The purpose of this study was (a) to describe the performance of preschool children from families with college-educated mothers on two norm-referenced measures, the Preschool Language Scale-4 (PLS-4) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Tests-III (PPVT-III), and (b) to compare the findings with Qi and colleagues who reported PLS and PPVT scores for…

There is a virtual consensus regarding the types of language processes, interactions, and material supports that are central for young children to become proficient readers and writers (Shanahan et al., 2008). In this study, we examine these supports in both home and school contexts during children's critical transitional kindergarten year.…

Using a large, longitudinal data set that represents 701 state-funded pre-k classrooms and over 2,900 children enrolled in 11 states, the current study examined two hypotheses: (1) children would be perceived to be better adjusted at the beginning of pre-k when rated by a same-race teacher than by a different-race teacher, and (2) children would…

The purpose of this study was to support teachers' child-directed language and student outcomes by enhancing the educative features of an intervention targeted to vocabulary, conceptual development and comprehension. Using a set of design heuristics (Davis & Krajcik, 2005), our goal was to support teachers' professional development within the…

Despite the emerging evidence base on response to intervention, there is limited research regarding how to effectively use progress-monitoring data to adjust instruction for students in Tier 2 intervention. In this study, we analyzed extant data from a series of randomized experimental studies of a kindergarten supplemental reading intervention to…

It is well established that children and adolescents with learning disabilities are more likely to experience depressed mood than are their peers. Many scholars explain this relationship as resulting from low self-esteem, stress, or social isolation. However, little work has explored whether this relationship continues to exist into young…

This study examined associations between unwanted sexual experiences and both physical disability and cognitive performance in a nationally representative sample of young adults. We used data from 11,878 participants (ages 26-32) in Waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Logistic regressions…

Merging the literatures of how to enhance young children's vocabulary development and how to improve learning through play, this study tested two vocabulary teaching protocols on at-risk preschool children: Explicit Instructional Vocabulary Protocol (EIVP) and shortened EIVP and a play session (EIVP + Play). From a group of 118 lowest-performing…

This study examined the effects of an intensive shared book-reading intervention on the vocabulary development of preschool children who were at risk for vocabulary delay. The participants were 125 children, who the researchers stratified by classroom and randomly assigned to one of two shared book-reading conditions (i.e., the experimental, Words…

Research data consistently demonstrates that white school children score higher on tests of academic ability than Negro children of the same age and grade level, and that this discrepancy increases with time. Is this discrepancy due to a lack of learning proficiency on the part of Negro children or to a lack of learning opportunity? In an attempt…

The several statistical methods described for detecting test bias in terms of various internal features of a person's test performances and the test's construct validity can be applied to any groups in the population. But the evidence regarding groups other than U.S. blacks and whites is either lacking or is still too sketchy to permit any strong…

A longitudinal study to determine the conditions surrounding successful or unsuccessful integration of Negroes, Mexican Americans, and Anglos in the Riverside Unified School District in Riverside, California, began in school year 1965-66, and included kindergarten through grade 6. Test batteries placed emphasis on achievement "related…

Overview: A recent evaluation of children who had participated in the Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) as toddlers found that at kindergarten age, these children were performing at levels expected for their age, despite the fact that they had multiple factors putting them at risk for school failure. The Study: In the winter and spring of 2002, 135…