AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., is working to close the achievement gap before children enter kindergarten by providing 3- and 4-year-olds with the social, emotional, and academic foundations that enable them to thrive in school--and increasing educator effectiveness is a critical…

Access to Head Start has been shown to improve children's preschool experiences and school readiness on selected factors through the end of 1st grade. Two more years of follow-up, through the end of 3rd grade, can now be examined to determine whether these effects continue into the middle elementary grades. The statistical design and impact…

In recent years, self-regulation has emerged as a foundational skill for academic success and well-being. Unfortunately, many children enter kindergarten without the self-regulation skills necessary to succeed. Children from high-risk backgrounds (e.g., low-income) are particularly vulnerable for difficulties in self-regulation development. Given…

With increasing emphasis on school readiness and early childhood programs as the foundation for academic success, the impact of implementing writing instruction in the primary grades has garnered interest. A survey done by the National Writing Project revealed that 69% of Americans believed that writing should be taught in all grade levels. The…

Available resources and indicators of high quality inclusive practices are presented in this compilation. Assembling many different resources in one place allows for easy comparison of potential indicators of quality. Excerpts and adaptations of the resources are intended to provide some familiarity with the content of each resource and encourage…

The report provides detailed information about the methods and instruments used to evaluate school readiness initiatives, discusses important considerations in selecting instruments, and provides resources and recommendations that may be helpful to those who are designing and implementing school readiness evaluations. Study results indicate that…

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to improve the school readiness of Washington State's children through three main strategies: (1) development of high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives in two communities; (2) enhancement of statewide systems that support early…

To accomplish desired results and to support more effective funding decisions, program planning, and policies, First 5 Ventura County adopted a results-based accountability (RBA) framework in its April 2000 strategic plan. This RBA framework uses regular, periodic and strategic data collection and analysis to inform a process of continuous…

This is one part of an evaluation of the Los Angeles Unified School District's Predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Other Non-Anglo (PHBAO) student integration programs. The analysis is based on data collected from staff, students, and parents during 1982-83 at schools that are at least 70% non-Anglo. This volume, in eight sections, discusses…

Minnesota's Family Service Collaboratives and Children's Initiative Partners encourage cooperation between communities and schools to improve the health of babies and children, increase school readiness, provide stable family environments, and promote basic academic skills. To fulfill the evaluation needs of these programs, this resource manual…

Measures of quality are now in widespread use across states as part of quality improvement initiatives. For example, many states are currently using global measures of quality that were first developed for research and practice purposes (such as the Environmental Rating Scales) in their Quality Rating Systems (QRSs). Although global quality…

Goal 1 of the 6 national education goals established by President Bush and the nation's governors states that by the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn. This document provides schools and communities with information about what children need to be able to start school ready to learn and gives examples of…

Begun in Israel in 1960, the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) program is a family support, parent-focused, early childhood literacy program. This book compiles 17 evaluation studies of the program, from researchers and practitioners in 7 countries. The studies are organized around five themes: exploring theoretical…

This report outlines the national and state environmental context for the SECCS Initiative in supporting MCH strategic planning in early childhood systems building. This strategic context has implications for roles, relationships, and activities within a planning process and ultimately an implementation process. It summarizes the opportunities and…

This document presents the proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). The theme of this conference is "Navigating Currents and Charting Directions." The theme reminds us that, although we are constantly pushed to account for the quality and impact of our research, we…