The study examines students' skills at kindergarten entry and gains in skills across the kindergarten through first-grade period (pre-COVID-19) for predicting literacy, language, math, inhibitory control, and social-adjustment outcomes in the spring of fourth grade, after schools reopened. In a large US school district, longitudinal data were…

School discipline policies are broadly intended to foster a high-quality learning environment by maintaining safety in the classroom; however, far too often, schools adopt measures that harm a student's social, emotional, academic, and in some cases, physical health and well-being. To create physically safe and emotionally supportive environments…

With a heavy increase in academic expectations and standards to be learned in the early years, educators are facing the challenge of integrating important academic standards into developmentally appropriate learning experiences for children in kindergarten. To meet this challenge, there is a need to become familiar with the role of play in the…

This study examined the impact of a commonly adopted elementary universal social-emotional learning program, Second Step, on student social-emotional and academic outcomes following 2 years of implementation. The cluster-randomized wait-list control trial included 61 schools, 321 teachers, and 8,941 early elementary students across 2 states, with…