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Eric.ed.gov – Getting Ready for Kindergarten: Children’s Progress during Head Start. FACES 2009 Report. OPRE Report 2013-21a

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief report focusing on children’ s kindergarten readiness i s the third in a series of reports describing data from the 2009 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009). Previous FACES 2009 reports described the characteristics of children and their families and programs as they entered Head Start in fall 2009 ( Hulsey et al. 2011) and, in spring 2010, at the end of one year in the program (Moiduddin et al. 2012). This brief report describes the family backgrounds and developmental outcomes of children as they completed the Head Start program and also describes progress in children’s outcomes between Head Start entry and exit. It focuses on the population of children who entered Head Start for the first time in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Effects of All-Day, and Half-Day Kindergarten Programming on Reading, Writing, Math, and Classroom Social Behaviors.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study compared the relative effects of three kindergarten schedules on children’s achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics, and on children’s prosocial classroom behaviors. Participating were 47 children attending all-day kindergarten, 56 attending alternate-day kindergarten, and 44 attending half-day kindergarten. Individual achievement tests were administered in a pretest-posttest procedure. Analysis of covariance showed that the all-day kindergarten group scored significantly higher in reading, with no significant differences in mathematics or writing. Multivariate analysis of covariance for the 14 subscales of classroom social behaviors on the Hahnemann Elementary Behavior Rating Scale showed significant differences between groups, with the half-day children exhibiting higher scores on classroom behaviors that facilitate learning and lower scores on negative behaviors. Possible reasons for these differences and implications of developmentally appropriate practices, teachers’ theoretical… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – State Policymakers’ Views on the Arts in Education. Issue Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This Issue Brief is based on telephone interviews of 21 state policymakers to discuss the salient education issues in their states and their views on arts education. Six state senators, eight state representatives, one state board of education member, two deputy commissioners of education, three current state superintendents and one former state superintendent were interviewed between November 21, 2005 and February 27, 2006. All of the legislators serve on their respective education committees, and most chair these committees. Political affiliation among these policymakers was approximately equal, with nine Republicans, 10 Democrats and two unidentified. When asked to describe the most salient education issues in their states, quite a few policymakers mention issues that arts can help address, such as dropout prevention and the achievement gap between poor… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Instruction in Spanish and Outcomes for Pre-Kindergarten English Language Learners. Research Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study examined associations between classroom quality, amount of instruction in Spanish, and academic learning of Spanish-speaking 4 years-olds. Findings suggest that gains in reading and math were larger when children received more instruction in Spanish in classrooms with more responsive and sensitive teachers. It is possible that instruction in Spanish in high-quality classrooms may enhance the academic skills for children with limited English. [This research brief is based on the following published study: Burchinal, M., Field, S., Lopez, M. L., Howes, C., & Pianta, R. (2012). Instruction in Spanish in pre-kindergarten classrooms and child outcomes for English language learners. “Early Childhood Research Quarterly,” 27, 188-197. (EJ958040)] Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Effectiveness Evaluation of the Positive Family Support Intervention: A Three-Tiered Public Health Delivery Model for Middle Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This article presents the results of an evaluation of Positive Family Support, an ecological family intervention and treatment approach to parent supports and family management training developed from a history of basic and translational research. This effectiveness trial, with 41 public middle schools randomly assigned to intervention or control, examined student-, teacher-, and parent-reported outcomes, as well as math and reading scores and school attendance. Multilevel analyses suggested that for students at risk for behavior problems, immediate-intervention schools outperformed control schools on parent-reported negative school contacts for students at risk for behavior problems. Implementation, however, was hampered by several challenges, including school funding cuts, lack of staff time to provide parenting supports, and staff turnover. Given that preventive interventions are generally cost effective, it is critical that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – An Analysis of the Effects of an Academic Summer Program for Middle School Students

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report examines the implementation and effects of the academic summer program for middle school students offered by Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL). BELL’s middle school program serves rising sixth- through eighth-grade students who are performing one to two years below grade level. The goals of the program are to increase students’ literacy and math skills and to enhance their social development. Overall, the findings from this study indicate that BELL mounted a fairly well-run and well-staffed five-week summer program in summer 2012 and that students attended at a high rate even though the program was voluntary. The pattern of impact estimates suggests that, on returning to school in fall 2012, BELL students may have had stronger math skills than they would have had otherwise, equivalent… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Early Childhood: Child, Teacher, Parent

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The field of early childhood holds promising keys to unlocking many of the mysteries in learning. Educators in the field, given the right tools, have the potential to have a profound impact on the long-term success of their students. The design of this curriculum comes directly out of the incredible possibilities set in motion while exploring this field. Early childhood programs have three essential components or learners. Primary learners are the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. In order to best serve the child, early childhood programs must not only focus on the curriculum and programmatic issues, but must also spend time training staff and providing learning opportunities for parents. Successful early childhood programs aim to employ the most effective resources available to meet the needs of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – When Does Preschool Matter?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: We have many reasons to invest in preschool programs, including persistent gaps in school readiness between children from poorer and wealthier families, large increases in maternal employment over the past several decades, and the rapid brain development that preschool-age children experience. But what do we know about preschool education’s effectiveness? In this article, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Christina Weiland, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn report strong evidence that preschool boosts children’s language, literacy, and math skills in the short term; it may also reduce problem behaviors such as aggression. Over the elementary school years, however, test scores of children who were exposed to preschool tend to converge with the scores of children who were not. Many factors may explain this convergence. For example, kindergarten or first-grade teachers may focus on helping… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – High School Peer Buddy Program: Impact on Social and Academic Achievement for Students with Disabilities

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study was to examine the Peer Buddy Program at a high school for students with disabilities (i.e., learning and behavior disabilities) in academic and social achievement. Two specific questions were addressed: Do students with learning and/or emotional/behavioral disabilities, who are participating in the Peer Buddy Program, show improvement in their use of social skills according to self-report, special and general curriculum teacher ratings on a standardized social skill rating scale? and 2) Do students with learning and/or emotional/behavioral disabilities, who are participating in the Peer Buddy Program, show improvement in academic skill use according to past to present year comparisons on grade point averages, and special education informal assessments (Fast Math, System 44, and Acuity)? Student, special and general education teachers’ ratings on… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Can We Measure Classroom Supports for Social-Emotional Learning?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief applies value-added models to student surveys in the CORE Districts to explore whether social-emotional learning (SEL) surveys can be used to measure effective classroom-level supports for SEL. The authors find that classrooms differ in their effect on students’ growth in self-reported SEL–even after accounting for school-level effects. Results suggest that classroom-level effects within schools may be larger than school-level effects. However, the low explanatory power of the SEL models means it is unclear that these are causal effects that have appropriately controlled for student-level characteristics. Finally, there are generally low correlations between classroom-level growth in SEL and classroom-level growth in English language arts (ELA) or math, suggesting the SEL measures may capture growth not measured by academic test scores. Although results are preliminary, they indicate… Continue Reading