Prior research shows that short-term effects from preschool may disappear, but little research has considered which environmental conditions might sustain academic advantages from preschool into elementary school. Using secondary data from two preschool experiments, we investigate whether features of elementary schools, particularly advanced…

Naturalistic instructional approaches are used to provide intentional and systematic instruction to young children with disabilities during typically occurring activities. Several naturalistic instructional approaches have been described in the extant literature, although different terms have been used to refer to these approaches (e.g.,…

Circle time is a near universally used preschool activity; however, little research has explored its nature, content, and quality. This study examined activity types, teacher and child talk, child engagement, and classroom quality in a sample of public preschool classrooms in an urban, high-poverty school district. Results demonstrated that…

Young children have been taught simple sequences of alternating shapes and colors, referred to as "patterning", for the past half century in the hope that their understanding of pre-algebra and their mathematics achievement would be improved. The evidence that such patterning instruction actually improves children's academic achievement…

Recent research has shown that the age composition of preschool classrooms influences children's early learning. Building on prior research, this study examines whether the association between classroom age composition and children's learning and development vary based on classroom quality and teacher characteristics using a subset of the Family…

The standard scoring of the CLASS PreK produces three domain scores that are widely used in research, practice and policy. Despite these domains being based on developmental theory and research, limited empirical evidence exists for the three-domain structure as operationalized in the CLASS PreK. Using the 2009 and 2014 Head Start Family and Child…

Background: Among children diagnosed with developmental delays, difficulties in self-regulation are prominent and have been linked to school readiness problems. Objective: The current study sought to examine the impact of the Kids In Transition to School (KITS) school readiness intervention program on self-regulation, with a specific focus on…

A rising proportion of four-year-olds now attend formal, or center-based, early childhood education (ECE) programs. Formal settings, such as Head Start, public preschool, and subsidized child care centers vary significantly in regulation, funding, and service provision. As these differences may have substantial implications for child development…

Because math knowledge begins to develop at a young age to varying degrees, it is important to identify foundational cognitive and academic skills that might contribute to its development. The current study focused on two important, but often overlooked skills that recent evidence suggests are important contributors to early math development:…

Growing up in poverty increases youth risk for developing aggressive behavior problems which, in turn, are associated with a host of problematic outcomes, including school drop-out, substance use, mental health problems, and delinquency. In part, this may be due to exposure to adverse school contexts that create socialization influences supporting…

A critical component in enhancing academic success is identifying children at risk of later academic difficulties. Although significant efforts have been devoted to design effective assessment processes in elementary school, fewer efforts (particularly for mathematics) have been made for preschool. The focus of this study was to design and…

Background: Improving children's oral language skills is an important focus of educational research and practice; however, relatively few interventions have demonstrated impacts on these skills. This work makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the effects of language-focused interventions in pre-kindergarten settings by examining…

With a qualitative approach drawing from four focus groups, this study explored what aspects of preschool are valued most by 30 low-income Latino/a immigrant parents with children enrolled in a state-funded preschool program in Texas. Beyond the push and pull factors of necessity, convenience, and supply, parents reported valuing the…

Comprehension monitoring has received substantial attention as a reading comprehension strategy. However, comprehension monitoring is not limited to the reading context, but applies to the oral context for children's listening comprehension, which is a critical foundation for reading comprehension. Therefore, a systematic and explicit…

Purpose: The purpose was to examine specific linkages between early visual-motor integration skills and executive function, as well as between early object manipulation skills and social behaviors in the classroom over the preschool year. Method: 92 children between the ages of 3-5 years old (mean age 4.31 years) were recruited to participate in…