This study investigated associations of three teacher-reported health indicators--hunger, tiredness, and sickness--with kindergarten readiness skills in San Francisco Unified School District (N = 12,423; female = 48%; M[subscript age] = 5.47, SD[subscript age] = 0.30, range[subscript age] = 4.67-7.00; Asian American = 26%, Black = 5%, Latinx =…

Teachers provide emotional and behavioral supports essential for success in the classroom. This study examined the roles of child interpersonal skills, teacher expectations, and school racial and poverty compositions on the quality of relationships formed between teachers and children. A subsample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal…

While U.S. public education is experiencing an increase in student body size and diversity, there is also an increase in racial and socioeconomic isolation. Participation rates among White students are decreasing as rates among Latine and Asian American and Pacific Islander students increase, and Black student participation rates hold steady.…

When identifying parental socialization processes influencing children's reading achievement, building self-regulation is a potential underlying mechanism. Yet socialization (i.e., warmth, stress) of self-regulation may vary based on the sociocultural context of ethnic minority families. Using the ECLS-K: 2011 (N = 17,020; M[subscript Age] = 73.43…

Recent work examining science test performance in the earliest grades of school has demonstrated that science test score gaps by race/ethnicity are apparent as early as kindergarten and that, in a number of cases, the racial/ethnic test score gaps in science are significantly larger than the corresponding gaps in reading or mathematics. This study…

Per the Brown V. Board decision (1954), segregation in the American educational system is "unconstitutional", "has no place", and is "inherently unequal". Although American schools have been de jure desegregated for decades, issues of White flight, segregation academies, and poor academic preparation in public schools…

While U.S. public education is experiencing an increase in student body size and diversity, there is also an increase in racial and socioeconomic isolation. Participation rates among White students are decreasing as rates among Latine and Asian American and Pacific Islander students increase, and Black student participation rates hold steady.…

When identifying parental socialization processes influencing children's reading achievement, building self-regulation is a potential underlying mechanism. Yet socialization (i.e., warmth, stress) of self-regulation may vary based on the sociocultural context of ethnic minority families. Using the ECLS-K: 2011 (N = 17,020; M[subscript Age] = 73.43…

This report examines what is known about enrollment, discipline, and support staff in alternative schools, among other objectives. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed data on alternative schools for school years 2013-14 and 2015-16 from Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (most recent years available); visited selected school…

California's Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 revised the cutoff date by which children must turn five for kindergarten entry in that year and established transitional kindergarten (TK), defined as the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for all students affected by the birthdate eligibility change. Since it has been implemented across…

Assessing students at kindergarten entry allows teachers to effectively plan instruction that meets individual student needs, and those of the class as a whole. Maryland uses Ready for Kindergarten (R4K): Maryland's Comprehensive Early Childhood Assessment System, a single coordinated system for measuring the knowledge, skills, and behaviors and…

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 datasets, this paper documents how…

Maryland is charged with providing an equal education and ensuring that personal or social circumstances--such as immigration status, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, or disability--are not barriers to academic success. Equity is achieved when all students have the resources they need, such as exceptional teachers or…

In 2016-2017 the Department of Early Learning (DEL) is undertaking a new Racial Equity Initiative to strengthen the department's organizational capacity to advance racial equity. The outline for this initiative describes the need for "data and metrics to track results and measure the impact of DEL's actions at the child/family/community level…

Based on the 2018-2019 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) results, nearly half (47%) of all entering kindergarten children in Maryland displayed the foundational skills indicating they are fully ready for kindergarten. A third (33%) are approaching readiness. Twenty percent of children are assessed with emerging readiness skills. The school…