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This study examined profiles of family functioning, stress, psychological well-being, and social support in families participating in early head start; family characteristics that relate to profile membership; and the relationship of profiles to child social-emotional functioning. Because families' levels of functioning and well-being vary widely within low-income samples, we used a person-centered approach to understand how variations among families are linked with children's social-emotional skills. Our latent profile analysis of a sample of 246 families identified three profiles of family functioning and well-being: low stress, high family functioning (63%); moderate family stress, low family functioning (25%); and high psychological distress and parenting stress (12%). Children's social-emotional functioning, both social competence and problem behavior, related to profile membership. Children in the low stress, high family functioning profile displayed the most optimal social-emotional skills. These results highlight the importance of supporting family functioning and decreasing family stress to influence young children's positive behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

New Mexico is one of 44 U.S. states offering a public pre-K program for children at age 4. State models for pre-K vary in terms of availability, policies related to classroom quality, and populations of children served. In this study, we pool data from five successive cohorts of children (total N = 5218) using regression-discontinuity models to estimate the impacts of participating in New Mexico’s pre-K program on young children’s language, literacy, and math skills at kindergarten entry. Positive, statistically significant impacts of pre-K were found for each of these academic domains. Due to the high level of diversity in our sample, it was also possible to examine pre-K impacts separately for White, Hispanic, and Native American children. The largest impacts were found for White and Hispanic children, with less consistent and more modest impacts for Native American children. These findings suggest that while New Mexico’s pre-K program generated academic benefits for children, not all groups of children benefited equally, and further information is needed to understand the reasons for these differences.

The kindergarten transition has implications for children’s short- and long-term academic trajectories. In this study, we assess the role that parent expectations about kindergarten readiness and parent–child home activities have on children’s early reading and mathematics skills. We conducted latent profile analyses (LPA) using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten (ECLS-K) Class of 2010–2011 parent interviews (n = 12,670). Results revealed four distinct profiles: (1) high expectations, fewest home activities; (2) high expectations, high activities; (3) very high expectations, moderate home activities; (4) very high expectations, most home activities. We examined both predictors and distal outcomes of displaying these four profiles. When examining children’s academic skills at kindergarten entry, children with parents in the very high expectations, most home activities profile (Profile 4) have the most advanced academic reading and mathematics skills. Therefore, this profile was deemed most optimal. Children with parents in the very high expectations, moderate activities profile (Profile 3) had higher reading and math scores than children in Profiles 1 and 2. Findings of this descriptive study reveal the heterogeneity of parental involvement during the kindergarten transition and the need for more nuanced research investigating how families assist children during this critical developmental period.

Persisting socioeconomic gaps in school readiness have inspired research examining aspects of the pre-K experience that could reduce these gaps. A strategy that deserves consideration is the socioe...

The Buffering Toxic Stress (BTS) consortium included six sites in locations that varied widely in racial/ethnic composition and population density. Each site tested a promising parent-child intervention designed to supplement Early Head Start (EHS) services and prevent "toxic stress." To better understand family risk in a large and diverse EHS sample, studies gathered extensive data on family risk exposure, including demographic risk factors (single mother, unemployed, less than high school education or its equivalent, and neighborhood safety), income-to-needs ratio, household resource constraints, perceptions of economic hardship and pressure, caregiver mental health, and caregiver-reported dysfunctional parent-child interactions. Results presented here for all six sites offer context for the more targeted studies in this special issue. Average levels of family characteristics and child behavior varied by site. We also characterized associations between family characteristics, observer-rated child temperament, and child outcomes (i.e., caregiver-reported child behavior problems and behavioral sleep quality), controlling for child age; these relationships were similar across sites. Demographic risk and caregiver mental health problems were positively associated with child behavior problems, with low income-to-needs ratio and increased financial strain relating to behavioral problems in infancy and toddlerhood. Caregiver mental health problems, financial strain, and social and affect temperament dimensions were related to increased behavioral sleep problems. Dysfunctional parent-child interactions and household resource constraints did not demonstrate statistically significant associations. Findings suggest helpful targets to increase effectiveness of parent-child interventions in early childhood on behavior and sleep outcomes.

Kindergarten has become increasingly academically oriented, and U.S. kindergarten teachers are increasingly called upon to implement policies that require assessment and promote accountability. However, little recent research has focused on kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about kindergarten readiness. The authors examined teachers’ beliefs related to what entering kindergartners should be able to do, and beliefs about using assessment data, based on results from statewide surveys of Delaware kindergarten teachers conducted in 2000 (N = 171), in 2011 (N = 185), and again in 2013 (N = 257). Chi-squared tests were employed to investigate potential changes in teacher beliefs over time. Results show that kindergarten teachers increasingly prioritize assessment information across all broad domains of development at kindergarten entry. However, when ranking specific readiness skills, they continue to believe that nonacademic skills are most important. These findings suggest that though policies promote an...

The federal Early Head Start program provides a relevant context to examine families' experiences with stress since participants qualify on the basis of poverty and risk. Building on previous research that has shown variations in demographic and economic risks even among qualifying families, we examined possible variations in families' perceptions of stress. Family, parent, and child data were collected to measure stressors and risk across a variety of domains in families' everyday lives, primarily from self-report measures, but also including assay results from child cortisol samples. A cluster analysis was employed to examine potential differences among groups of Early Head Start families. Results showed that there were three distinct subgroups of families, with some families perceiving that they experienced very high levels of stress while others perceived much lower levels of stress despite also experiencing poverty and heightened risk. These findings have important implications in that they provide an initial step toward distinguishing differences in low-income families' experiences with stress, thereby informing interventions focused on promoting responsive caregiving as a possible mechanism to buffer the effects of family and social stressors on young children.

Enrollment in state-funded pre-K programs prior to kindergarten entry has become increasingly common. As each state develops its own model for pre-K, rigorous studies of the impacts of state-specific programs are needed. This study investigates impacts of the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) initiative at kindergarten entry using a regression-discontinuity design. In this approach, study selection criteria are known and modeled, rather than simply comparing children who attended ABC with potentially dissimilar children who did not attend. Statistically significant impacts of ABC pre-K participation were found across three key academic domains related to children’s kindergarten readiness—vocabulary, mathematics, and print awareness skills. These results suggest that the ABC pre-K program is effective and thus that it provides a potential model for expansion of large-scale public pre-K initiatives in other states.

This study further extends scaffolding research to mother-child dyads (N = 51) in poverty, examining relationships between maternal scaffolding and 4-year-old Head Start children’s own later scaffolding behaviors. At Time 1, experimental group children received maternal scaffolding during problem-solving tasks, whereas control group children carried out the tasks without assistance. At Time 2, all children provided scaffolding to a novice adult who acted as a peer unfamiliar with the task. Verbal and nonverbal scaffolding strategies were coded, and children’s verbal skills and social competence were measured. The simple presence or absence of earlier scaffolding did not differentiate child tutors. However, tutoring strategies used by experimental group children during the child-novice problem-solving task were similar to those used earlier by their mothers. After controlling for children’s verbal skills and social competence, mothers’ use of active nonverbal strategies (but not active verbal strategies) w...

The federal Early Head Start program provides a relevant context to examine families' experiences with stress since participants qualify on the basis of poverty and risk. Building on previous research that has shown variations in demographic and economic risks even among qualifying families, we examined possible variations in families' perceptions of stress. Family, parent, and child data were collected to measure stressors and risk across a variety of domains in families' everyday lives, primarily from self-report measures, but also including assay results from child cortisol samples. A cluster analysis was employed to examine potential differences among groups of Early Head Start families. Results showed that there were three distinct subgroups of families, with some families perceiving that they experienced very high levels of stress while others perceived much lower levels of stress despite also experiencing poverty and heightened risk. These findings have important implications in that they provide an initial step toward distinguishing differences in low-income families' experiences with stress, thereby informing interventions focused on promoting responsive caregiving as a possible mechanism to buffer the effects of family and social stressors on young children.

Children's early relationships with their caregivers are important for later developmental outcomes, both proximally and distally, and enhanced caregiver–child relationships may promote positive outcomes at both the individual and family levels. In this article, we review six evidence-based caregiver–child interaction interventions that can be translated for use by staff in community-based early childhood programmes serving children between the ages of birth and five years. Early childhood programmes selecting a parenting intervention have opportunities to set priorities across a number of relevant criteria, ranging from the theoretical basis of the intervention to more practical issues such as the time commitment for families and staff requirements. To provide a starting point for such considerations, we compare the interventions' approaches and associated training requirements, summarise the evidence base for each intervention, and identify areas of divergence and common themes across the six selected i...

Family engagement is a central tenet of high-quality early education practice. However, the ways in which programs interact with families have varied significantly over time and in relationship to program type. This chapter extends traditional notions of family involvement by emphasizing the potential of early care and education programs to effectively support parents and other primary caregivers in enhancing daily interactions with their children. Specifically, home visits are described as an important mechanism to influence parent-child interaction particularly when intentional, evidence-based curricula are employed. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on developing and implementing such home visiting models. In this chapter, we describe a specific example of the integration of the Promoting First Relationships (PFR) parent-child interaction curriculum (Kelly, Zuckerman, Sandoval, & Buehlman, 2008) into home visits in both home and center-based Early Head Start practice. Implementation aspects for enhancing existing family engagement strategies with an intentional home visiting curriculum are discussed with recommendations for future programming and research.

The landscape of financing early childhood education in the U.S. is complex. Programs run the gamut from tuition-supported private centers to public programs supported by federal, state, or local funds. Different funding streams are poorly coordinated. The federal government funds several major targeted programs that are available only to specific subgroups of children. States have also tended to offer targeted programs, though in recent years several states have committed to serving all children at age 4. Types of finance models used in state preschool initiatives are examined in detail, and future opportunities to build a more cohesive system are explored.

State-funded prekindergarten (preK) programs are increasingly common across the country. This study estimated the effects of eight state-funded preK programs (Arkansas, California, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia) on children’s learning using a regression discontinuity design. These programs vary with respect to the population served, program design, and context. Weighted average effect sizes from instrumental variables analyses across these states are 0.24 for language (vocabulary), 0.44 for math, and 1.10 for emergent literacy. Differences in effect sizes by domain suggest that preK programs should attend more to enhancing learning beyond simple literacy skills. State preK programs appear to differ in their effects. We offer recommendations for more rigorous, regular evaluation.

Preschool program enrollment rates of 3-and 4-year-olds have increased dramatically since the mid-1960s, and most children now enter kindergarten having already participated in some type of early education program (Barnett & Yarosz, 2007). States have become increasingly interested in developing and fi nancing prekindergarten education programs (pre-K), helping to fuel this growth, particularly during the past two decades (Barnett, Epstein, Friedman, Sansanelli, & Hustedt, 2009; Mitchell, 2001). Although state pre-K initiatives take a variety of different forms across the United States, they share a number of common features (Barnett, Epstein et al., 2009). First and foremost, they are funded and administered by state government, following specifi ed state regulations. They focus primarily on education for 3and 4-year-olds, rather than parent education or workforce development. These initiatives are not designed primarily to serve children with disabilities or to offer child care, though coordination with state special education and, to a lesser extent, child care systems is an important component of pre-K initiatives. State pre-K initiatives offer group-based learning experiences to children at least two days per week, and are always voluntary for parents. By fall 2008, state pre-K initiatives had enrolled more than 1.2 million children across 38 U.S. states. Total public spending on these initiatives topped $5.7 billion, including a commitment of $5.0 billion in state funds.

The benefits of Head Start are under increased scrutiny as Congress debates its reauthorization. How effective is Head Start, and how can it be improved? We provide a current overview and critical evaluation of Head Start research and discuss implications of this research with an eye toward informing debate. There has been a good deal of controversy over whether Head Start produces lasting benefits, dating back to its early years. Our review finds mixed, but generally positive, evidence regarding Head Start’s long-term benefits. Although studies typically find that increases in IQ fade out over time, many other studies also find decreases in grade retention and special education placements. Sustained increases in school achievement are sometimes found, but in other cases flawed research methods produce results that mimic fade-out. In recent years, the federal government has funded large-scale evaluations of Head Start and Early Head Start. Results from the Early Head Start evaluation are particularly informative, as study participants were randomly assigned to either the Early Head Start group or a control group. Early Head Start demonstrated modest improvements in children’s development and parent beliefs and behavior. The ongoing National Head Start Impact Study, which is also using random assignment, should yield additional insight into Head Start’s effectiveness. We conclude with suggestions for future research. key words: early education, Head Start, long-term benefits, policy

This study was conducted to further extend scaffolding research to low-income dyads because living in poverty may serve as a risk factor for experiencing difficulties in social and cognitive development during childhood. Scaffolding was examined in the context of mother-toddler dyads’ ( N = 56) performance of a routine feeding task that was difficult for 2-year-olds to complete independently. Both verbal and nonverbal behaviours were microanalytically coded in order to characterise the successive scaffolding strategies by mothers, and their children’s responses. Also, scaffolding data were compared to data on joint attention and dyadic reciprocity obtained from a free-play task. Results show that mothers’ use of constructive verbal strategies during the feeding task was positively associated with joint attention and mother-initiated dyadic reciprocity, both of which may be viewed as indices of maternal sensitivity. Thus, the provision of verbal assistance may be one mark of maternal sensitivity during scaffolding in low-income dyads.

This qualitative study uses secondary data from videos of 11 teachers in community childcare settings to explore the different roles that teachers use to facilitate play and the way children respond to teachers’ behaviours within these roles. Results suggest that specific teacher behaviours within the roles they adopt elicit three types of children’s responses: ignore/reject, evaluative, and acceptance behaviours. The co- player and play leader roles were often associated with children’s acceptance behaviours and were considered more appropriate for teachers to support children’s development.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) enrolment has increased substantially in recent years. Data are most readily available for programs serving children age 3 and older, and show that enrolment rates are highest in developed countries, such as those of North America and Europe. However, recent growth has been most rapid in countries where enrolment was lowest. In expanding ECEC programs, an important decision is whether programs will target subgroups of children or be universally available. In addition, although quality is a critical consideration, little comparative information is currently available on a worldwide scale and further study is needed.