Forty-four Head Start classrooms were randomly assigned to enriched intervention (Head Start REDI- Research-based, Developmentally Informed) or “usual practice” conditions. The intervention involved brief lessons, “hands on” extension activities, and specific teaching strategies linked empirically with the promotion of: 1) social-emotional competencies, and 2) language development and emergent literacy skills. Take-home materials were provided to parents to enhance skill development at home. Multi-method assessments of 356 4-year-old children tracked their progress over the course of the one-year program. Results revealed significant differences favoring children in the enriched intervention classrooms on measures of vocabulary, emergent literacy, emotional understanding, social problem-solving, social behavior, and learning engagement. Implications are discussed for developmental models of school readiness and for early educational programs and policies.

The developmental correlates of diffuse support for the polity and civic commitments were explored in a survey of 1,052 students (mean age ϭ 14.96 years) from African American, Arab American, European American, and Latino American backgrounds. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that regardless of their age, gender, or ethnic background, youth were more likely to believe that America was a just society and to commit to democratic goals if they felt a sense of community connectedness, especially if they felt that their teachers practiced a democratic ethic at school. Discussion focuses on the civic purposes of education in inculcating a sense of identification with the polity in younger generations.

This study uses data collected in the intervention classrooms (N = 22) 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. Multiple dimensions of implementation (Dosage, Fidelity, Generalization, and Child Engagement) were assessed across curriculum components. Results indicated that REDI Trainers perceived significant growth in teacher implementation quality over time but that patterns differed by implementation dimension. Dosage and Fidelity of all intervention components were high at the beginning of the year and remained so over time while Generalization was low at baseline but increased significantly across the year. Variation in implementation was associated with variation on several child outcome measures in the social-emotional domain but not in the language and literacy domains.

This randomized controlled trial tested whether teaching quality in Head Start classrooms could be improved with the addition of evidence-based curriculum components targeting emergent language/literacy and social-emotional development and the provision of associated professional development support. Participants were lead and assistant teachers in 44 Head Start classrooms. Teachers received 4 days of workshop training along with weekly in-class support from a mentor teacher. End-of-year observations indicated that, compared to the control group, intervention teachers talked with children more frequently and in more cognitively complex ways, established a more positive classroom climate, and used more preventive behavior management strategies. Results supported the conclusion that enriched curriculum components and professional development support can produce improvements in multiple domains of teaching quality.

One year after participating in the REDI (Research-based, Developmentally-Informed) intervention or “usual practice” Head Start, the learning and behavioral outcomes of 356 children (17% Hispanic, 25% African American, 54% girls; mean age 4.59 years at initial assessment) were assessed. In addition, their 202 kindergarten classrooms were evaluated on quality of teacher-student interactions, emphasis on reading instruction, and school-level student achievement. Hierarchical linear analyses revealed that the REDI intervention promoted kindergarten phonemic decoding skills, learning engagement, and competent social problem-solving skills, and reduced aggressive-disruptive behavior. Intervention effects on social competence and inattention were moderated by kindergarten context, with effects strongest when children entered schools with low student achievement. Implications are discussed for developmental models of school readiness and early educational programs.