In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research on who parenting students are and their experiences…

Introduction: The increasing use of online parenting resources offers the opportunity to improve the parenting role through Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). However, there is no evidence concerning the effectiveness of the learning process that takes place in a PLE space. Method: We evaluated the "Positive Parent" program through…

Caregivers can experience significant challenges following their child's autism diagnosis and often seek informational, relational and emotional support. Post-diagnostic support for caregivers has received relatively little research attention and represents a significant gap in the international evidence base. We used an iterative codesign process…

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) conducted a landscape evaluation of early childhood programs in Indiana (IN) between the spring of 2021 and the summer of 2022. Commissioned by Early Learning Indiana (ELI), this study provides Indiana programs and policymakers with research-based information on the quality of a sample of…

This is the executive summary for the report "North Carolina Pre-K Pyramid Model Evaluation Study: Implementation and Outcomes Evaluation Study Final Results." The report is an assessment of a pilot implementation of the NC Preschool Pyramid Model (Pyramid Model), a social-emotional coaching program to support NC Pre-K teachers to engage…

Super Parents is a group-based, Extension-led parenting program developed to enhance the parent-child relationship. Implemented by trained Head Start staff using the train-the-trainer model, this effort is achieved by teaching positive parenting practices, increasing parents' knowledge of child development, instructing parents in activities and…

Learning to set age-appropriate boundaries is an integral element of positive youth development. Both parents and youth need guidance in rule-rsetting and negotiating boundaries. North Dakota State University Extension created Boundaries, a program using parent-youth relationships to teach the importance of setting and following rules or…

Recommendations for the prevention of childhood obesity encourage providers to counsel parents and their children on healthy diet and activity behaviors. This study evaluated the feasibility of a theory-based, tailored communication intervention for obesity prevention ("Team Up for Health") delivered during a well-child visit. A…

The Big Lift™ (Big Lift) is a preschool-third-grade collective impact initiative in San Mateo County, California. The initiative is a partnership of the County of San Mateo, the San Mateo County Office of Education, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Launched in 2012, the initiative aims to boost children's reading proficiency by third…

Several early learning programmes have targeted children's reading, particularly their relationships with books. One, Bookstart, provided free books to babies attending their eighth-month health check at local clinics. Study of this programme suggested that it led to an improvement in language performance upon school entry. Booktime continues from…

Virtue, according to Aristotle, is doing the right things at the right time with the right people for the right end and in the right way. This concept is central to the work of the Early Learning Initiative, an Irish community-based educational initiative. This paper describes how a community of parents, early childhood care and education…

Background: Few nutrition interventions in kindergarten classes have been evaluated, and none has been tested for program effectiveness, implementation, and dissemination. Building a Healthy Me (BHM) is a nutrition intervention for kindergarteners that is classroom-based and includes a family component. This study evaluated the public health…

Objective: This study examined the efficacy of the Parent and Child Enhancement (PACE) program on child learning, child behavior problems, and parental stress, using randomized controlled trial design, in social services centers. Methods: Eligibility criteria were (1) children aged 2 years at program commencement, (2) low-income, new immigrant, or…

The purpose of this report is to present the results of a two-year randomized control trial evaluation of the SPARK literacy program. SPARK is an early grade literacy program developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. In 2010, SPARK was awarded an Investing in Innovation (i3) Department of Education grant to further develop the…

Adults with Asperger syndrome show persistent difficulties in social situations which psychosocial treatments may address. Despite the multiple studies focusing on social skills interventions, only some have focused specifically on problem-solving skills and have not targeted workplace adaptation training in the adult population. This study…