Lottery-based identification strategies offer potential for generating the next generation of evidence on U.S. early education programs. The authors' collaborative network of five research teams applying this design in early education settings and methods experts has identified six challenges that need to be carefully considered in this next…

Alabama standards for Early Learning and Development have shifted to a more academic-based learning approach that moves away from play-based learning. The problem is Alabama early childhood educators are expected to implement a more teacher-directed approach in the classroom. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory case study was to explore…

This joint Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) written by Swati Adarkar, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning, U.S. Department of Education (ED) and Katie Hamm, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlights various sources of funding streams to support high…

Since 2012, when preparatory grade (PG) became compulsory in Romania for 6-year olds, little understanding has been gained of how children's literacy evolves in PG, although over the same period, Romanian 15-year olds' reading performance has shown no signs of improvement (Noveanu et al., 2023). Children enter school with broadly varying literacy…

Books introduce children to social life and provide them with the opportunity to expand their imaginary worlds. Pre-school children are influenced by books more than adults. Children can identify themselves with the heroes in the books and choose to act like them. Therefore, the features of the heroes in children's picture books, what they go…

This article reports findings from a small-scale case study that captured parents' views about their experiences of a targeted government funded programme of early childhood education and care for the 40% 'most disadvantaged' two-year-olds in England. The programme is funded in the context of national government policies oriented to (i) closing…

The "Pre-K Classroom Assessment Scoring System" (CLASS) is commonly used to measure three domains of teacher-child interactional quality in preschool classrooms (Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support). However, there is considerable debate regarding the validity of its three-domain factor structure and the…

"Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") three-dimensional learning is valuable for all students regardless of age. The "NGSS" integrate disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts, adding rigor to science teaching and learning. Though "NGSS" performance…

This article focuses on how the capacity of diffractive readings is put to work in a study of two different types of visual material in research conducted in a preschool. The analysis with the help of--the language of the flat ontology--and the diffractive readings take place in educational research among three-year-olds. Children's photographs…

A grasp of the fact that emotional displays may not match a person's underlying feelings has been thought to develop in the elementary school years. Two prominent scales address the issue of how one might feel a negative feeling but need to display an different expression. Data from these scales suggest that children's comprehension of the need to…

Student immigrant generation can be estimated using an alternative method when data to calculate a traditional indicator are not available. An alternative method to determine immigrant generation may be helpful to school districts as they support and plan services for immigrant students and their families. Traditionally, child and parent…

Our goal was to study the impact of coding on preschoolers' math abilities and to analyze their coding behaviors. Participants were six preschoolers, four years of age, from a play-based accredited program. We measured their Math abilities using TEAM and observed their coding behaviors with a structured instrument. Children used a robotic toy to…

This article describes a conceptual and empirical approach for estimating a human capital production function of child development that incorporates mother- or child-fixed effects. The use of mother- or child-fixed effects is common in this applied economics literature, but its application is often inconsistent with human capital theory. We…

It is reported that engineering for play-based settings is a new body of knowledge under debate and contradictory. Many studies show how play-based settings are full of engineering possibilities for young children, whilst others have identified missed engineering teaching possibilities. In order to better understand the research, this paper…

Turn and Talk is widely used in early-grade classrooms, but very little rigorous research or evidence-based guidance has been offered to teachers. In this exploratory paper, we take the first step toward establishing a teacher-friendly discussion on this common technique. After briefly describing the Turn and Talk technique, we first ask: What…