This study explores the efficacy of the Waterford Early Reading program (ERP) for teaching kindergarten and first grade students' early reading concepts. Students attended 3 elementary schools in Alabama. The treatment group used the software program whereas the control group did not use the software. Analyses revealed a significant treatment…

For socioeconomically disadvantaged children, a positive experience in kindergarten may play a particularly important role in fostering the behavioral adjustment and learning engagement necessary for school success. Prior research has identified supportive student--teacher relationships and classroom emotional support as two features of the…

Learning-related behaviors are important for school success. Socioeconomic disadvantage confers risk for less adaptive learning-related behaviors at school entry, yet substantial variability in school readiness exists within socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Investigation of neurophysiological systems associated with learning-related…

This paper presents an updated WWC (What Works Clearinghouse) Quick Review of the Report "Head Start Impact Study: Final Report". This study examined the effects of offering Head Start to 3- and 4-year-olds. Head Start is a federal program aimed at boosting the school readiness of low-income children by providing preschool education and…

This paper explores the impact of the "Bridging the Numeracy Gap Project" on the whole-number learning of Prep and Grade 1 students living in a low Socio-Economic Status (SES) community. The findings suggest that an approach that includes a specialist mathematics teacher who provides specialised programs for mathematically vulnerable…

This report summarizes the findings from a study on the impacts of Head Start on children and families during the children's preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade years. Its study goals were to: (1) Determine the impact of Head Start on children's school readiness, and on parental practices that support children's development; and to (2)…

This report addresses the following four questions by reporting on the impacts of Head Start on children and families during the children's preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade years: (1) What difference does Head Start make to key outcomes of development and learning (and in particular, the multiple domains of school readiness) for low-income…

This Technical Report is designed to provide technical detail to support the analysis and findings presented in the "Head Start Impact Study Final Report" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, January 2010). Chapter 1 provides an overview of the Head Start Impact Study and its findings. Chapter 2 provides technical information on the…

The present longitudinal study employed two distinctive approaches (variable-oriented and person-oriented) to examine low-income children's academic and social functioning across the important transition from pre-k to first grade. Participants included 152 former urban Head Start children. Variable-oriented and person-oriented approaches were…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low Income Elementary School Children" (S. B. Miles and D. Stipek). In two groups of…

Studies ethnic differences in parent involvement and ways to increase involvement of low-income parents. Interviews with 83 parents (51 identified as Latino) of 83 students indicated parent attitudes. An intervention with 58 families of 119 kindergarten and first grade students resulted in greater participation than for 61 control families. (SLD)

Data available from implementations of the Reading Recovery program in the United States are summarized for nature of the reading tasks, student achievement, cost effectiveness, and teacher effectiveness and retention. Reading Recovery has drawn attention to the needs and potentials of low-income students and effective instructional elements. (SLD)

The effectiveness of the Nichols Avenue Follow-Through Program, in Washington, D.C., and the extent to which it provides for improving opportunities for children of low-income families to learn and achieve up to and above national norms in the areas of reading and mathematics were evaluated. The program goals were to assure that: (1) by the end of…

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…