variability in assessment ages across the studies should enable everyone to…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that 37 percent of U.S. fourth graders fail to achieve basic levels of reading achievement. In 1997, the U.S. Congress asked that a review of research be conducted to determine what could be done to improve reading and writing achievement. The resulting "Report of the National Reading…

This meta-analysis examines to what extent interactive storybook reading stimulates two pillars of learning to read: vocabulary and print knowledge. The authors quantitatively reviewed 31 (quasi) experiments (n = 2,049 children) in which educators were trained to encourage children to be actively involved before, during, and after joint book…