Purpose: This study examined the structural development of African American preschoolers' narratives. It also investigated the effect of background variables (e.g., gender, maternal education, stimulation and responsiveness of the home environment, and whether or not the child lived in poverty) on the children's narratives. Method: Sixty-five…

Data were extracted from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), a national sample of more than 20,000 kindergartners and first-graders. Fifty-one social studies and science test items were combined into a General Knowledge Test. This test was individually administered to each child with no reading required. General Knowledge Test scores…

This study estimated reading achievement gaps in different ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups of 1st graders in the U.S. compared with specific reference groups and identified statistically significant correlates and moderators of early reading achievement. A subset of 2,296 students nested in 184 schools from the Early Childhood…

The author examined age, gender, and ethnic differences in the self-perceptions of 112 low-income children who were assessed with the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA) at Head Start and kindergarten. Children's self-ratings of competence were overly optimistic across the 4 subscales of the PSPCSA during the 2…

This study examined the relationship between academic achievement of young African American children and access to and use of computers in their school and home. The sample consists of 1,601 African American public school children who attended kindergarten and 1st grade. Results indicate that access to and use of a home computer, computer area in…

The authors examined (a) the extent to which kindergarten estimates of core language functions predicted teacher ratings of behavior problems in each of the child's first 4 years of elementary school and (b) the ability of core language measures to predict concurrent behavior problems at each of the early elementary school grades studied.…

The Congressionally-mandated Head Start Impact Study is being conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non-Head Start group…

The Congressionally-mandated Head Start Impact Study is being conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non-Head Start group…