This study examines blending of classroom- and family-based supports within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). The present study focuses on a sample of Head Start children who are both experiencing poverty and scoring below early language and literacy screening benchmarks. This study begins to explore which combination of resources are the…

Child-directed speech (CDS), which can help children learn new words, has been rigorously studied among infants and parents in home settings. Yet, far less is known about the CDS that teachers use in classrooms with toddlers and children's responses, an important question because many toddlers, particularly in high-need communities, attend…

Curricula are one of the most widely used educational inputs, yet few are developed and evaluated scientifically with a dearth of programs targeting academic language. This manuscript describes an iterative approach to the development of a tiered academic language curriculum supplement for prekindergarten (pre-K) and kindergarten (K) students. A…

Conversations are a primary tool for language development in preschool classrooms. Unfortunately, opportunities to have meaningful conversations between children and adults may not exist in preschool classrooms, especially those that serve children from high poverty contexts. Conversation Stations were implemented in preschool classrooms to ensure…

Although intensive early childhood interventions and high quality preschool programs have been shown to foster children's school readiness, little is known about the school readiness gains made by ethnically and linguistically diverse children in poverty receiving subsidies to attend center-based childcare or those in public school…

Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature…

Despite strenuous attempts made by the New Labour government in the UK to progress towards its goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020, educational outcomes for disadvantaged children remain depressed compared to those of more advantaged children. The fact that children from poorer socio-economic backgrounds are at much greater risk of language…

An analysis is provided of the effects of poverty on child development and later intellectual competence, in terms of goal seeking and problem solving, use of language, and patterns of social reciprocity. Implications are charted for public policy and for the conduct of early childhood education. (EH)

CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES IN SUBSTANDARD OR OVERCROWDED INNER CITY DWELLINGS IN BALTIMORE WERE SELECTED FOR AN EXPERIMENTAL PRESCHOOL PROGRAM BECAUSE THEY TYPIFIED THE CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED YOUNGSTERS WHO COULD BE EXPECTED TO SUFFER FAILURE OR FRUSTRATION UPON PUBLIC SCHOOL ENTRY AT THE AGES OF FIVE OR SIX. CENTERS WERE OPENED IN 1963.…

In offering a "total approach" to educating disadvantaged pre-school youngsters, the authors examine the psychological pressures and economic deprivations of these children. Also included in the volume are chapters devoted to characteristics of the learning environment, language experiences, concept development, and administrative issues. (NH)

The overall purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and practicability of a home-centered preschool intervention program for cognitive, language, and personality development of mother and child, based upon the use of paraprofessional educators who are themselves members of the population served. One question considered was…

This article discusses the poor reading achievement of African-American children in urban schools and argues that prevention efforts must begin prior to kindergarten. Key variables influencing young children's performance, including poverty, general oral language skills, dialectal variations, home literacy practices, standardized testing bias, and…

This report discusses some "promising" compensatory education programs and presents statistical estimates which identify the disadvantaged population to be served by such programs. The discussion is based on observations of school systems and programs in all sections of the country and on interviews with over 200 educational administrators who…

This report examines how early educational opportunities affect child development and eventually adult productivity. The report also discusses some implications for developing countries. The effectiveness of educational programs for infants to 2.5-year-olds has not yet been demonstrated. However programs that ensure health, nutrition,…

This report summarizes the conference proceedings of the fourth Head Start National Research Conference. The focus of the conference was on creating a shared agenda for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers related to serving children and families in an era of rapid change. Keynote topics and speakers are: "Countering the Health…