Drawing from a network case study, this article traces enactments of a letter writing enquiry in one Kindergarten public school classroom in New York City, and in doing so, explores both the affordances and limitations of sociomaterial approaches employed by the researcher towards school literacies. Looking down at one morning meeting revealed…

The scope of this study was to discriminate factors, which could improve students' social relationships in kindergarten classrooms. In this research, 147 volunteer children participated, 67 female students and 80 male students. Every student was between 4.5 and 5.5 years old and they were all attending urban public kindergarten located in central…

The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) is the largest public school system in the country, and regularly communicates with more families in a month than many school districts do in a year. Innovations in communication or outreach efforts can influence profoundly how families engage with the district, especially innovations in outreach…

Dyslexia is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children, yet despite its high prevalence all too frequently goes undiagnosed. Consequently dyslexic children all too often fail to receive effective reading interventions. Here we report our findings from a study using a teacher completed evidence-based dyslexia screener to first…

Preschool through third grade (P-3) alignment is regularly named as a key aspect of early childhood education and the transition to formal schooling. However, little is known about P-3 alignment in practice. Using data from 265 observations of math instruction in preschool, kindergarten, first-, and third-grade classrooms in New York City public…

We investigated the impact of a subsidized, needs-based preschool program (Study 1; N = 1,894) and California's universal but age-restricted transitional kindergarten (TK) program (Study 2; N = 1,093) on school readiness. We applied Mahalanobis matching--a quasi-experimental data analysis method used to create equivalent groups--to data from three…

Each year, SC TEACHER publishes different workforce profiles, sharing details and demographics around South Carolina educators for a better understanding of our public school workforce. Among these publications, this report is the first to examine the state's school "administrator" workforce. The analysis in this report uses statewide…

We conducted an inductive analysis of 166 interviews from a longitudinal study of 26 Chicago Public School principals. Test-based accountability pressures played a visible role in principals' views of and relations with parents. Some principals reported banning parents from classrooms based on the need to protect instructional time to raise test…

Using publicly reported data from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), this brief examines the relation between the number of Baltimore-born children and the subsequent kindergarten enrollment in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools). The authors use this birth…

Education systems are often expected to play a key role in developing, maintaining and promoting democratic values and behaviours. This is particularly apparent in Portugal where, after nearly half a century of dictatorship ending in 1974, democracy emerged as a central national aspiration, especially within Early Childhood Education (ECE).…

This report presents the results of a two-year randomized control trial evaluation of the SPARK foundational literacy program. SPARK is an early grade literacy program developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee that pairs one-on-one tutoring with parent engagement. In 2010, SPARK was awarded an Investing in Innovation (i3) U.S.…

The Midwest Child-Parent Center (CPC) Expansion began preschool implementation in fall 2012 in 5 Minnesota and Illinois districts. This study reports preschool and kindergarten impact findings for the Saint Paul Public School District. It is the first impact study of CPC outside of Chicago. After documenting that implementation quality was…

Research documents that young children in high-quality teacher-child relationships experience better school adjustment and are more engaged in learning. Yet, many American kindergarten (age 5) teachers report spending less time on relationship building and children's social and emotional development given pressure to have students reading and…

This study examines growth in language and math skills during the summer before kindergarten; considers variation by family income, race/ethnicity, and dual language learner status; and tests whether summer center-based care sustains preschool gains. Growth in skills slowed during summer for all children, but the patterns varied by domain and…

This non-experimental, quantitative study explored how factors related to teachers' beliefs, curricular orientation, training and support received, and their identity and background experiences are associated with their use of curriculum. Specifically, this study sought to examine teachers' use of a curricular resource specifically designed to…