This paper describes and reports on the evaluation of aspects of three preschool programs in the Bidwell Community School, New South Wales, Australia. A home-based preschool program, a sessional preschool-centered program, and a mixed, part sessional and part home-based program were made available for children and their parents. With the aim of…

This descriptive study of the developmental characteristics of urban children, most of whom were black, was a pilot study designed to take a broad overview of agency foster children as compared with children who had been cared for by a grandparent (usually the grandmother) and children cared for by their parents. In this comparison, the agency…

Ten normal white babies of middle class parents from the United States and 11 from Holland were observed for one 3-hour period every 2 weeks for the first 3 months of life. The observation form called for an observation about every 5 minutes, about 36 observations per visit. Although all the data on the American babies have not been completely…

Differences among day care environments and factors related to these differences are examined. Also, the probable effectiveness of group day care in meeting the developmental needs of children is discussed. Chapters I and II give the rationale and procedures of the study. Chapter III provides a description of patterns of teacher behavior and…

The Enriching a Child's Literacy Environment (ECLE) program was designed to establish a model for teaching parents, teachers, and other care providers how to develop the oral language, thinking abilities and motor skills of young children (ages six months to three years). ECLE trainers instruct the parents or other care providers by first modeling…

Reviews a 1977 research report on infant day care in New York City. Topics discussed include the sample, physical health and health surveillance, psychological development, and the children's daily experiences in child care. Main findings are summarized, and implications are discussed. (Author/DB)

Examined cognitive competencies and motivation in economically advantaged and disadvantaged preschoolers and kindergartners over a two-year period. Found that disadvantaged children had poorer cognitive scores than advantaged children. Cognitive gains were equal after one or two years in school, with socioeconomic status (SES) differences…

Examined the role of pretend play interactions in stimulating social and emotional competence by comparing the quality of pretend and nonpretend social play. Found that pretend play involved more complex, mutually responsive, and emotionally invested social interaction than nonpretend play. Expression of psychosocial issues within pretense was…

Examined children's developmental trajectories in five domains. Children were assigned to same- or mixed-age child care groups and assessed at 6-month intervals between approximately 32 and 49 months. Children in the two groups differed in their trajectories for communication, cognitive, and motor development but showed similar trajectories for…

Investigated whether low-income mothers learned to interact with their preschoolers in ways that fostered narrative skills. Mothers of intervention children were encouraged to elicit questions, encourage longer narratives, and participate in narrative conversation. Assessment of children's pre- and post-intervention narrative and vocabulary skills…

Describes two-generation programs and how they differ from earlier single-focus approaches to serve children and families. Results from six programs are reviewed and indicate mixed and modest success in promoting the development of children and improving the parenting skills and economic self-sufficiency of parents. Recommendations are presented…

Research Findings: Integrated services for young children and families are part of the new policy landscape in early childhood, but there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of these programs and how they develop on the ground. This study examined the use of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) as both a summative program evaluation tool…

The effects of an extra-year transition program after kindergarten on fourth grade students' achievement and self-esteem levels were examined in this study using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and the Stanford Achievement Test. Fourth grade students from a school district in central Alabama who had participated in the extra-year…

A study was conducted to determine if knowledge of the purposes of written language facilitated reading achievement in preschool children. The study also compared the performance of boys and girls to determine if boys' generally poorer reading abilities could be related to differences in print awareness. Scores from the comprehension subtest of…

To examine the differences and the unique qualities of third grade writers in relation to their uses of language and their perception of the world, a selection of writings from 20 third grade students was analyzed for language ability as measured by words per T-unit. Then, two students from the higher and two from the lower end of the scale were…