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New Research

Below are highlights from our most recent acquisitions of research reports and journal articles. Research Connections scans its newest acquisitions, focusing on those from key organizations and journals, to identify up to ten articles of high policy relevance to feature here. To view them, click on the titles. For information about full-text access to journal articles and other resources for which full text is not available through Research Connections, see Accessing the Full Text of a Resource.

Are there differences in process quality between center-based and family-based care settings?

A comparative study of structural and process quality in center-based and family-based child care services
Bigras, Nathalie , 06/01/2010

This study examines both process and structural quality, and predictors of process quality in 53 center-based and 36 family-based regulated child care settings serving children 18 months old or younger in Montreal. The study found that family-based child care settings were lower in process quality than center-based child care. Results indicate that certain structural variables could contribute to increasing levels of process quality. The researchers recommend targeting child care workers and family-based child care providers who work with children under 18 months old and where the adult-child ratio is higher than 1:5 with specialized training. Additionally, they suggest that Family-based child care providers should be encouraged to increase their educational level, especially those with only a high school diploma. Finally, the authors recommend further research in this area.

Did the Seeds to Success, a quality rating and improvement system in two Washington State communities, help improve child care quality?

The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Findings from the impact and implementation studies
Boller, Kimberley , 06/28/2010
Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research.

Researchers at Mathematica conducted an implementation and impact evaluation of Seeds to Success, a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS), as part of an initiative in two Washington state communities to develop and implement high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives. Seeds to Success included a coaching model and financial incentives in an effort to improve child care quality. Results were based on pre- and post-treatment program observations, staff surveys, and interviews with 14 randomly assigned child care centers and 52 randomly assigned family child care providers. The study found that family child care providers in the treatment group were not more likely than providers in the control group to be enrolled in an education or training program, but significantly more center-based lead teachers in the treatment group than in the control group attended college courses at least weekly. Additionally higher child care observed quality was found in the treatment group compared to the control group.

What are the major differences between preschool English learners and preschool English speakers within the classroom?

A comparison of teacher-related classroom conduct, social skills, and teacher-child relationship quality between preschool English learners and preschool English speakers
Luchtel, Molly , 04/01/2010

This study examined the major differences between preschool English learners and preschool English speakers within the classroom. Specifically, the authors focused on classroom conduct, social skills, and the quality of relationship between teacher and child. For the current study, 1,034 caregivers, 1,034 children, and 743 teachers were observed. The results indicate that teachers rated English learners more positively than English speakers in a variety of categories, including relationship quality and classroom conduct.

How have narratives been used as tools to promote school readiness?

Narratives as learning tools to promote school readiness
Currenton, Stephanie M. , 05/01/2010

This special issue of Early Education and Development features studies that have examined how narratives can be used in the classroom as tools to promote school readiness. More specifically, the research questions address how the narrating style of families can prepare children for classroom instruction and promote school readiness. The various studies explored these themes in different classes, race/ethnicities, and cultures. View the articles in this special issue: 'Telling stories and making books: Evidence for an intervention to help parents in Migrant Head Start families support their children's language and literacy ', 'Something to say: Children learning through story', 'Maternal elaborative reminiscing increases low-income children's narrative skills relative to dialogic reading ', 'Teachers' interactions during storybook reading: A rural African perspective', and '"The seesaw is a machine that goes up and down": Young children's narrative responses to science-related informational text '.

To what extent do Early Childhood Teachers use Informational Texts in their classrooms?

Informational text use in preschool classroom read-alouds
Pentimonti, Jill M. , 05/01/2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze the types of texts read in early childhood (EC) classrooms and to examine the topics that these texts addressed and the extent to which these matched local state standards. Previous research on informational texts has demonstrated that students benefit in terms of language skills, content area knowledge, and reading and engagement with topic. The study was based on written reading logs from 84 teachers participating in a study called 'Project Sit Together and Read (STAR) in classrooms in Ohio and Virginia. All the classrooms served at-risk students. The results indicate that the majority of texts used in the classroom were narratives (82%), while expository or informational texts accounted for only 4% of the texts. Further, the researchers estimate that informational read alouds only occurred for approximately 55 seconds per day for each teacher during the 30 week period. Implications of these findings and future recommendations are included.

What do states include in their early learning guidelines?

A review of school readiness practices in the states: Early learning guidelines and assessments
Daily, Sarah , 06/17/2010
(Early Childhood Highlights Vol. 1, Issue 3, Publication No. 2010-14). Washington, DC: Child Trends.

This brief reviews the purpose and content of state Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs) and offers suggestions for effective early learning guidelines. Findings include: all 50 states have ELGs for preschool-age children (ages 3-5); 24 states have them for infants and toddlers (age 0-3); all 50 states included guidelines for language and early literacy; 49 states include guidelines for early math; and all but two states include guidelines on social-emotional development and physical health development. The authors suggest that early learning guidelines should have a holistic view of child development, be aligned with K-12 standards, be developmentally appropriate, and consider the challenges of assessments.

How have researchers studied social competence and math achievement in Latino kindergarteners?

The social competence of Latino kindergartners and growth in mathematical understanding
Galindo, Claudia , 05/01/2010

Using teacher reports from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten data set, Galindo and Fuller investigate Latino children’s social competencies, and examine the relationship between social competencies, problem behaviors, and math outcomes. Findings show that, as a whole, Latino children are lower than White children on their levels of social competency with the children in the lowest three income quintiles driving this finding. Further, variation in social competencies exists for Latino children from different cultural backgrounds. For example, Puerto Rican children had the widest social competency disparity when compared to White children, while Cuban children showed few differences in comparison to White children. Additionally, social competencies where a stronger predictor of math achievement than problem behaviors, and children from bilingual homes had more growth in math than those from monolingual English only homes. The ecocultural and developmental risk frameworks are used to interpret findings.

How can today's demand for and supply of early care and education services be surveyed effectively across the country?

Design phase of the National Study of Early Child Care Supply and Demand (NSECCSD): Final report
United States. Administration for Children and Families. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation , 01/31/2010
Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.

Commissioned by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this report lays out design options for a federally funded National Survey of Early Care and Education anticipated to be launched in 2011. The first such nationally representative study in more than 20 years, its proposed design features three inter-related surveys: a demand survey of parents of children birth to age 13, a supply survey of formal providers (center-based and regulated home-based), and--unlike previous national studies--a supply survey of informal home-based providers. To capture the local nature of child care and facilitate joint analysis of data from the three surveys, the design calls for samples of providers to be drawn (in all 50 states and the District of Columbia) from small geographic areas including and surrounding the smaller areas from which parent household samples are drawn. To support understanding of the breadth of child care and early education policy, the design emphasizes all sources of public subsidy--direct to families, as well as to programs such as Head Start and state pre-K.

Where does full-day kindergarten fit within the PreK-3rd grade continuum?

Prek-3rd: Putting full-day kindergarten in the middle
Kauerz, Kristie , 06/01/2010
(PreK-3rd Policy to Action Brief No. 4). New York: Foundation for Child Development.

This article examines the research around the benefits of full day kindergarten (FDK) and concludes that given that the research demonstrates gains in early reading, early math, and in social competence and creative problem solving skills, FDK should be an integral part of PreK-3rd efforts. The authors suggest that FDK serves as an important bridge between the early childhood and early elementary years. Unfortunately, there are many states that do not currently require school districts to provide even a half-day of kindergarten and only 12 states require school districts to provide FDK. The authors conclude with several recommendations for moving FDK to the middle of education reform including establishing FDK as an integral part of the education system, and improving the quality of FDK.