Research Findings: Engineering play is a new framework for understanding constructive block building as a design process. The current study examined associations between engineering play with wooden unit blocks and mathematics and spatial skills of children with and without disabilities. Participants included 110 preschoolers (44% female; 25%…

Transitions between two educational settings can bring about new experiences and expectations for children and their families. In the early care and education (ECE) context, when children transition from Head Start to kindergarten, they are confronted with different places, people, activities, and relationships. This transition also occurs between…

The School Improvement Grant (SIG), initially authorized in 1965 under the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, was passed to substantially support disadvantaged students' needs to raise students' achievement in their lowest-performing schools. This research addresses whether SIG funding alone is the catalyst to…

In comparison with other industrialized nations, the United States is behind in early education. In addition, students from low-income families are less likely to enroll in preschool than their more privileged counterparts and more likely to attend low-quality programs. This situation harms American students and society. This essay documents the…

The role of the education sector has expanded into areas of social welfare. A key influence, relates to the disintegration of public-funded organisations responsible for mental health and social welfare provision. This article considers the policy drive for a broadened welfare mandate within education settings. Drawing on illustrations of…

Although there is much research on adolescent poverty, research related to youth living in communities characterized by extreme poverty who are also identified as academically gifted is lacking. This study explores the development of hopelessness in these youths, compared with peers not identified as gifted, using data from the Mobile Youth and…

Strain theories expect socio-economically disadvantaged students to be overrepresented among perpetrators of school-deviant behavior. Empirical research, however, is inconclusive about the SES-deviance relationship. Recently, strain theorists argued that economic deprivation, rather than a socio-economic status (SES) index is related to…

Purpose/Objectives: Early childhood educators (ECEs) are encouraged to utilize supportive feeding practices (SFPs) to promote children's healthy eating. SFPs include sitting with children during mealtimes, role modeling healthy eating behaviors, encouraging children to try new foods, and addressing children's hunger cues. Although Head Start…

The purpose of this study was to assess the increase of Latino parents' confidence in advocating and supporting their child's schooling. The intervention was implemented in six public independent school districts in the Southwest United States. The data was examined through matched pre- and post-surveys (n = 45). Findings are consistent in…

Educational equity programs have been created to provide opportunities and resources for upward social mobility to low-SES individuals and students, students of color, historically marginalized students, and first-generation college students. This research study focused on educational equity programs recognized as the federally funded TRIO…

Ten years ago, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) shifted K-12 funding in California, directing more dollars to districts with high-need students--English Learner, low-income, and/or foster youth. This policy brief examines concerns over the flexibility LCFF gave districts to spend their money and provides data regarding: (1) how additional…

Research Findings: Using two groups of dual language learners (DLLs), the current study examined links between two developmental constructs closely linked to school readiness: the home language environment (HLE) and executive function (EF). In a sample of 90 children (age range = 38-70 months, 59% girls) from either Mexican American (MA, N = 46)…

We examined the state of Arkansas, empirically testing how focusing on high-achieving students using state tests might expand the pool of gifted identified students. From a broader sample of 173,133 students, we compared the degree to which students who were academically talented in the top 5% on third-grade state literacy and math assessments…

In the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) schools have an important role to play, but precisely how policy actors and educators should best respond to extremism within their schools remains uncertain. Reporting on data from a broader study, this article draws on semi-structured interviews with three participants. The…

The resource pack "Reaching Out to All Learners" focuses on what is arguably the greatest challenge facing education systems around the world, that of finding ways of including and ensuring the learning of all children in schools. Recently, teachers have faced further unprecedented challenges as they seek to find ways of ensuring quality…