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Emotion regulation is foundational to children's psychological wellbeing and future school adjustment. As young children are spending increasing amounts of time in preschool programs, investigating how early childhood classrooms can foster emotion regulation development is warranted. In this study, we tested individual children's interactions with teachers and peers as potential mechanisms through which inhibitory control supports emotion regulation in the preschool classroom. Participants included 767 preschool children (49% female

Implementation science research points to the importance of improving implementation fidelity to improve outcomes and sustainability of interventions. Despite our growing understanding of factors related to implementation in K-12 settings, much less is known about factors influencing implementation in early childhood education contexts. Understanding factors related to how well early childhood educators implement an intervention is critical to developing ways to improve implementation fidelity and ultimately education quality. The current study explored how teacher beliefs and experiences were related to initial uptake and later implementation in a sample of 87 early childhood educators implementing a novel comprehensive curriculum, STREAMin

Best practices in early childhood include using measures to identify children’s social-emotional and behavioral needs within routine, naturalistic preschool contexts. Aligned with best practices, we examined the combined utility of two contextual measures, a teacher report and a direct observation of classroom behavior, in the context of interactions with teachers, peers, and learning tasks. Latent profile analysis ( N = 527 children) identified four profile groups: (a) well-adjusted and positively engaged, (b) high externalizing and conflict engagement, (c) adequately adjusted/mildly disengaged in learning tasks, and (d) elevated internalizing behavior and low engagement. Children’s profile classification was associated concurrently with emotion regulation and social competence. Teachers independently reported on children’s social-emotional or academic concerns. Teachers’ reports of social-emotional concerns comported for children in the externalizing profile but did not comport for the internalizing group. Findings illustrate the utility of a contextual assessment approach for early identification and intervention, particularly for children who display internalizing behavior.

This paper describes how training school and clinical psychology graduate students in early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) has the potential to fill gaps in the ECMHC workforce, enhan...

Every year in the United States, millions of young children under the age of 5 are exposed to potentially traumatic events that threaten their safety, security, and well-being. Decades of scientific research clearly demonstrate the pervasive negative consequences of trauma exposure on young children’s neurocognitive, psychosocial, and physical development, with adverse effects extending into adulthood. In addition, early childhood trauma is now widely recognized as a significant public health concern warranting comprehensive intervention. Federal, state, and private early care and education (ECE) programs serve a large number of the 0 to 5 population and can mitigate the harmful consequences of trauma exposure for children’s health and well-being. The literature on early childhood trauma should guide the creation of policies that strengthen ECE, enabling the delivery of high-quality, equitable, trauma-informed care to young children prior to formal school entry.

Research Findings: Better understanding the correlates of teacher stress is critical to develop effective, targeted prevention and intervention efforts to decrease early childhood educator stress a...

Authentic, teacher report measures are a popular approach to assessing young children, but prior research has shown that teacher over- and under-estimates of early elementary children's skills can be associated with child characteristics like race and gender and are often associated with achievement gains over time. The current study extended this work by examining teacher over- and under-estimates of preschool students’ academic skills with the widely-used measure, Teaching Strategies GOLD. 1045 children (ages 46–61 months, mean = 54.4 months, SD = 3.7) from 89 publicly-funded preschool classrooms were rated by teachers using Teaching Strategies GOLD in the fall and were independently assessed on language, literacy, and math by trained assessors in the fall and spring. Results of multilevel path models indicated that the greatest discrepancies between teacher ratings and direct assessments were for children whose direct assessment scores were farther from the classroom mean; discrepancies were not significantly associated with children's race/ethnicity or gender. Discrepancies were associated with achievement gains from fall to spring, with children whose skills were overestimated making greater gains than achievement scores alone would have predicted. Indirect pathways indicated that teacher discrepancies partially transmitted the effects of higher and lower fall skills to children's spring outcomes. Results are discussed as they relate to the use of teacher report measures as formative assessments, and the potential sources of systematic error in these ratings.

Research Findings: This study used data from a large-scale kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) to understand how well two state screening measures, administered at school entry, predicted the first...

Growing evidence demonstrates associations between child race, teacher–child race match, and teacher ratings of externalizing behaviour problems in the early years of school. The present study deep...

Objective To characterize the electronic media (e-media) use of preschoolers from low-income families comprehensively, in terms of platform interaction potential and content. Methods Parents of 380 preschoolers (mean age, 52.5 ± 3.7 months) from diverse, low-income backgrounds reported on their child's age of exposure to various e-media types, frequency of use, amount of background television, and listed all child shows/cartoons and adult shows/general audience shows the child watches, as well as all electronic games/apps the child plays. We calculated descriptive statistics and conducted latent profile analyses to characterize e-media use. Results Most children in the sample began watching TV before age 1 year and nearly half watch child shows/cartoons several times a day or more. Most children began playing games/apps before age 3 years and more than one quarter play games several times a day or more. More than 20% of children are exposed to >3 hours of background TV on a typical weekday and 30% are exposed to this amount on a typical weekend day. A Modest E-Media Use profile characterized most children in the sample (70%). Fewer children were characterized by a High Educational Games profile (14%) or a High Adult TV/Elevated Entertainment Games Use and Background TV profile (16%). Conclusions Collectively, the 3 profiles reflect heterogeneous use patterns with regard to platform interaction potential and educational quality during the course of a typical week. Additional research is warranted to assess linkages between e-media use profiles and indicators of school readiness in cognitive, academic, and social and behavioral domains in diverse, low-income samples.

Most research examining teacher-child interactions focuses on how aspects of the teacher influence children's skills and development. However, teachers report that children who display disruptive behaviors negatively impact their practice. In this study, we examined the within-day reciprocal associations between teachers' interaction quality at the classroom level and preschool children's task orientation and conflict behavior in a sample of children reported by their teachers to display disruptive behaviors. Participants were 300 preschool children (62% male) aged 30 - 66 months (M = 48.9, SD = 6.7) and their 155 teachers. Children and teachers were observed on individual child behavior and classroom level teacher-child classroom management interaction quality across multiple consecutive days within a baseline observation window. Cross-lag models showed acceptable to very good fit to the data and indicated that children's prior positive task orientation predicted teachers' subsequent higher quality classroom management interactions and children's prior conflict predicted teachers' subsequent lower quality classroom management interactions. Teachers' prior classroom management quality was not associated with subsequent child behavior. Results are discussed in terms of the reciprocal associations between teacher and child behaviors and how disruptive behavior may ultimately influence broader classroom interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Variable elements of the classroom context affect children’s behavior and may enhance or inhibit task orientation among children who display disruptive behaviors. The current study examined within- and across-child variation in children’s task orientation, as well as classroom and child predictors of that variation. The sample included 453 preschool children, ages 30–66 months (mean = 48.8, SD = 6.8), identified by teachers as displaying elevated disruptive behavior problems. Children’s task orientation was observed during multiple, 15-min cycles four times throughout the school year using the inCLASS observation system (Downer, Booren, Hamre, Pianta, & Williford, 2010). Results indicated that task orientation varied substantially from cycle to cycle within a school day. The level of teacher involvement as well as the activity setting (e.g., whole group, free play) significantly predicted child task orientation, with greater teacher involvement and teacher-managed activity settings associated with lower task orientation. Children with higher receptive vocabulary and effortful control showed higher average task orientation. The effects of the situational context factors on task orientation varied from child to child, but there was only limited evidence that child characteristics (disruptiveness, receptive vocabulary, and effortful control) or classroom organization moderated the effects of these situational context variables on child behavior: one interaction indicated that children with higher effortful control showed greater task orientation during whole group, but no other interactions were significant. Results are discussed in relation to supporting greater classroom-based task engagement among young children who display elevated disruptive behaviors.

Research Findings: This study examined the relation between classroom behavioral composition and teacher–child interactions in preschool classrooms and the potential for teachers’ experience, educa...

The ways in which teachers perceive and subsequently respond to preschoolers’ behavior have significant implications for children’s experience in the classroom. To further understand the nature and...

To explore patterns in parent-reported child sleep health and to investigate connections between such patterns and school readiness for newly enrolled prekindergarten (PreK) attendees from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds.In a secondary analysis from a larger multiple-cohort longitudinal observational study of prekindergartners in low-income families, parental reports of sleep health for 351 children (mean age, 52.8 ± 3.5 months) during the first month of PreK were analyzed. Children also had completed direct assessments measuring language, literacy, mathematics, and executive functioning, and teachers rated children's social-emotional-behavioral competencies and approaches to learning at PreK entry. We performed latent class analyses to identify patterns in sleep health and used regression models to examine concurrent associations between child sleep health patterns and school readiness competencies across 6 domains: language, literacy, mathematics, executive functioning, social-emotional-behavioral, and approaches to learning.Two classes emerged reflecting more and less desirable patterns of sleep health. Children classified in the earlier, longer, consistent sleep health class (87% of children) experienced earlier bedtimes, longer night-time sleep durations, more consistent sleep routines, less caffeine consumption ≤3 hours before bedtime, and scored higher on a direct assessment of expressive vocabulary and on teacher-reported measures of social-emotional-behavioral competencies and learning approaches than their peers in the later, shorter, inconsistent sleep health class (13% of children).Consistent sleep routines and more optimal sleep health may serve as a protective mechanism for the language development, social-emotional-behavioral regulation, and approaches to learning of PreK from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds. Clinician-parent discussions regarding optimal sleep health may provide key opportunities for targeted education that promotes school readiness skill development.

A child's unique approach to engaging with other people and learning materials in the classroom shapes their classroom experiences and contributes to their acquisition of skills across academic and social domains. This study examined the comparability of the Individualized Classroom Assessment System (inCLASS), an observation tool that targets individual children's engagement in preschool classrooms with teachers, peers and tasks, within a large diverse sample and across demographic groups (gender, poverty status, ethnicity). The CFA of the hypothesized four-factor model with correlated latent factors suggested good model fit. Criteria for strong measurement invariance were met when making demographic group comparisons (poverty status and ethnicity) with configural invariance found for gender. These findings indicate that the inCLASS maintains similar measurement properties across demographics and lend support for the observation system's utility in assessing individual children's engagement within the early childhood classroom context.

The current study used naturalistic observations to explore the peer engagement of 428 preschoolers whom teachers identified as displaying elevated levels of disruptive behavior. Children’s peer sociability, communication, assertiveness, and conflict were independently observed as they naturally occurred in the classroom throughout the preschool year. Data were analyzed to examine patterns of peer engagement, explore variability across time and classroom context, and identify associations between disruptive behavior type and peer engagement quality. Results showed that, on average, children were not engaging in high-quality peer interactions nor were they displaying significant levels of negative peer engagement. There was no linear change in peer engagement quality across the year, but positive and negative peer engagement patterns varied substantially across children. Children’s peer engagement was of higher quality when in unstructured settings and when teachers were less directive of activities. The relationship between disruptive behavior and peer engagement differed based on the nature of the disruptive behavior displayed – positive peer engagement was positively associated with hyperactivity and negatively associated with inattention, and negative peer engagement was positively associated with oppositionality. Results highlight the low level with which children are interacting with peers (both positively and negatively) in the preschool classroom and suggest that preschoolers who are perceived as disruptive are not yet engaging in a significant degree of negative peer interaction. Implications for the understanding, structure, and management of the preschool classroom are discussed in relation to both practice and research.

In preschool, Black children are overrepresented in percentages of children suspended or expelled. Teachers' perceptions of and responses to children displaying disruptive behavior may be different depending on the race of the teacher and child. Although teacher-child race match is associated with a number of outcomes in K-12 students, research examining these links in preschool is limited. This study examined whether teachers' reported trajectories of children's disruptive behavior and use of discipline practices varied depending on teacher and child race in a sample of 349 preschoolers and their 144 teachers. Results indicated that teacher and child race were associated with teachers' ratings of children's disruptive behavior and reported use of exclusionary discipline practices.

The links between a positive teacher-child relationship and young children’s academic and social-emotional development have been well established, particularly for children with disruptive behavior...

This study examines the psychometric properties and utility of the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS) and the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention (ASPI) after they were adapted for use by consultants and teachers as part of the development of a new early childhood consultation model called Learning to Objectively Observe Kids (LOOK). Pilot data examined whether the adapted inCLASS and ASPI scales retained aspects of reliability and validity comparable to the research-validated scales. Data provided evidence that consultants used the inCLASS and ASPI scales to guide their consultation. Findings from two consultants, 22 Head Start teachers, and 71 preschool children indicated that the inCLASS and ASPI scales evidenced adequate reliability and validity as compared to the research scales. Findings suggested that LOOK consultants used data to individualize the consultation sequence. Results provide support for the promise of applying research measures of child engagement to practice in teacher consultation models.

The development of a warm and supportive relationship with their teacher is protective for preschool children, and particularly beneficial for children who display early disruptive behaviors. Banking Time is a dyadic, short-term intervention to improve the quality of teacher–child interactions between a teacher and a specific child, building a more positive teacher–child relationship. During Banking Time sessions, both teacher and child interact toward an activity chosen by the child. This study used variable- and person-centered approaches to examine Banking Time implementation in a sample of diverse preschool teachers (N = 120) and children (N = 319) randomly selected to participate in the intervention. Results indicated that the majority of teachers implemented expected practices (i.e., observe and narrate the child’s actions, allow the child to lead) as intended. However, although teachers were instructed to limit teacher-directed practices (i.e., ask questions, give praise, and use commands), teachers’ use of these practices was not as limited as ideally expected. Three different implementation patterns were evident: (1) High Fidelity, in which the teachers engaged in the child’s activity while ensuring that the child led the session; (2) Low Engaged, in which the child led the session, but the teacher was not engaged in the child’s activity; and (3) Teacher-Led, in which the teacher was engaged in the child’s activity but also directing the session instead of ensuring the child’s lead. These implementation patterns were linked to changes in the quality of teacher–child interactions. Implementation findings from this study can inform interventions to improve the quality of teacher–child interactions.

Use of observational measures to monitor preschool quality is growing rapidly. Although a large body of research has examined the validity of classroom observation tools within the context of researcher-conducted studies, little research to date has examined the extent to which the observations conducted as a part of state accountability efforts correspond to observations collected by research teams. This paper examines the degree of agreement between local and research rater teams using an observational measure of preschool classroom quality. It also explores the extent to which ratings predicted gains in children’s literacy, math, and self-regulation skills. Local ratings were conducted as a part of Louisiana’s quality rating and improvement system. Both rating teams observed 85 classrooms offering publicly funded preschool programs using the Pre-K CLASS, and 820 children from these classrooms (average age = 52.6 months, SD = 3.6 months) were directly assessed in the fall and spring. Results indicated correlations between local and research teams’ scores on corresponding domains, ranging from r = .21 to .43. Both teams’ scores were significantly but modestly related to children’s learning gains, although patterns of association differed. Results are discussed in the context of policies that require observational measures at scale.

Consultation to teachers can be an effective intervention for reducing young children’s challenging behaviors within the classroom, yet there is a need for more efficient approaches that provide data-driven, video-based support to enhance and expand teacher and child impacts. This paper focuses on a newly developed early childhood consultation model, called Learning to Objectively Observe Kids (LOOK), which involves the use of data from validated measures about children, and video-based feedback, to guide teachers’ selection and implementation of behavioral strategies. Results from a small randomized controlled trial demonstrate LOOK impacts on teachers’ use of social–emotional teaching strategies and self-efficacy, as well as children’s positive and negative engagement with teachers, peers, and learning activities in preschool classrooms.

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 ...

This study examined fidelity of implementation in a randomized trial of Banking Time, a classroom-based intervention intended to improve children's behavior, specifically for those at risk for developing externalizing behavior problems, through improving the quality of teacher–child interactions. The study sample comes from a randomized controlled trial that took place over three years and included 183 teachers and 470 preschool children recruited across three sites. Results exploring fidelity of implementation indicated that Banking Time practices were present across treatment and nontreatment groups. In addition, the presence of more Positive Banking Time Practices accounted for improvements in teacher–child interactions while Restricted Banking Time Practices showed inconsistent patterns, relating both to positive and negative teacher–child interactions. Further, random assignment to Banking Time resulted in the presence of more Positive Banking Time Practices and fewer Restricted Banking Time ...

Research Findings: Effects on children’s school readiness were evaluated for 2 interventions focused on improving teacher–student interactions (coursework, coaching) implemented sequentially across 2 years. Teachers from public prekindergarten programs in 10 locations were assigned randomly to treatment or control conditions in each year. Children’s language behavior was observed during the coaching year: Coaching and the course each had positive impacts on children’s multiword language behavior. Treatment impacts on directly assessed literacy, language, and self-regulation skills were evaluated within an intent-to-treat framework for children taught by the participating teachers in the coaching and postcoaching years. Children demonstrated higher levels of inhibitory control in direct assessments when their teacher had received coaching the prior year. Teachers who received both coursework and coaching reported in the postcoaching year that children in their classrooms demonstrated greater levels...

Supportive and sensitive teacher-student interactions and relationships are critical for children’s academic and social success. When a teacher establishes a warm and responsive emotional connection with a student, this increases the student’s capacity to take advantage of learning opportunities. Teacher-student relationships form over time through repeated interactions characterized by shared emotional engagement, teacher sensitivity and responsiveness, teacher support of children’s autonomy, and low levels of conflict. Strong and sensitive teacher-child relationships are particularly salient resources for children who, for various reasons (e.g., low achievement, developmental delays, or the display of externalizing or internalizing behavior problems), are likely to experience the classroom setting as socially or academically challenging. Certain children receive significantly more re-directive, corrective, and too often even negative feedback from teachers and peers during the school day. When these students experience a strong relationship with a teacher, they are more likely to accept constructive feedback from their teacher without it negatively affecting their self-esteem or viewing such feedback as an attack on their character.

This study built on prior research regarding the effectiveness of the National Center for Research in Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) course by exploring the individual course components. Core aspects of course engagement and performance were described and examined in relation to improvements in the observed quality of teacher–child interactions. Teacher characteristics were also examined as predictors of course engagement and performance. A sample of 150 preschool teachers participated in a semester-long, credit-bearing, college course designed to improve the quality of their emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions with children. Teachers’ participation and performance in the course were high on average. Teachers’ skill level in accurately and specifically explaining other teachers’ instances of effective teacher–child interactions was related to improvements in their own observed teacher–child interactions. Finally, teachers with an early childhood major and those endorsing ...

Research Findings: The present study examined associations between children’s classroom interactions and teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships during 1 year of preschool. Teachers (n = 223) reported their perceptions of closeness and conflict in their teacher–child relationships in the fall and spring. Children’s (n = 895) positive classroom interactions with teachers, peers, and learning activities and their negative interactions were observed midyear. Children’s positive interactions with teachers and learning activities predicted teachers’ perceptions of more closeness in the spring when we accounted for fall closeness. Children’s negative interactions predicted teachers’ perceptions of more relational conflict in the spring when we accounted for fall conflict. Children’s positive peer interactions did not predict spring closeness or conflict. Implications regarding teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships and children’s independently observed classroom interactions are discussed. Practice or Policy: Findings provide empirical evidence for an aspect of Pianta, Hamre, and Stuhlman’s (2003) conceptual model of teacher–child relationships. Results indicate that children’s classroom interactions may be a factor related to how teachers report on their relationships with children across 1 year of preschool. Findings point to links between a range of children’s positive and negative interactions during typical instruction and teachers’ relationship perceptions.

A randomized controlled trial was used to examine the impact of an attachment-based, teacher-child, dyadic intervention (Banking Time) to improve children's externalizing behavior. Participants included 183 teachers and 470 preschool children (3-4 years of age). Classrooms were randomly assigned to Banking Time, child time, or business as usual (BAU). Sparse evidence was found for main effects on child behavior. Teachers in Banking Time demonstrated lower negativity and fewer positive interactions with children compared to BAU teachers at post assessment. The impacts of Banking Time and child time on reductions of parent- and teacher-reported externalizing behavior were greater when teachers evidenced higher-quality, classroom-level, teacher-child interactions at baseline. An opposite moderating effect was found for children's positive engagement with teachers.

Supportive and close relationships that young children have with teachers have lasting effects on children's behavior and academic success, and this is particularly true for children with challenging behaviors. These relationships are also important for children's developing stress response system, and children in child care may be more likely to display atypical cortisol patterns at child care. However, warm, supportive relationships with teachers may buffer these negative effects of child care. While many relationship-focused early childhood interventions demonstrate changes in child behavior, associations with children's stress response system are unknown. This study assessed children's activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis via salivary cortisol as a function of their participation in a dyadic intervention intended to improve a teacher's interaction quality with a particular child. Seventy teachers and 113 preschool children participated who were part of a larger study of teachers and children were randomly assigned at the classroom level across three intervention conditions: Banking Time, Time-Control Comparison (Child Time), and Business-as-Usual. At the end of the school year, children in the Banking Time condition displayed a significantly greater decline in cortisol across the morning during preschool compared to children in Business-as-Usual condition. These pilot results are among the first to provide preliminary evidence that school-based interventions that promote sensitive and responsive interactions may improve young children's activity in the stress response system within the child care/early education context.

This compilation of five papers provides commentary from researchers devoted to the study of a variety of components that contribute to the broader domain of social and emotional development in early childhood. These components include social competence, emotional competence, behavior problems, self-regulation, and executive function. Each section provides a general definition of the construct, highlighting how it fits in a broader model of social and emotional development, and summarizing its relationship with a range of developmental outcomes. The papers then address developmental and contextual issues that are essential to consider when selecting a measurement tool for social and emotional development in early childhood, and discuss the field of extant measures available for each area of development. Presented intentionally as a part of a single paper, these contributions together provide a comprehensive response to the review, methods, and recommendations presented by Halle and Darling-Churchill (in this issue).

This study examined teacher-child emotion talk in a sample of preschool children rated by their teachers as displaying elevated externalizing behaviors (N = 470). Emotion talk was observed using a teacher-child dyadic storybook reading task. We examined the link between emotion talk and children's gains in their observed positive engagement with teachers across the preschool year. To isolate the unique contribution of emotion talk, we accounted for the affective quality of teacher-child interactions and relationships and children's receptive language skills. We also explored whether the link between emotion talk and children's positive engagement with their teacher was moderated by teacher-child affective qualities. The results provide evidence that if teachers offer frequent opportunities to talk about emotions in the context of warm and sensitive dyadic interactions, children connect and communicate more with their teachers regardless of their initial engagement level. Implications for early childhood teachers practice are discussed.

Preschool children with disruptive behavior problems are at risk for social and academic difficulties. Many studies have shown a positive link between social skills and child outcomes, but the mechanism driving the link is not well understood. One possibility is that children with better social skills are better able to engage in tasks within the classroom, since preschool classrooms place significant social demands on children. The purpose of this study was to examine task engagement as a mediator between social skills at the start of the year and gains in language and literacy among children with disruptive behavior problems. Participants were 470 children aged 30 to 66 months ( M = 48.7, SD = 6.7). Preschool teachers rated children's social skills and language and literacy, and independent observers rated their task engagement across multiple classroom settings. Path models showed that task engagement significantly mediated the association between social skills and language and literacy gains. When task engagement was divided into engagement during free play and engagement during whole group, only task engagement during whole group time, and not free play, was a significant mediator, although the size of the indirect effect was very small. Results suggest that stronger social skills help disruptive children engage in classroom activities, which in turn leads to stronger language and literacy gains. Results provide very limited support for the idea that task engagement during whole group, rather than free play, is important to language and literacy gains, although this finding needs replication before conclusions can be drawn.

Research Findings: This study examined the impact of MyTeachingPartner–Math/Science, a system of math and science curricula and professional development, on the quality of teachers’ interactions with children in their classrooms. Schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 intervention conditions (Basic: curricula providing within-activity, embedded teacher supports; Plus: curricula plus implementation support via online resources and in-person workshops) or to a Business-as-Usual (BaU) control condition. Results showed that teachers in the Basic and Plus conditions showed higher levels of Instructional Support and Facilitation of Mathematical and Scientific Thinking. Teachers in the Basic condition also showed higher levels of Emotional Support compared with teachers in the BaU condition. We did not find any significant differences between teachers’ interactions in the Basic and Plus conditions. Practice or Policy: Children are entering kindergarten unprepared in the areas of mathematics and science...

Behavioural adjustment is critical for children's school readiness. This study used data from a nationally representative sample of children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort. We examined the effects of interactions between children's negative emotionality, maternal sensitivity and preschool teacher sensitivity on children's kindergarten internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Parent report of children's negative emotionality and observations of maternal sensitivity were obtained at age 2 years, teacher sensitivity was observed in preschool and teacher report of children's behaviour problems was obtained in kindergarten. Negative emotionality moderated links between maternal sensitivity, teacher sensitivity and children's internalizing behaviours. For children high in negativity, maternal sensitivity was positively associated with internalizing behaviour in the context of low teacher sensitivity, whereas for children low in negativity, maternal sensitivity was negatively associated with internalizing behaviour. For children high or low in negativity, internalizing behaviour was comparable when teacher sensitivity was high regardless of maternal sensitivity. Maternal sensitivity and teacher sensitivity interacted to predict externalizing behaviour regardless of child negativity. Children who experienced high teacher sensitivity displayed comparable externalizing behaviour regardless of maternal sensitivity. When children experienced low teacher sensitivity, maternal sensitivity was negatively associated with externalizing behaviour. Interactions between child characteristics and caregiving across developmental contexts are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The present study investigated teachers’ and teacher aides’ (TAs) agreement in their ratings of preschoolers’ externalizing behavior and their associations with observed classroom behavior for a sample of children at risk of developing a disruptive behavior disorder. One hundred twenty-two teachers rated 360 students’ externalizing behavior in the first month of school, and within the next 6 weeks, children were observed in their classroom. Results indicated that teacher and TA reports were moderately correlated, teacher-rated severity of oppositional defiant disorder behaviors was related to agreement, and teacher/TA agreement did not predict observed externalizing behavior. In general, using teacher and TA ratings together versus a single informant’s rating did not provide a better estimate of information gathered from observational measures. Results demonstrate the importance of gathering observations and rating scales when evaluating preschoolers’ externalizing problems. Future work should explore factors that contribute to teachers’, TAs’, and observational methods’ differential evaluations of externalizing behavior.

Article history:Received 25 March 2013Received in revised form 17 February 2014Accepted 24 February 2014Available online xxxxKeywords:Self-regulationGenderSocial developmentAttentionAcademic achievementSchool functioning The catalysts for genderdiscrepanciesacross developmental outcomes are widely debated. Thisstudy examinescognitiveself-regulation(CSR)asamechanismforunderstandinggenderdifferencesinscholasticperformance—bothsubjectiveschoolfunctioningandobjectivestandardizedachievement.UtilizinganationalsamplefromtheNICHD SECCYD (n = 1364), not only does CSR (i.e., attention and executive function) in 3rd grade mediate therelation between early mother–child interactions (at 54 months) and scholastic outcomes (in 5th grade), but italso predicts gender discrepancies favoring girls in grades, work persistence and socio-emotional development.Additional exploratory evidence suggests quality mother–child interactions may be more meaningful for girls'CSR; however, for boys, CSR is more predictive of school functioning. Both school functioning and standardizedachievement were utilized in this study and highlight that gender differences in development and learning arenuanced and not readily discernible across all measures of scholastic performance. Implications for futureresearch, intervention, and practice are discussed.© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Research Findings: This study examined the quality of teacher attributions for child disruptive behavior using a new measure, the Preschool Teaching Attributions measure. A sample of 153 early childhood teachers and 432 children participated. All teachers completed the behavior attributions measure, as well as measures regarding demographics, beliefs, self-efficacy, child behavior, and the quality of the teacher–child relationship with selected children. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the hypothesized 2-factor model fit significantly better than a 1-factor model, with the 2 factors being Causal and Responsibility. The resulting Causal and Responsibility subscale scores had solid internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Significant bivariate and partial correlations with teacher practices and beliefs provided preliminary support for the measure's construct validity. Practice or Policy: Findings from this study suggest the importance of including a measure of teache...

MyTeachingPartner-Math/Science (MTP-MS) is a system of two curricula (math and science) plus teacher supports designed to improve the quality of instructional interactions in pre-kindergarten classrooms and to scaffold children's development in mathematics and science. The program includes year-long curricula in these domains, and a teacher support system (web-based supports and in-person workshops) designed to foster high-quality curricular implementation. This study examined the impacts of the intervention on the development of mathematics and science skills of 444 children during pre-kindergarten, via school-level random assignment to two intervention conditions (Basic: MTP-M/S mathematics and science curricula, and Plus: MTP-M/S mathematics and science curricula plus related teacher support system) and a Business-As-Usual control condition (BaU). There were intervention effects for children's knowledge and skills in geometry and measurement as well as number sense and place value: Children in Plus classrooms made greater gains in geometry and measurement, compared with those in BaU classrooms. Children in Plus classrooms also performed better on the number sense and place value assessment than did those in Basic or BaU classrooms. We describe the implications of these results for supporting the development of children's knowledge and skills in early childhood and for developing and providing teachers with professional development to support these outcomes.