This paper describes the research protocol for the Educational and Developmental Gains in Early Childhood (EDGE) Study, which will examine the implementation of two years of funded kindergarten prior to the first year of school in Victoria, Australia. EDGE will examine whether children's language, cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioural…

This study used latent class analysis to examine profiles of Head Start classroom quality as measured by the Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS) and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) with a large sample of classrooms (n=379). Data used in the study were taken from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth…

The standard model of the role of early experience in human development assumes that children's environments in their first years of life are dominant influences on who they become as adults. The standard model favors interventions to improve children's long-term outcomes that start early in life and are intensive in time and attention from…

Background: Growing up in poverty undermines healthy development, producing disparities in the cognitive and social-emotional skills that support early learning and mental health. Preschool and home-visiting interventions for low-income children have the potential to build early cognitive and social-emotional skills, reducing the disparities in…

While the link between schooling and health has been well established, the direct and indirect effects of early childhood education programs on health have recently become a more substantial focus of research. This brief summarizes the research evidence, organized by three theoretical models that explain how early childhood education and…

"Head Start" is a national, federally funded program that provides services to promote school readiness for children from birth to age 5 from predominantly low-income families. Based on a review of the research, the WWC found "Head Start" to have potentially positive effects on general reading achievement and no discernible…

This summary describes the Head Start CARES research project, which evaluated three classroom-based approaches to enhancing children's social-emotional development: (1) The Incredible Years Teacher Training Program; (2) Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies); and (3) Tools of the Mind--Play. The three social-emotional…

In 1994, the federal Early Head Start (EHS) program was created to address the comprehensive needs of low-income pregnant women and children under age 3. EHS was launched almost 30 years after Head Start was established in 1965 to serve low-income 3- and 4-year-old children and their families with comprehensive early education and support…

This catalog provides short descriptions of major Division of Child and Family Development (DCFD) projects from Fiscal Year 2014. Multiple projects are described in the areas of child care, Head Start/Early Head Start, child welfare promotion, and the recognition of cultural diversity. An additional section features projects that fall into more…

This article is based on findings drawn from a large-scale study aimed at mapping barriers to education in the context of social disadvantage. The research sites focused on in this paper are: one early childhood facility, four primary schools and the communities of these learning centres. Participants included learners, teachers, caregivers and…

This cross-sectional study attempts to investigate the effects of the Aprender em Parceria (A PAR) programme, an intervention in early childhood education and parenting support in the suburbs of Great Lisbon which aims to increase the educational achievement of disadvantaged children from birth to six-years-old. A quasi-experimental design was…

Using data ("n" = 3,790 with 2,119 in the 3-year-old cohort and 1,671 in the 4-year-old cohort) from 353 Head Start centers in the Head Start Impact Study, the only large-scale randomized experiment in Head Start history, this article examined the impact of Head Start on children's cognitive and parent-reported social-behavioral outcomes…

The last several decades have seen growing global interest in the potential for public investments in early childhood care and education (ECCE) to improve the development of young children, especially those from socially disadvantaged groups. This interest is based on evidence of the importance of environmental influences on early cognitive and…

This article assesses the effects of Tulsa, Oklahoma's early childhood education programs on social-emotional outcomes, examining teacher ratings of children's behavior from the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention and a measure of attentiveness using fixed effects regressions with propensity score matching. The sample includes 2,832…

Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social Skill Promotion) is a large-scale, national research demonstration that was designed to test the effects of a one-year program aimed at improving pre-kindergarteners' social and emotional readiness for school. To facilitate the delivery of the program, teachers…