This paper argues that play should be central to children's lives throughout early childhood, including their time in school. First, it charts the history of early childhood education in Scotland through four stages: (1) pioneer of kindergarten; (2) early adopter of formal education; (3) promise of a recalibration through Curriculum for…

This study primarily explored the perceptions of dyslexia held by early childhood educators teaching in Head Start centers. A secondary purpose was to investigate how early childhood educators in Head Start centers perceive the notion of risk for dyslexia and how they identify at-risk students in ways that are consist with the results of a…

Children growing up in disadvantage often enter school without the requisite social, emotional, and behavioral skills to be successful. Considering the importance of social-emotional skills for school and later life success, it is critical to understand factors associated with social-emotional development across the transition to elementary…

This study examined the latent developmental patterns for classroom learning behaviors among children from underresourced families. Based on standardized teacher observations, a large sample (N = 2,152) of children was assessed for manifestations of Competence Motivation and Attentional Persistence twice annually through Head Start, kindergarten,…

Education in the arts continues to struggle for inclusion in PreK-12 classrooms as public schools face increasing challenges from high stakes testing, Common Core politics, and endless budget cuts. Advocates point to the growing body of research linking art education to academic achievement as justification for arts' continued inclusion in the…

The early experiences of babies and young children have a profound, lasting impact on the rest of their lives. Too many low-income children today are entering kindergarten so far behind that they can never catch up. High-quality childcare, which helps the country's youngest, most disadvantaged children get a good start while enabling their parents…

We evaluate the cost-effectiveness of two early childhood interventions that use instructional coaching and parent coaching as levers for improvement. The study design allows us to compare the individual effects of each intervention as well as their combined effect on student outcomes. We find that teachers receiving instructional coaching improve…

This report investigates alternatives to the current targets related to early childhood education and care (ECEC), in particular by looking at socio-economic differences in the level of ECEC attendance in EU Member States. Using data from the EU Survey on income and living conditions (EU-SILC), it assesses different categorisations of…

Schools in the United States are highly segregated by socioeconomic group. Segregation is pervasive throughout all levels of the school system but particularly prevalent in early childhood environments. Increased racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in classrooms and schools has been shown to lead to positive developmental and social outcomes…

Background: Healthy child development is imperative for future success, parents/caregivers are at the helm of guiding children down a path that supports health and wellbeing for future success. When there is a lack of education, information, and resources readily available to families there is a risk for delayed development and lack of engagement.…

During early childhood, economically disadvantaged children can experience challenges that affect their social-emotional, language, and physical health development across the lifespan. Psychologists have tested several interventions to address developmental problems during early childhood, but information about the degree to which economically…

This brief examines kindergarten readiness and attendance in kindergarten for children enrolled in publicly provided early education programs as well as similar children who entered kindergarten without enrolling in these programs. Key findings detail the effects for children if they were enrolled for at least 90 calendar days as a three- or…

Educare is a birth to age 5 early education program designed to reduce the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more economically advantaged peers through high-quality center-based programming and strong school-family partnerships. This study randomly assigned 239 children (< 19 months) from low-income families to…

A key component of effective early childhood programs is collaborative relationships between schools, families, and the community (Fiese, Eckert, & Spagnola, 2005). One of these early childhood programs, Head Start, stands out among the others in its efforts to work with children, families, and communities to promote parental involvement. Some…

Research Findings: This study examined how teacher--child conversations unfold during shared book reading in Head Start classrooms as well as the relations between that talk and children's vocabulary learning. Book reading experiences in 27 Head Start classrooms were videotaped and coded for teacher talk, child responses, teacher follow-up…