This report examines how state welfare-to-work programs have affected young children since the 1996 welfare reform act, which moved millions of women into low-wage jobs. Researchers followed a sample of 948 mothers and young children for 2-4 years after the women entered new welfare programs in California, Connecticut, and Florida. After…

This issue of a publication informing health policy and health care services in California in support of Proposition 10, the Children and Families Act, focuses on building community support for preparing children to enter school ready to learn through the use of Proposition 10 Commissions. These Commissions would help ensure that school readiness…

Scientists who study how the brain works have shown that children learn earlier--and learn more--than we once thought possible. From birth through age 5, children are developing the language, thinking, physical, emotional and social skills that they will need for the rest of their lives. This booklet is for families and caregivers who want to help…

Unless children and parents have training and access to computers and the power they offer, computers create a barrier for them as they navigate a society that depends on computers for information and occupational advancement. This paper describes a program developed by North Shore Head Start in Beverly, Massachusetts and CAST (Center for Applied…

Some parents have chosen to delay their children's enrollment in kindergarten by a year because of individual differences in the pace and pattern of children's development. In other situations, some schools recommend delaying a child's school entry based on "readiness" testing or require that some kindergartners attend kindergarten for a…

Starting school is a milestone in a child's life. This booklet for New Zealand parents and caregivers offers guidelines for making the transition to school a positive experience. The topics discussed include: (1) selecting a school; (2) visiting the school; (3) enrolling children in school; (4) the initial adjustment; (5) clothes and schoolbags;…

The federal Even Start program was implemented to improve the educational opportunities of low-income children and adults by integrating early childhood education, adult education, and parent education into a unified family literacy initiative. This study was designed to assess the impact of Even Start on children's early school performance…

This report looks at the extent to which it was possible, using data from 1994 and 1995, to provide value-added scores for schools in three Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England. The number of terms students spend in school and their academic progress are reviewed, and the responses of the LEAs to the summary of issues related to…

This collection presents advice to help parents help their children succeed in school. Information sheets are included from many sources, in English and translated into Lao by the Lao Parents and Teachers Association. The emphasis is on the elementary grades, although some of the materials are useful for parents of high school students. The…

Prekindergarten students (n=1,137) in an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse urban public school took a kindergarten diagnostic assessment in September prior to entry into the regular kindergarten program. The assessment was a pilot version of a longer instrument that had been used at the school for several years. Results were used for…

Smart Start is North Carolina's model early childhood initiative to help all North Carolina children enter school healthy and prepared for success. Serving all 100 counties in the state, Smart Start's services include child care subsidies and health and family support services. This report describes the program, focusing on its impact on the…

This paper extends the previously reported findings of the Starting School Research Project in Australia as to what various stakeholders see as important in children's transition to school; the current study considers responses from parents, preschool educators, and school teachers to 20 statements summarizing beliefs and expectations about…

In order to examine the responsiveness of federal policies to the known risk and protective factors for academic and behavior problems at the beginning of school, the Child Mental Health Foundations and Agencies Network commissioned the two papers that make up this publication. One paper reviews the last two decades of relevant scientific…

Based on the view that parents' role in their young children's learning must be viewed within the context of families' changing needs and the communities in which they live, this guide explores how staff in early years settings can further develop communication and contact with parents. The guide is designed for promoting greater understanding of…

This bulletin is concerned with how children learn to read. It describes as simply as possible the teacher's part in the reading experiences children have, and the ways parents can help in making the learning-to-read years of the child's life both happy and successful. Learning to read is not limited to the first grade. During each year a child…