This document consists of the three 1999 issues of a journal reporting new research in early child development conducted by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Articles in the Winter 1999 issue focus on the transition to kindergarten and first grade, including adjustment issues;…

School readiness assessment is a prominent feature of early childhood education. Because the construct of readiness is multifaceted, we examined children's patterns on multiple indicators previously found to be both theoretically and empirically linked to school readiness: social skill, interactions with parents, problem behavior, and performance…

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…

This book presents 19 chapters on life span perspectives and service issues for people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The book presents best practices and provides a view of the range of services necessary to work with people who have those disabilities. It is intended to provide a core reference for providers in the…

Few adults deliberately set out to cause children stress or to teach them how to deal with it, yet adults do just that with every word, action, and reaction. This book collects work in the field of human development on how adults can help children learn to cope with stress. Each of the 30 chapters previously appeared in "Young Children,"…

The federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau has launched a five-year initiative that will support state efforts to build comprehensive early childhood service systems. This initiative--the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Initiative (SECCS)--provides two year planning grants followed by three year implementation grants to the 50 state…

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…

This two-part bulletin updates growth and activities of the parent-teacher associations. Part I, History and Progress of the Parent-Teacher Movement (Margaretta Willis Reeve), points to the Congress of Mothers, founded in 1897, as adopting parent-teacher cooperation as part of its program; and describes its evolution, purpose, and activities as…

If early childhood systems are to be effective at the population level then they must be able to provide family-centered care to all the racial, ethnic and cultural groups that they serve. Despite major policy driven and technological advances in healthcare, health disparities across different races and ethnicities persist. For example, the infant…

This report outlines the national and state environmental context for the SECCS Initiative in supporting MCH strategic planning in early childhood systems building. This strategic context has implications for roles, relationships, and activities within a planning process and ultimately an implementation process. It summarizes the opportunities and…

This book defines a good education and offers parents a plan of action for ensuring that their children achieve it. Drawing from the goals that William Bennett enumerated as Secretary of Education, excerpts from Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence, and current research, this book sets forth curricula and specific objectives for children from…

This report summarizes the conference proceedings of the fifth Head Start National Research Conference. The focus of the conference was on the relationship of environment and developmental changes. Keynote topics and speakers were: "How Can We Know Environment Really Matters?" (Michael Rutter); "Creating Developmentally Appropriate…

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…

This report is designed to support the planning and implementation of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (SECCS) Initiative. It addresses a set of principles that these agencies can use to advance their planning process, reach out to new partners, develop collaborative strategies, and build a…

This Kids Count data book details statewide trends in the well-being of Virginia's children. The statistical portrait is based on indicators of child well-being in five areas: healthy births, adolescent well-being, health and safety, education, and economic security. Specific indicators examined are: (1) births to single women; (2) early prenatal…