In recent years, children and adolescents have spent more time sitting and engaging in less physical activity than recommended by health authorities. Despite widespread efforts to promote physical activity through school-based programs, the impact of specific intervention programs often remains untested. Therefore, in this pilot study, the effects…

We examined the association of students' ability to transition on a daily basis (horizontal transitions) as reported by teachers with academic achievement as mediated by the summer Extended School Year (ESY) services received. Transitions from summer break to re-entry in the fall are referred to as a vertical transition. We examined these…

Measuring reading engagement is critical for monitoring student involvement in academic tasks, as it predicts student reading achievement and further academic success (Anderson et al., 2021; Guthrie et al., 2012). As a multidimensional construct, researchers have employed various methods to assess reading engagement (Gill & Remedios, 2013; Lee…

School readiness performance measures, such as the Good Level of Development (GLD), are increasingly associated with children's readiness to start formal learning, presenting challenges for supporting the transition to compulsory school. This research focuses on how an English primary school extended play-based pedagogy into Year One for children…

Student engagement during reading instruction, including during small group and individualized intensive reading instruction, is critical for student success. If students are not engaged with instruction, they are not learning. This study examined student reading engagement during individualized intensive literacy tutoring in a summer reading…

Three generations of developmental epidemiologically based randomized field trials of the Good Behavior Game (GBG) have been delivered to Baltimore elementary schools. With the collaboration of family and community partners, all three trials were directed at decreasing proximal targets of aggressive behavior and improving learning in first-grade…

Research focused on identifying effective interventions for individuals with Down syndrome is increasingly informed by the behavioral phenotype -- a profile of performance associated with a genetic abnormality. Recent studies substantiate the efficacy of phenotypically aligned instruction in improving basic reading skills for children with Down…

This study reports results of a randomized, controlled trial examining the efficacy of the Family Check-Up (FCU) initiated during kindergarten on teacher report of children's emotional and behavior problems in first and second grade. Children's emotional and behavior needs and the receipt of special services in school at pretest were examined as…

Research has demonstrated that behavior specificity is a salient characteristic of teacher praise efficacy. Praise variety may also be an important characteristic to reinforce desired student behavior based on research about the quality of reinforcers. In this study, we used an alternating treatments design to examine the effects of varied and…

Education researchers, policy makers, and practitioners have emphasized the role that social-emotional learning and self-regulation play in children's adjustment and connection to school, particularly as they transition from pre-school to kindergarten and the primary grades. A pretest-posttest cluster-randomized efficacy trial of the…

Numerous research based social emotional learning curriculums are available to school districts. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential impact of Second Step, a researched social emotional learning curriculum, and the impact it had on kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students' discipline in school. This…

We investigate the beginning of the school discipline pipeline using a reform in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools that limited the use of out-of-school suspension for students in grades K-2. We find that the reform reduced the likelihood of out-of-school suspension by 1.4 percentage points (56%) and had precise null effects on test scores and…

Challenging behavior problems are common in early childhood and, if left untreated, may escalate into more severe and intractable problems in adolescence and early adulthood. This trajectory is of particular importance in rural schools, where disruptive behaviors are more prominent than in urban and suburban schools. Conjoint behavioral…

This study reports results of a randomized, controlled trial examining the efficacy of the Family Check-Up (FCU) initiated during kindergarten on teacher report of children's emotional and behavior problems in first grade. Children's emotional and behavior needs at pretest were examined as a moderator. Participants were primary caregivers and…

Introduction: Children's social and emotional wellbeing is associated with subsequent academic achievement and behavioural outcomes, as well as functioning in later life. Nurturing approaches are one way of developing such wellbeing. Whole-school approaches to nurturing have been discussed in the literature, but no studies of any quality have…