Research Findings: This study reports outcomes from a randomized, controlled trial of an emergent literacy intervention for prekindergarten children at-risk for reading failure. Children (N = 2219) in 114 preschools and childcare centers were screened for eligibility in fall. Children who scored at-risk (n = 476) were randomized to fall or spring…

Research Findings: This study examines the association between preschool classroom activity and the quality of the language spoken by teachers and children. Eighteen classrooms serving low-income children between the ages of 3 and 4 in Santiago de Chile were audio-recorded during one morning shift. Recordings were transcribed and segmented into…

The current study used a dyadic and coconstructive approach to examine how to embed exercises that support executive functioning into early literacy instruction to empower its effects. Using a randomized controlled trial design with 100 children, we examined the effects of dyadic activities in which children scaffolded each other's learning and…

Research Findings: This study explored the quality of teacher-child interactions within the context of a newly developed standardized task, Teacher-Child Structured Play Task (TC-SPT). A sample of 146 teachers and 345 children participated. Children who displayed the highest disruptive behaviors within each classroom were selected to participate.…

Research Findings: In Study 1, we observed 32 Chinese kindergarteners playing a number board game with their caregivers in dyads. Number board game playing provided important opportunities for kindergarteners and their caregivers to talk about an array of number concepts, but their numeracy-related exchanges rarely went beyond counting. In Study…

Research Findings: Mental state verbs (MSV), a component of literate and academic language, may facilitate vocabulary growth, as they relate to metacognitive and metalinguistic awareness as well as decontextualized talk, all of which have been associated with vocabulary growth. In this study, we examined teacher MSV use in group content…

Research Findings: This study examined the potential impacts of ongoing participation (twice weekly for 30 weeks) in teacher-child managed whole-group language and literacy instruction on prekindergarten children's social interaction with classmates. Teacher-child managed whole-group instruction that provides children with opportunities to engage…

Research Findings: This article examines whether time spent in free choice and teacher-directed activity settings within preschool was associated with indicators of school readiness and the extent to which children's learning was associated with the quality of teachers' behavior within these settings. Participants were 325 preschool teachers and…

Research Findings: This study investigated how mean classroom-level shyness scores moderated the impacts of "INSIGHTS" into "Children's Temperament" on instructional support and students' math and reading skills in kindergarten and 1st-grade classrooms. "INSIGHTS" is a temperament-based social-emotional learning…

Research Findings: This study investigated the association between Mexican American maternal education and socioeconomic status (SES) and child vocabulary as mediated by parental reading beliefs, home literacy environment (HLE), and parent-child shared reading frequency. As part of a larger study, maternal reports of education level, SES, HLE, and…

Research Findings: This study examined the contribution of several classroom experience measures (classroom characteristics, teacher characteristics, and teacher-child interactions) to preschoolers' improvement in visuomotor integration. Children (N = 467) ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old and were enrolled in 115 classrooms in 5 U.S. states.…

Research Findings: The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Incredible Years Basic Parent Training (IYPT Basic) in a community clinic setting in Hong Kong. IYPT Basic is a Western program developed to promote children's academic, social, and emotional regulation skills and to reduce conduct problems among typically…

Research Findings: This study compared the effects of content-based shared book-reading instruction versus an explicit vocabulary-only condition on the vocabulary development of preschool dual language learners (DLLs). Using shared book reading as the mode of instruction, we randomly assigned 48 bilingual preschool teachers and 281…