Early Childhood Education

This overview describe Multitiered system of support (MTSS) as a conceptual framework for organizing service delivery to students. 

The purpose of this paper is to describe methodological issues related to the independent variable in early intervention research. Three standards related to the independent variable are proposed:

This paper examines the factors affecting the successful implementation of a laptop program, classroom uses of laptops and the support required for schools from current research almost exclusively from the United States.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, in partnership with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), developed a research-based synthesis defining a set of policies and practices implemented by successful Future Ready district leaders. The resulting rubric provides a basis for personalized professional learning to expand the capacity of district superintendents to effectively transition to digital learning.

This study examined the effects of combining curriculum-based measurement in mathematics computation with teachers' self-monitoring of instructional changes on academic progress of elementary students with learning disabilities and mild mental disabilities. Participating teachers were assigned to a control group that did not use curriculum-based measurement, a curriculum-based measurement-only group, or a curriculum-based measurement with self-monitoring group.

Examined the effect of social skills intervention on the frequency of positive peer interaction (PI) in 4 moderately hearing-impaired preschool children (aged 5.5 yrs to 5.10 yrs).

We evaluated the effectiveness of full-session differential reinforcement of low rates of behavior (DRL) on 3 primary school children's rates of requesting attention from their teacher. Using baseline rates of responding and teacher recommendations, we set a DRL schedule that was substantially lower than baseline yet still allowed the children access to teacher assistance.

There is growing evidence to support the use of trial-based functional analyses, particularly in classroom settings. However, there currently are no evaluations of this procedure with typically developing children. Furthermore, it is possible that refinements may be needed to adapt trial-based analyses to mainstream classrooms.

The authors investigated the programming of generalization and maintenance of correspondence between verbal and nonverbal behavior in a preschool setting. Four children participated in a series of multiple‐baseline designs. In Experiment 1, delayed reinforcement of verbal behavior effectively controlled maintenance of correspondence with previously trained responses and also resulted in generalization of correspondence to one untrained response. As the latter effect was limited, Experiment 2 was a further assessment of the effects of delayed reinforcement of generalization of correspondence to untrained responses, and consistent generalization was shown. Experiment 2 also showed that generalization, if lost, could be recovered through use of “booster training,” in which the original contingencies were reinstated for a brief period. Experiment 3 provided replications, with two additional children, of the effects of delayed reinforcement on maintenance of correspondence. Results are discussed in terms of using delayed reinforcement as an indiscriminable contingency.

The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) has been gaining popularity as a comprehensive treatment model for children ages 12 to 60 months with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This article evaluates the research on the ESDM through an analysis of study design and purpose; child participants; setting, intervention agents, and context; density and duration; and overall research rigor to assist professionals with knowledge translation and decisions round adoption of the practices.

The authors describe minimal requirements for functional intervention-based assessment and suggest strategies for using these methods to analyze developmental delays and make special service eligibility decisions for preschool children (intervention-based multifactored evaluation or IBMFE). 

This article reviews the economic studies on early childhood education and places them in the context of the larger knowledge base on this topic. It concludes that well designed programs and policies do produce significant results but, most current programs and policies are not well designed or implemented effectively.

Differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) schedules can be used to decrease, but not eliminate, excessive bids for teacher attention in a classroom. There are two primary methods of implementing a DRL: full session and spaced responding.

This paper outline the rationale, critical dimensions, and techniques for using peer micronorms and discuss technical adequacy considerations.

Six issues presented in this presentation are (1) The definitional issue (2) The effectiveness issue (3) The domain issue (4) The measurement issue (5) The professional development issue (6) The system issue

The Bridging the Word Gap Research Network conducted a review of literature to identify effective interventions to facilitate the communication development of young children in hopes of identifying ways to reduce the well-documented word gap among children associated with socio-economic class. As part of this effort, we focused on the ways in which caregivers (teachers, parents, and others) were taught to implement evidence-based practices for facilitating language learning and use.

This review examines the relationship between parental involvement and student academic achievement. The definition of parental involvement isn’t always clear and encompasses a wide range of parental interventions and involvement in a child’s education. Two types of parental involvement are generally examined in the available research: home-based strategies, such as providing structure and support for learning and education at home, and school-based strategies, such as communicating with teachers and attending school events.The strongest associations with improved student performance across all grades were parental expectations and aspirations. The review also concluded that parental involvement and academic achievement do not diminish as children grow into young adulthood. What does change is how parents engage with their child over time; direct involvement in learning diminishes, but the value of fostering conditions for academic success increases. Parents seem to affect their children’s academic outcomes by setting high academic expectations and by creating, in ways not considered intrusive or controlling, a comfortable space for the children to develop their own academic motivations. The review also found that the benefits of school-based involvement by parents are not strong or produce mixed results.

This study is a meta-analysis of the research on the impact of comprehensive school reform (CSR) on student achievement. The research summarizes the specific effects of 29 widely implemented models.

his meta-analysis of early childhood education programs in the U.S. examines the impact of class size and child to teacher ratios on the cognitive, achievement, and socioemotional outcomes for children. The study found no socially significant relationship with cognitive and achievement effect size for either class size or child to teacher ratios. The only notable improvement in effect size was found when child to teacher ratios were lower than 7.5-1.

In this article, multiple-baseline across participants designs were used to evaluate the impact of a precision teaching (PT) program, within a Tier 2 Response to Intervention framework, targeting fluency in foundational reading skills with at risk kindergarten readers. From the outcomes of the multilevel model, PT can be considered as a promising Tier 2 intervention to increase reading fluency with individuals who are at risk of reading failure.

This report systematically reviews research on the outcomes of programs that teach young children in a group setting before they begin kindergarten. Study inclusion criteria included the use of randomized or matched control groups, evidence of initial equality, and study duration of at least 12 weeks. The review concludes that on academic outcomes at the end of preschool and/or kindergarten, six early childhood programs showed strong evidence of effectiveness and five had moderate evidence of effectiveness.

This paper summarizes the results of a retrospective review of generalization in the context of social skills research with preschool children.

The oral reading of 65 first-graders experiencing difficulties in beginning reading was observed during primary reading instructional time. Findings indicate most instruction for struggling readers was not aligned with recent research on preventing reading difficulties, and even struggling readers receiving reading instruction aligned with best practices are making minimal progress. 

At this manual level of analysis, practitioners may choose from a variety of specific treatment programs that have demonstrated their efficacy in research trials.

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the positive approaches to behavioral intervention research and young children demonstrating challenging behavior. The results indicate an increasing trend of research using positive behavioral interventions with young children who demonstrate challenging behaviors. Most of the research has been conducted with children with disabilities between 3 and 6 years old.

In this 26th volume of Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities we address one of the most important educational reforms of recent years evidence-based practices (EBPs).

Two studies were conducted with children who displayed behavior problems to evaluate the effects of task preference, task demands, and adult attention on child behavior.

The present interpretation of construct validity is not “official” and deals with some areas where the Committee would probably not be unanimous. The present writers are solely responsible for this attempt to explain the concept and elaborate its implications.

In the current study, constant time delay (CTD) was embedded in classroom activities and routines to teach counting to young children. In addition, nontarget information (the color of the object) was included in the task direction. A multiple-probe design across numbers replicated across children was used. 

Analysis of the problems, theory, and design of sampling techniques for social scientists, industrial managers, and others who find statistics increasingly important in their work. Only college algebra assumed. Illustrated with dozens of actual large-scale surveys in government and industry. "The 'bible' of sampling statisticians."

A recent study, attempts to answer this question by examining the effects of two North Carolina early-childhood programs on students’ educational outcomes in elementary school. This study looked at the impact of state funding allocations to programs in each of 100 counties across 13 consecutive years in South Carolina. These findings indicate that North Carolina’s investment in early childhood programs is associated with improved educational outcomes for students in terms of math and reading scores, reductions in special education rates, and diminished incidence of grade retention. Importantly, these effects don’t appear to fade during the elementary grades.

A recent study, attempts to answer this question by examining the effects of two North Carolina early-childhood programs on students’ educational outcomes in elementary school. These findings indicate that North Carolina’s investment in early childhood programs is associated with improved educational outcomes. Importantly, these effects don’t appear to fade during the elementary grades

This study uses data collected in the intervention classrooms of Head Start REDI (Research- based, Developmentally Informed), a randomized clinical trial testing the efficacy of a comprehensive preschool curriculum targeting children’s social-emotional competence, language, and emergent literacy skills delivered by teachers who received weekly coaching support.

New data and analysis from the National Council on Teacher Quality finds significant progress on the science of reading instruction in teacher preparation. 

The National Council of Teacher Quality (NCTQ) review examines teacher preparation program progress in adopting the necessary components of evidence-based reading instruction. The report continues the effort of two previous reports offering educators a look at trends on preparation program progress on providing this essential training.

We compared active student response (ASR) error correction and no-response (NR) error correction while teaching science terms to 5 elementary students. When a student erred on ASR terms, the teacher modeled the definition and the student repeated it. When a student erred on NR terms, the teacher modeled the definition while the student looked at the vocabulary card. ASR error correction was superior on each of the study's seven dependent variables.

This meta-analysis examines the impact of professional development on program quality and educational outcomes for children in early childhood programs. The study attempts to answer three questions: (1) evaluate the impact of in-service programs for early childhood professional development, (2) identify program characteristics that moderate the effects of training on quality of service, and (3) identify the links between in-service training to childhood outcomes. 

The authors concluded that early intensive behavioral intervention was associated with large to moderate improvements in IQ (intelligence quotient) and adaptive behavior in children with autism compared to no intervention or eclectic treatment.

The causes of long-term continuity in the level of children's school performance are not completely understood. Some of the continuity undoubtedly stems from the persistence of cognitive status. This article reports on a follow-up study of school children in Baltimore that shows that it can also be related to the child's early social environment. 

Cover, copy, compare (CCC) has been used with success to improve spelling skills. This study adds to existing research by completing an analysis of the rewriting component of the intervention. The impact of varying the number of times a subject copied a word following an error was examined with four elementary age students.

The effects of prompting and modeling feedback strategies were compared on the sight word reading performance of 2nd and 4th/5th grade students labeled learning disabled using a multielement design. All eight participants read more modeled than prompted words during training and at one month follow-up.

This paper identified and discussed some of the more pressing challenges and associated ethical dilemmas of implementing EBP in social work and strategies to manage them, in the hopes of affirming that the process of EBP is both feasible and practicable.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of contingent teacher praise, as specified by Canter's Assertive Discipline programme, on children's on‐task behaviour. However, observations conducted during a follow‐up phase revealed reductions in the use of praise by the teachers and in some levels of on‐task behaviour.

Leading experts present evidence-based procedures for supporting positive behaviors and reducing problem behaviors with children and adults in diverse contexts. Chapters delve into applications in education, autism treatment, addictions, behavioral pediatrics, and other areas. 

This meta-analysis examines how shared book reading impacts the English language and literacy skills of young children. The study finds a significant positive effect of using shared reading on English learner academic outcomes.

The purpose of this Brief is to define the variables a state or large district leadership team may wish to consider as they determine if they are “ready” to invest in the scaling-up of innovation in education.

The failure of better science to readily produce better services has led to increasing interest in the science and practice of implementation. The results of recent reviews of implementation literature and best practices are summarized in this article.

CASL's general goal is to identify instructional practices that accelerate the learning of K-3 children with disabilities. A specific goal is to identify and understand the nature of nonresponsiveness to generally effective instruction. 

In this article, we explain important features of RTI, why it has been promoted as a substitute for IQ-achievement discrepancy, and what remains to be understood before it may be seen as a valid means of LD identification.

The goal of the current research was to better understand when and why feedback has positive effects on learning and to identify features of feedback that may improve its efficacy. Results suggest that minimal computer-generated feedback can be a powerful form of guidance during problem solving.

This paper estimates the large array of long-run benefits of an influential early childhood program targeted to disadvantaged children and their families. It is evaluated by random assignment and follows participants through their mid-30s. It has substantial beneficial impacts on (a) health and the quality of life, (b) the labor incomes of participants, (c) crime, (d) education, and (e) the labor income of the mothers of the participants through subsidizing their childcare.

Using data from two academic cohorts, the kindergarten classes of 1998 and 2010, this study examines the relationship between children’s socioeconomic status (SES) and their cognitive and noncognitive skills when starting school.

This article describes the procedures and utility of the Benchmarks of Quality as part of a comprehensive evaluation plan to assess the universal level of implementation fidelity of behavior support for a school. However, results can also be examined to determine the level of implementation fidelity across a district or state for ongoing behavioral training and technical assistance planning.

The first portion of this article describes the development and validation of a classroom observation measure. The goal of the measure was to assess the quality of reading instruction provided to first-grade English learners.

This paper presents a critical meta-analytic review of these evaluations, providing measures of standardized effects for all significant impacts to facilitate comparisons across differing domains of outcome and evaluative methods. The research supports a modest support for positive impacts in improving children’s developmental competence in a variety of domains, improving later school attendance and performance, and reducing subsequent grade retention.

This paper presents a systematic review of the literature that assessed the effectiveness of frequency building and precision teaching with school-aged children. The authors evaluated studies in accordance with the What Works Clearinghouse standards and the council for exceptional children standards for evidence-based practices in special education.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of three active responding techniques (i.e., hand raising, choral responding, the response card) on student participation and ontask behavior in preschool children with attending problems. 

A brief perspective is offered on the development and validation of one enabler—engagement in academic responding—and recent findings are provided of an effort to bridge the gap between research and practice by employing this knowledge in Title 1 elementary schools to improve instruction.

This executive summary discusses the definition of learning disabilities (LD) and how students are identified as having a learning disability.

This paper discusses the definition of learning disabilities (LD) and how students are identified as having a learning disability.

The purpose of this chapter is to present the evolution of the response to intervention (RTI) concept and discuss how that concept can be and is being used to provide more effective services to children and youth with both academic and social/behavioral difficulties

This principal's guide to implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) for elementary and middle school reading emphasizes the critical role administrators play in ensuring RTI success in their schools. The author makes recommendations for putting the RTI process in motion and helps school leaders:

This report and podcast examines the scientific basis for how to teach reading to children. This investigation reveals how children learn to read, emphasizing the five critical components of reading instruction. 

This book gives researchers and professionals the means to break this frustrating cycle, crafted by authors who have not only been there and done that, but can explain in-depth how to replicate the method

In this review, we explore the extent to which researchers evaluating the efficacy of Tier 2 elementary reading interventions within the framework of Response to Intervention reported on fidelity of implementation and alignment of instruction between tiers. However, researchers frequently neglect to report on fidelity of intervention in Tier 1, potentially limiting claims that can be made about the efficacy of subsequent Tier 2 intervention.

Community colleges typically offer extensive developmental education programs to students
with weak academic skills in order to prepare them for college-level coursework. Yet, for
students referred to developmental mathematics education, rates of completion in
developmental math courses and in college-level math courses required for a degree are
particularly low.

Conducted a meta-analysis of 58 studies (1960–1984) on the early prediction of learning problems that reported correlations between measures administered in kindergarten or 1st-grade and reading achievement later in elementary school.

This report presents final 1999 data on U.S. deaths and death rates according to demographic and medical characteristics. Trends and patterns in general mortality, life expectancy, and infant and maternal mortality are also described.

Evidence-based psychosocial interventions and respective outcome studies, published from 1990 to 2012, were identified through a multi-phase search process, involving the review of four major clearinghouse websites and relevant electronic databases. To be included, effectiveness had to have been previously established through a comparison group design regardless of the setting, and interventions tested subsequently with youth in RCS.

This report is one of a series of reports on teacher quality systems in top-performing countries commissioned by the Center on International Education Benchmarking of the National Center on Education and the Economy. In addition to these reports, researchers have collected authentic tools used by the systems highlighted to assist policymakers and practitioners interested in adapting lessons learned for their own context and culture.

Some of the specific reasons for the success or failure of retention in the area of reading were examined via an in-depth study of a small number of both at-risk retained students and comparably low skilled promoted children

This study investigated the effects of training preschool teachers to use environmental arrangement and milieu teaching in interactions with children using augmented communication systems. Three teachers were taught seven environmental strategies and four milieu teaching procedures through written materials, lecture, modeling, role-playing, and feedback.

Introduced in the early 1970s, repeated reading has a history of helping students build oral reading fluency spanning almost 40 years. Participants in original repeated reading studies had to meet specific reading rates (i.e., fluency criteria) before considering a passage complete.

This study examined the effects of in-service support plus coaching on kindergarten teachers’ accurate delivery of group instructional units in math.

To measure retention of oral reading fluency, three students attending a learning support classroom used a repeating reading strategy with two passages. Each student read one passage to a high performance standard and the other passage to a lower performance standard. Results show it took the students more practice to reach the higher performance standard in regards to both calendar days and practice trials.

Headsprout Early Reading™ is a new engaging, Internet-based reading program that effectively teaches the essential skills and strategies required for rapid reading success.

Headsprout Reading Basics is a highly effective, balanced, and phonics-based reading program that teaches the skills and strategies necessary to sound out as well as read words. Phonemic awareness instruction is integrated throughout many of the Headsprout Reading Basics' teaching routines.

This study investigated the effectiveness of a differential reinforcement of alternative
behavior procedure in decreasing disruptive behavior while simultaneously increasing the
appropriate behavior of four children of typical development between the ages of 4 and 6 in
center-based classrooms. We began with brief functional analyses for each child.

This study provides a direct comparison of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)
and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA). Participants included three
children in center-based classrooms referred for functional assessments due to disruptive
classroom behavior.

Sixteenth census of United States: 1940; Vital statistics rates in the United States, 1940-1960

This article analyses findings from two studies conducted collaboratively across two educational settings, New Zealand and England, in 2001–2002. These studies examined the impact of national educational policy reforms on the nature of primary teachers’ work and sense of their own professionalism and compared these impacts across the two countries.

This study demonstrates, for the first time, that providing all 20% of the nation’s three- and four-year-old children who live in poverty with a high-quality ECD program would have a substantial payoff for governments and taxpayers in the future.

The successful implementation of school-based behavioral interventions requires school personnel to be competent with program content and procedures. An unfortunate trend within school-based behavioral intervention research is that the core intervention components and implementation features are often not fully described.

Research suggests that inadequate or poor-quality early education and care can lead to increased negative social, emotional, educational, health, economic, and conduct outcomes for children. This systematic review published by the Campbell Collaboration examines the evidence on the relationship between childcare teacher qualification and the quality of the care children receive. The study reveals that the higher the qualification, the higher the quality of the services delivered and, most important, the more positive the outcomes.

This study evaluated the effects of a fluency-based reading program with 15 second and third grade students and 15 matched controls. Gains in oral reading fluency on untrained CBM probes were evaluated using a matched-pairs group-comparison design, whereas immediate and two-day retention gains in oral reading fluency on trained passages were evaluated using an adapted changing criterion design.

Leadership: The Key Concepts is an indispensable and authoritative guide to the most crucial ideas, concepts and debates surrounding the study and exercise of leadership

This meta-analysis examines over 50 years of data on the impact of early childhood interventions designed to improve student performance. As schools look for initiatives that can make a difference improving important social outcomes, early childhood education (ECE), as a structural intervention, appears to offer results that last beyond the first few years of elementary school. This study finds ECE has a positive effect on reducing special education placements (effect size = 0.33), reduces grade retention (effect size = 0.26), and increases high school graduation rates (effect size = 0.24). Although, these are considered to be small effect sizes they have an impact improving large numbers of student’s education experiences while reducing overall education expenditures.

This annual publication is one of the best ongoing sources for tracking and analyzing important developments and trends in education over time using the latest available data. In 2019 the spotlights were on: “Early Childhood Care Arrangements”; “Choices and Costs Characteristics of Public School Teachers Who Completed Alternative Route to Certification Programs”; and “Trends in Student Loan Debt for Graduate School Completers.”

This study provides descriptive data on the rates of office discipline referrals and beginning reading skills for students in grades K—3 for one school district that is implementing a three-tier prevention model for both reading and behavior support. 

The effects of a personalized system of instruction (PSI) with and without a same-day retake contingency on the spelling performance of 10 behaviorally disordered students were evaluated. The results indicate more spelling lessons were passed with 100% accuracy when the PSI program was in effect.

In this article, the authors review the research on curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in reading published since the time of Marston’s 1989 review

This report examines the educational progress and challenges students face in the United States by race/ethnicity. This report shows that, over time, students in the racial/ethnic groups of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Two or more races have completed high school and continued their education in college in increasing numbers. Despite these gains, the rate of progress has varied among these racial/ethnic groups and differences by race/ethnicity persist in terms of increases in attainment and progress on key indicators of educational performance.

Most studies on feedback compare elaborated feedback types presenting knowledge on the correct response (KCR) immediately together with further information to simple feedback types providing knowledge of result (KR) or KCR. This study uses bug-related tutoring feedback (BRT-feedback) offering strategic information for error correction, but no immediate KCR.

Over the past twenty years many reading interventions have been proposed. One of these, “Book Flooding”, proposes that providing an enriched environment in which books are present and readily available can improve reading. Much of the research on this topic has focused on exposing children in the early grades to storybooks. Given the greater importance on reading complex text in meeting new reading standards, this study examines the impact of book flooding of books that stress academic words and technical terms. This quasi-experimental study examines the influence of a book distribution program targeted at enhancing children’s exposure to information books. The research examined whether a flood of information books in early childhood settings could affect growth in language, content-related vocabulary, and concepts of comprehending information text. The study concludes there were no significant effects on student outcomes and that book distribution programs on their own need to be reevaluated if they are to improved student reading performance.

This study examines the impact of 2 forms of professional development on prekindergarten teachers' early language and literacy practice: coursework and coaching. 

The purpose of this study was to examine the strength of scientific evidence from single-subject research underlying the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices.

The purpose of the current investigation was to assess the relationship between the integrity with which social skills interventions were implemented in early childhood special education classrooms and 3 factors: teacher ratings of intervention acceptability, consultative support for implementation, and individual child outcomes.

The quality of the teacher workforce is especially important in the early grades, when teachers bear an extraordinary responsibility, building a solid foundation for students in both the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in later grades, as well as in their future lives. The past year and a half has laid bare the tremendous challenges teachers face and the essential role they play in supporting students. As the pandemic abates and we reckon with the damage it wrought, we must acknowledge that recovery places unprecedented demands on our education system and its teachers.

Reading is a crucial skill for students to develop, not only as they enter school but also as they continue throughout K-12 education. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is one means of providing supplemental support for students to build the foundational key areas of reading—so they can use reading to learn in later schooling years.

In an experimental assessment of a choral responding procedure for increasing children's response to teacher commands, decreased levels of off-task behavior, as well as increased levels of correct responding, resulted from the procedures for three handicapped preschool children during large group instruction.

This study examined the effects of a self-evaluation treatment package on the independent work skills of preschool children with disabilities. 

This paper evaluated a program for training 4 support staff to embed instruction within the existing activities of 5 children with disabilities in an inclusive preschool. 

The Bi-annual Kids & Family Reading Report on the attitudes of children and parents toward reading was released in early January 2016. The latest research touches on reading aloud to children of all ages, the impact of reading independently for fun at school and at home, the importance of frequent reading, and the books children want most to read.

This article presents a systematic review of research on the achievement outcomes of all
types of approaches to teaching science in elementary schools. Study inclusion criteria
included use of randomized or matched control groups, a study duration of at least 4 weeks,
and use of achievement measures independent of the experimental treatment.

Findings are reported related to the research methods and statistical techniques used in the 450 group quantitative studies examined as part of the literature review portion of the Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices project. Results suggested that the methodological integrity of the quantitative research used to inform recommended practices was not uniformly convincing and compelling. 

Two experiments were conducted in which two ways of dealing with reading mistakes by beginning readers were systematically examined. In one condition (whole word), the whole correct word sound was provided when a reading error was made or when the pupil did not read the word within a certain time limit. In another condition (segmented feedback, the correct word sound was produced phoneme-by-phoneme when a reading error or an omission occurred.

This study evaluated an alternative method of identifying early reading difficulty. L. S. Fuchs and D. Fuchs (1998) proposed that academic problems could be indexed by a dual discrepancy on level and slope of performance, relative to classmates, on curriculum-based measurement tasks. 

The present research seeks to extend the previous studies to an even younger age group and focus on proximal colorfulness. With a sample of 15 pre-schoolers (3–4 years old) we examined whether a colorful play surface compared to a non-colorful (white) play surface would affect engagement in developmentally appropriate structured play. 

The purpose of this chapter is to present a combined research- and practice-based framework for integrating a comprehensive MTSS model with EBP, and thus, optimize the results stemming from school improvement efforts.

This presentation slide describes the important role of leadership in effective, efficient, and relevant PBIS implementation

A synthesis and meta-analysis of the extant research on the effects of reading interventions delivered using social studies content for students with learning disabilities in kindergarten through Grade 12 is provided.

This study examined the effectiveness of a classroom teacher intervention, the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), in helping struggling readers in kindergarten and first grade. This intervention used biweekly literacy coaching in the general education classroom to help classroom teachers use diagnostic strategies with struggling readers in one-on-one 15-min sessions.  

The present study replicates and extends previous research on stimulus control by arranging teacher attention for preschooler's mands into a multiple schedule and conducting a component analysis of the effects of schedule‐correlated stimuli and contingency‐specifying stimuli (rules) on the development of discriminated manding.

This article layout two sets of findings: (1) what we know about the kind of instruction that weak readers need in kindergarten through second grade to prevent them from ever entering the downward spiral, and (2) what we know about the effectiveness of interventions that make use of this knowledge.

This article provides a case study (focus on an eighth-grader with autism) within a case study (focus on an urban middle school) in terms of the implementation of positive behavior support (PBS).

As students and educators go back to school across the country, and as Congress continues to debate how to fix the law commonly known as No Child Left Behind, the U.S. Department of Education announced today that states whose waivers from certain provisions of federal education law will expire at the end of the 2013-2014 school year will soon be able to request renewals of their reform plans, for up to two more years.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology published this brief that is intended to help policymakers and administrators understand how analytics and data mining have been—and can be—applied for educational improvement while rigorously protecting student privacy.

The Future Ready Schools: Building Technology Infrastructure for Learning guide provides practical, actionable information intended to help district leaders (superintendents, principals, and teacher leaders) navigate the many decisions required to deliver cutting-edge connectivity to students. It presents a variety of options for district leaders to consider when making technology infrastructure decisions, recognizing that circumstances and context vary greatly from district to district.

The U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services collaborated in the development of the Early Learning and Educational Technology Policy Brief to promote developmentally appropriate use of technology in homes and early learning settings.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology published this report that details the results of exploratory research on how to design and manage online communities of practice for educators.

The goal of this study was to develop a brief assessment that could be conducted in the natural setting to identify naturally occurring, high-frequency subsequent events that may serve as maintaining consequences for disruptive behavior using the entire class as the unit of analysis. Procedures were conducted in two early childhood classrooms during regularly scheduled classroom activities.

In this introduction to the special issue, a response-to-instruction approach to learning disabilities (LD) identification is discussed

This study evaluated whether the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), a classroom teacher professional development program delivered through webcam technology literacy coaching, could provide rural classroom teachers with the instructional skills to help struggling readers progress rapidly in early reading.

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) has a long history as a behavioral treatment. The term has usually been defined in a manner that suggests one form of behavior (usually some appropriate alternative) is reinforced, while another form of behavior (usually problem behavior) is placed on extinction.

This research looked at test score gaps for a range of populations: between boys and girls; between black, white, and Hispanic children; between the children and the mother’s education; between children in poor and nonpoor families; and the gaps between high-poverty and low-poverty schools. They wanted to know whether gaps grow faster during summer or the school year. They were unable to answer this question as the results were inconclusive. Although, von Hippel and Hamrock did find the total gap in performance from kindergarten to eighth grade, is substantially smaller than the gap that exists at the time children enter school. The conclusion is that gaps happen mostly in the first five years of life. study suggests students who are behind peers at the time they enter kindergarten should receive early remedial instruction as the most efficacious way to improve overall performance.

A review of 20 experimental, shared book reading (SBR) interventions using questioning strategies with preschool children was conducted. The studies were analyzed in terms of their quality, focus, and the questioning strategies employed. Although there were few methodological concerns about the studies conducted, treatment fidelity and replicability of the reported interventions are raised as issues needing attention in future research.

This report summarizes performance on PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016 from a U.S. perspective. PIRLS results are based on nationally representative samples of fourth-graders. The international data reported for PIRLS 2016 in this report cover 58 countries or other education systems, including the United States.

In this quasi-experimental study, 608 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students explored 5 historical investigations. In the experimental condition, teachers used a cognitive apprenticeship model to teach students historical reading and writing strategies. Comparison teachers used the same materials to deliver a business-as-usual form of instruction.

This research monograph offers early childhood educators a foundational resource of information needed to develop inclusion practices.

This study used a reversal design to examine the use of preprinted response cards on students' participation and off-task behavior during calendar circle-time in a rural kindergarten inclusion classroom. Results showed a functional relationship between preprinted response cards and increased participation and decreased off-task behavior for all 4 target students.

Determining what elementary teacher candidates need to know to effectively teach reading will aid in how preparation programs prepare future teachers. To understand state legislation targeting early reading instruction, this study compared the tenets of structured literacy, the reading method used in dyslexia programs, to scientific reading instruction.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine and document developmental concerns of participants in a paired peer placement peer coaching program. Research participants were 26 elementary education majors who were randomly paired for their first teaching experience. Data were collected from students' observations, feedback from each other, and participants' reflections on their teaching experiences. 

The panel was charged with providing a report that “should present the panel’s conclusions, an indication of the readiness for application in the classroom of the results of this research, and, if appropriate, a strategy for rapidly disseminating this information to facilitate effective reading instruction in the schools. If found warranted, the panel should also recommend a plan for additional research regarding early reading development and instruction.”