Research Findings: The increase in young Latino Dual Language Learners (DLLs) attending early care and education (ECE) programs has led to a focus on assessing classroom quality for DLLs, to evaluate the quality and impact of their early educational experiences. Experts have advocated for the use of multiple classroom observation tools (i.e.,…

Research Findings: The objective of this study was to examine the student-teacher relationship as a potential moderator of the link between executive functioning (EF) and children's early school readiness among a clinical sample of preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBP). Participants for the study included 139 preschool children…

Notwithstanding the constant debate in the scientific and policy literature on the precise meaning of school readiness, research consistently demonstrates a wide variation between groups of children resulting in a gap at school entry. Recently, the teacher-completed Early Development Instrument (EDI), a new measure of children's school readiness…

This study explored preschool teachers' beliefs about the appropriateness of early literacy and mathematics education. In all, 60 teachers of 4-year-olds, half working with low-socioeconomic status (SES) children at publicly funded preschools and the other half with middle-SES children at private preschools, were randomly assigned to read either…

Examines research on the importance of understanding children's biological timetables for mind and brain development, and forces that can threaten this neurodevelopmental timetable during critical periods. Discusses the brain's adaptability, and focuses on the importance of knowledge derived from the study of special populations for understanding…

Notes that most special education children are in nonnormative category and that classification of such children as unready for school is based on factors unrelated to education. Argues that children in normative and nonnormative disability categories should be considered ready for regular education and that the readiness concept applied to…

Summarizes recommendations generated in six workshops along several themes, including the need to redefine school readiness; expand the role of schools and teachers; more fully integrate the growing cultural diversity of our population into the learning equation; and develop new readiness assessment instruments. The specific recommendations are…

Makes two assumptions in examining the transition to kindergarten: (1) multiple risk factors are expected to predict early school social and academic success or failure; (2) classroom and playground experiences will exacerbate or mitigate the effects of those risk factors. Notes the importance of identifying child, family, child care, and…

Examined the impact of a bi-generational mathematics intervention with Head Start families in two studies. Found that intervention children developed more extensive mathematical knowledge than a comparison group of low-income children. Low-income parents were willing and able to support the children's mathematical development once trained to do…

Notes that achieving school readiness for all children by the year 2000 will require a reconceptualization of the concept of readiness. Reviews some of the relevant history of readiness as an area of inquiry, and details the issues surrounding readiness, including school readiness versus learning readiness, and chronological age of entry versus…

Describes the effects of one community's concept of readiness for school on children in a kindergarten class. Of particular interest was the effect on children's understanding of their roles as students. The concept of readiness provided the framework for instructional activities and helped parents understand their children's roles as students.…

Investigated factors that played a role in mediating the effects of the government-funded Child-Parent Center preschool program in Chicago. Results indicated that preschool influenced later achievement and retention indirectly rather than directly. A social context view of the transmission of preschool effects was supported. (LB)