This brief report summarizes Austin Independent School District prekindergarten (pre-K) students' achievement on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IV (PPVT) and Test de Vocabularío en Imagenes Peabody (TVIP) in Fall 2014. The PPVT and the TVIP measure knowledge of receptive (i.e., hearing) vocabulary in English and Spanish.

A sample of Austin Independent School District prekindergarten students showed growth from Fall 2014 to Spring 2015 on a nationally normed test for receptive vocabulary. These results were found for students in a Head Start program as well as those not in Head Start.

The current study investigates the impact of Every Child Ready (ECR), a comprehensive instructional model that includes: "What to teach, how to teach and how to know instruction is effective." The ECR instructional model is designed to provide high quality instruction to children via a play-based, thematic curriculum. Participants…

Purpose: The purpose of this position paper was to examine the impact of school based parent involvement activities on parent efficacy. Methodology: The paper explores research studies into school based activities on long term parent efficacy. Conclusions: Most schools are involving parents in school-based activities in a variety of ways but the…

This study examined the effects that a multi-component intervention had on play behaviors and mean length of utterance (MLU) of eight Head Start children at risk for language delays and social skill development. The intervention consisted of three components: (a) a planning period included reading a story book that illustrated the play theme and…

This paper reports the findings of a study that looked at the perceptions of self-competence in Head Start children of Caucasian and Hispanic background. The Joseph Pre-school and Primary Self-Concept Screening Test (JPPSST) was used to collect the needed data. Analyses of data indicate that there is a significant difference in the self-concept…

The conversion of an "old school bus" in the late 1960s into a mobile library is discussed. The conversion was an element of educational service developed cooperatively between a regional educational laboratory and a rural school system. The project endeavored to improve the early experiences of future students, many of whom would have…

Parental reports of 585 children's childcare experiences during the year preceding kindergarten were used to index the extent of children's involvement in three types of childcare: center-based (e.g., daycare center, Head Start, preschool), informal (e.g., relative-based or sitter-based) and parental. Childcare choices covaried with household SES,…