This report provides an overview of kindergarten readiness of six Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) kindergarten cohorts from the 2016-17 to the 2021-22 school year. This report is accompanied by the Annual Digest of City Schools Kindergarten Statistics, 2022 Edition (Baltimore Education Research Consortium [BERC], 2022), which provides…

Early childhood education programs (ECE) invest in assessments of classroom quality to enable accountability and to enact efforts towards quality improvement. The "Early Childhood Environment Rating System -- Revised" (ECERS-R) and "Classroom Assessment Scoring System" (CLASS) are two widely used classroom quality assessments…

Over the last decade, The California Endowment (TCE) has invested in 14 communities that have historically been marginalized and denied opportunities for their residents to thrive. The initiative, known as Building Healthy Communities (BHC), focuses on creating places where children are healthy, safe, and ready to learn. Del Norte and Tribal Lands…

Play is a critical milestone that contributes to the learning and development of young children in multiple ways and is essential to their well-being. Play is also considered as a central component to promote school readiness and incorporates pre-literacy, language and numeracy skills. However, play deficits seem to be acutely apparent in…

Research Findings: This study uses data from a comprehensive meta-analytic database of early childhood education (ECE) program evaluations published between 1960 and 2007 in the United States to examine the incremental effects of adding enhancement program components to ECE programs on children's cognitive abilities, pre-academic skills,…

Over the past several decades, there has been a dramatic increase in research surrounding factors that influence children's school readiness, or preparedness that allows children to learn in a formal educational setting. It includes possessing early academic as well as cognitive and socio-emotional skills (e.g., self-regulation, emotion knowledge)…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine parent involvement practices of the Early Beginnings Head Start program and to determine the impact that parent involvement has on the early language and literacy development of preschool children. Although parent involvement practices are evident throughout Head Start programs, the specific…

Research examining the effects of subsidized childcare prior to school entry for child development is inconsistent. This population-based study examines the relationship between two poverty levels (extreme poor and working poor) and children's developmental outcomes, as measured by the Early Development Instrument. It also determines the extent to…

The current study investigated the role of theory of mind development in school readiness among 120 low-income preschool and kindergarten children. A short-term longitudinal design was used to examine relations among theory of mind, the understanding of teaching, and learning behaviors and their collective role in children's literacy and numeracy…

Head Start and state prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can boost the school readiness of low-income children through the use of effective preschool curricula. Encouraging results from some studies suggest that children who receive targeted or content-specific curricular supplements (e.g., literacy or math) during preschool show moderate to large…

Despite the importance of early childhood education in improving academic achievements in subsequent years and also in social development, it remains out of reach for majority of children in developing countries. This leaves informal education as the main preparation children in rural areas receive before entry into primary schools. This paper…

Background: The acquired skill set prior to school entry has emerged as an important issue in research and policy internationally. Much evidence exists advocating the importance of early numeracy and literacy skills in later academic achievement and economic outcomes of students. Aim: The goal of this study was to determine the association between…

Currently in the United States, 50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia have established prekindergarten (pre-K) age 4 learning standards that are intended to outline skills and knowledge that set children on a path to success in kindergarten and upcoming grades. These standards are emphasized as a centralizing force in early…

Private and public investments in early childhood education have expanded significantly in recent years. Despite this heightened investment, we have little empirical evidence on whether children today enter school with different skills than they did in the late nineties. Using two large, nationally representative data sets, this article documents…

This study assesses the consequences of housing instability during the first 5 years of a child's life for a host of school readiness outcomes. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 2,810), this study examines the relation between multiple moves and children's language and literacy and behavior problems at…