This multilevel meta-analysis examined to what extent specific intervention components produce Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) intervention effects in samples of nonclinical preschool children. We coded the strategies implemented in preschool SEL interventions into discrete components targeting specific skills. We extracted data from 87 studies (N = 20,293 preschool children aged 3-5 years) that evaluated 70 interventions and reported 617 effect sizes. Research Findings: Our findings showed that after an early SEL intervention, large improvements were reported in children's interpersonal (d = 0.63) and emotional skills (d = 0.64), and small improvements were reported in children's internalizing problem behavior (d = 0.15). No single intervention component was associated with stronger SEL intervention effects, indicating that none of these components (psychoeducation, interpersonal, and cognitive exercises) outperformed the others in contributing to the overall intervention effects. The results did show, however, that including the subcomponent emotion recognition exercises in SEL interventions was typically related to weaker intervention effects on proximal outcomes. Practice or Policy: This suggests that preschool SEL interventions should not use emotion recognition exercises that require children to use advanced socio-emotional capacities or engage in advanced Theory of Mind reasoning.
Student vocabulary size in preschool predicts later literacy outcomes. With many words to master, effective preschool teaching must not only focus on specific words but also on word-learning strategies, with metalinguistic awareness being one strategy. Research supports metalinguistic instruction in upper elementary grades, but few studies explore preschool metalinguistic teacher talk. Research Findings: This study analyzed nine teachers' use of metalinguistic talk during storybook reading with their 67 preschoolers across 108 observations. Through a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach, we used quantitative methods to capture the frequency of metalinguistic talk types and multilevel models to explore associations between metalinguistic talk and standardized vocabulary scores. We then employed qualitative methods to understand how these talk moves enact affective messages about language awareness that signal dispositions toward word learning. Results revealed a typology of preschool metalinguistic talk, a positive association between metalinguistic talk and vocabulary, and teacher enactments that position words as powerful tools for expression or as markers of ability. Practice or Policy: These findings highlight metalinguistic talk as a promising approach for supporting preschool vocabulary development. They also reveal how teachers enact this talk in ways that may shape children's sustained attention to and interest in words broadly.
The goodness-of-fit model suggests that interplay between a child's behavioral tendencies and their environment, such as early childhood education and care (ECEC) context, is a key factor in promoting child's well-being in early childhood. Using survey data from Finnish parents with a 1-year-old child, we investigate: differences in seven behavioral tendencies (e.g., Activity level, Irritability) among children in different forms of childcare; variations in children's enjoyment in ECEC by form of ECEC and behavioral tendencies; and whether the form of ECEC moderates the relationship between behavioral tendencies and enjoyment in ECEC. Research Findings: Children's behavioral tendencies varied across childcare forms, including parental care, informal home-based care, and formal ECEC arrangements. Children's enjoyment in ECEC was related to both their behavioral tendencies and ECEC form. Enjoyment was higher in formal family daycare than in ECEC centers. Children who were more social and showed lower levels of inhibition and insecurity tended to enjoy ECEC more. The ECEC form did not moderate the relationship between behavioral tendencies and enjoyment. Practice or Policy: Findings underline the need for ECEC service coordinators and practitioners to consider children's behavioral tendencies when planning their care experience and means to support their well-being in different care contexts.
Many families with infants and toddlers in the US face low access to high-quality, affordable child care. To enact policy solutions, policymakers need timely information on child care access and how that access varies within states. To understand the current landscape of access to child care for infants and toddlers, we leverage multiple data sources from a single state, Texas, to describe regional variation in infant and toddler care access across a range of access metrics. Research Findings: Most regions of Texas can be classified as infant-toddler child care deserts; availability of regulated care is especially low in regions with larger Hispanic populations and more community poverty. Typical unsubsidized families pay more than the federal affordability benchmark for care even for one child in all regions, and providers across the state lack sufficient resources to deliver high-quality care. Access to subsidized care is very low statewide. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest that statewide expansion of subsidy reach and generosity is warranted to boost access to infant-toddler care, whereas compensatory approaches may be targeted regionally.
Research Findings: Family-school partnerships can support young children's school readiness, especially during transitions, yet little is known about what information families value from educators and how well educators meet these preferences. Through qualitative methods, this study explores communication topics, resource needs, and developmental domains that parents value, as well as educators' communication practices in center-, home- and ministry-based pre-K programs. Iterative thematic analysis revealed that parents (n = 26, 50% Black, 34.6% White, 8% Hispanic; 50% with at least a Bachelor's degree) of 4- to 5-year-olds enrolled in Indiana pre-k programs preferred regular school-specific communication and sought resources to enhance the home environment and foster community connections. While parents generally valued academic learning, they particularly desired teachers' feedback on their children's behavioral and social-emotional development. Educators' (n = 28; 72% White, 14% Black, 7% Hispanic; 68% with at least a Bachelor's degree) practices were found to largely align with parents' communication preferences, although they tended to avoid challenging communications and less frequently emphasized supporting learning consistency between home and school. We found a few variations across program types. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the value of family-centered communication in early childhood settings. Policies that emphasize developmentally focused communication may strengthen family-school partnerships.
Research Findings: This study aimed to investigate the changes in grandparenting and further examined their associations with preschoolers' social adjustment, with intergenerational coparenting as a potential mediator. Data were collected from 256 intergenerational coparenting families with preschoolers (M-age = 4.63 years; 50% girls) in China. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing grandparenting histories and children's social adjustment, while both mothers and grandmothers reported on mother-grandmother intergenerational coparenting. Three grandparenting change clusters were identified: stable paternal grandmother (66.4%), stable maternal grandmother (18%), and grandmother separation (15.6%). Children in the stable maternal grandmother group fared better in social adjustment than those in the grandmother separation group. Furthermore, intergenerational coparenting reported by mothers functioned as a mediator in the relationships between grandparenting changes and preschoolers' social adjustment. Practice or Policy: Our findings uncover that intergenerational coparenting families should strive to minimize childcare-related disorganization and maintain harmonious mother-grandmother relationships to foster preschoolers' healthy development.
Early childhood education and care quality is typically assessed at the classroom or program level, yet developmental theory emphasizes that individual children's experiences are key drivers of development. This study presents an exploratory validation of the Quality Exposure Index (QEI), an individual-level observation tool designed to capture what each child experiences in early childhood classrooms. Using video-based observations of 175 children in 26 Pre-K classrooms, we examined the psychometric properties and conditions required for reliable measurement, addressing three validity challenges: scoring, generalization, and extrapolation. Research Findings: Rescaling informed by descriptive statistics and item response theory refined item functioning to improve discrimination and interpretability. Theoretically conceptualized subscales were tested with confirmatory factor analysis to assess alignment with child-level proximal processes. Generalizability and decision studies decomposed variance components and identified designs for reliably differentiating children's experiences. Results provide initial evidence that individual-level quality measurement is psychometrically feasible, though feasibility is subscale-specific and design-dependent. Practice or Policy: The QEI offers a foundation for more precise and equitable assessment of what each child experiences, complementing classroom-level measures that can mask within-classroom variation. Several subscales reach acceptable reliability under current conditions, whereas others require expanded item coverage, additional raters, or purposeful selection of observation contexts.
The study investigated the association between fine motor skills and mathematical abilities in 4-5-year-old children, and the potential neural pathways underlying this relationship. Study 1 employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the behavioral link in 362 children, assessing fine motor skills with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2) and mathematical abilities across numeracy, calculation, geometry, and reasoning tasks. Study 2 used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore spontaneous neural activity in 21 children. Research Findings: Results from Study 1 indicated that fine motor skills, particularly visual-motor integration, were significantly associated with mathematical abilities. In Study 2, fine motor skills were linked to the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) values in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), lingual gyrus, superior parietal gyrus, cerebellum, anterior cingulate cortex, and thalamus. Mathematical abilities correlated with the ALFF values in the PFC, superior temporal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and thalamus. Notably, ALFF values in the right middle frontal gyrus and left orbitofrontal cortex accounted for significant indirect effects linking fine motor skills to mathematical abilities. Practice or Policy: These findings reveal a link between fine motor skills and mathematical abilities via PFC spontaneous neural activity, offering neural insights for early education integrating fine motor training.
Research Findings: This study evaluated the Early Advancement in Social-Emotional Health and Positivity (EASP) program for promoting preschool teachers' well-being. Participants were 134 Hong Kong in-service preschool teachers in a two-stage randomized controlled trial. At baseline, teachers were randomized to an intervention-combined group (n = 64) or waitlist control (n = 70); after Time 2, intervention participants were re-randomized to full intervention (four online workshops plus smartphone app; n = 32) or workshop only (n = 32). Teachers completed validated measures of positive affect, collegial relationships, personal accomplishment, hope, purpose, work engagement, and resilience at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and eight weeks later. Repeated-measures MANCOVA showed a significant time & times; group interaction, Wilks' Lambda F(28, 226) = 1.69, p = .02, eta 2 = .17. Relative to participants in the waitlist condition, those assigned in the full intervention condition improved positive affect at Time 2 and personal accomplishment at Time 3; workshop-only improved positive affect and hope at Time 2. Practice or Policy: Findings support online positive psychology workshops as a feasible approach for supporting preschool teacher well-being. The app may provide adjunctive support for maintaining gains, but larger trials are needed.
The study examined the effect of a professional development program concerning dialogic book reading (DBR) on preschool children's self-regulation skills. The research employed a quasi-experimental design with pretests and posttests. Fourteen preschool teachers and 206 children participated in the study. The DBR intervention was tailored to self-regulation by selecting books addressing self-regulation skills and employing DBR strategies focused on self-regulation, making DBR the primary active ingredient influencing children's self-regulation outcomes. The program was implemented through training sessions and classroom observation, utilizing coaching and scaffolding techniques. Children in the DBR-focused group showed significant gains in self-regulation, whereas no improvements were observed in the group using the same books with traditional reading and in the business-as-usual control group. Research Findings: The study showed that children's self-regulation skills are unlikely to improve without DBR. Significant improvements were observed in attention and impulse-control skills. By supporting teachers' understanding and implementation of DBR strategies, the professional development program contributed to improvements in children's self-regulation abilities. Practice or Policy: These findings highlight the need for integrating DBR coaching into routine teacher training, as equipping teachers with interactive reading strategies - rather than simply providing self-regulation-themed books - may support more consistent promotion of children's self-regulation in preschool classrooms.
Research Findings: Young children are curious about the world around them, including making sense of how and why the world works (e.g. science). K-12 science education has shifted its approach toward athree-dimensional, reform-based approach to K-12 science, which points to opportunities for preschool science teaching. In response to the need for examining science teaching in preschools, we used the Science Teacher Observation Protocol for Preschool (SciTOP-P) to describe teachers' modeling and facilitation of science engagement. The results from 70 Head Start classrooms indicate that teachers used (i.e. pre-intervention) more language around management than science. When teachers engaged students in science practices, they primarily engaged in observing and investigating phenomena, sometimes following up by explaining the phenomena. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest opportunities for curriculum support and professional development to leverage the practices teachers are already implementing (i.e. observing and investigating) and toward building additional science and engineering practices.
Design thinking (DT) in early childhood education has received increasing attention; however, scalable research is constrained by the lack of DT assessments suitable for young children. To address this gap, we developed and validated a teacher-report scale-the Early Design Thinking Scale (EDTS) in this study. By synthesizing an established DT model with empirical findings from early childhood DT literature, we initially generated a 30-item pool and refined it to a 23-item, five-dimension (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test) scale. Research Findings: Using psychometric cross-validation involving 35 teachers and 417 preschoolers (M-age = 4.79, SD = .95), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the retention of the five dimensions and 21 of the 23 items. The refined scale demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity, with the average variance extracted for each dimension ranging from .72 to .82. McDonald's omega coefficients for the five factors ranged from .92 to .95, indicating good internal reliability. Practice or Policy: The EDTS provides a reliable and valid tool for researchers and practitioners to assess young children's DT. It can support program evaluation and, in turn, inform instructional planning and efforts to promote children's DT learning and development in early childhood settings.
The transition from preschool to first grade is a crucial milestone in early education, influencing children's academic and social development. This process involves significant changes in educational settings, teaching approaches, and peer interactions. Teachers play a crucial role in shaping children's transition experiences and understanding their beliefs and practices can provide valuable insights into improving transition support strategies. Research Findings: This study examined the beliefs and practices of 1321 preschool teachers and 918 primary school teachers in Portugal regarding the transition to first grade. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed teachers' perceptions about the conditions that facilitate or hinder the transition, the activities they implement, and the challenges they encounter. Results showed that both groups of teachers largely agreed on key conditions affecting transition success. Furthermore, a relationship was found between teachers' beliefs and the practices they adopt to support children's adaptation. Practice or Policy: These findings highlight the need for structured transition support in schools. Professional development programs should enhance teachers' understanding of effective transition strategies, fostering continuity in learning. Strengthening collaboration between preschool and primary school teachers can help create smoother transitions, promoting children's academic and social adjustment.
Research Findings: Beginning early childhood education (ECE) teachers' occupational well-being (OWB) is essential for a high-quality and stable ECE workforce. However, factors and mechanisms that foster beginning ECE teachers' OWB still remain underexplored, especially considering teachers' preexisting dispositions and working conditions simultaneously. Using a school-to-work longitudinal design, this study examines the role of preexisting self-control, job demands, and job resources in shaping beginning ECE teachers' OWB (job satisfaction and work engagement). In the spring semester (T1), 783 final-year students studying in an ECE program reported self-control and demographics. In the fall semester (T2), 318 participants who graduated and worked as in-service ECE teachers reported job demands, job resources, OWB, and work-related demographics. The results showed that job demands and resources were negatively and positively related to OWB, respectively. T1 self-control was indirectly related to T2 OWB through lower levels of job demands, but not through higher levels of job resources. The moderation of job resources in the link between job demands and OWB was not significant. Practice or Policy: These results provide suggestions for teacher training institutions and ECE hiring sectors about how to foster beginning ECE teachers' OWB.
Based on the cumulative risk framework, this study examines the relative contributions and mediating roles of different components of executive function in the relation between family cumulative risk and academic achievement in preschoolers. A total of 225 children (122 boys) underwent assessments of executive function and academic performance, while their mothers supplied information regarding family cumulative risk via a questionnaire. The results indicated that: (1) family cumulative risk negatively predicts preschoolers' reading and math abilities; (2) global executive function and working memory mediated the association between family cumulative risk and early reading and math abilities; and (3) cognitive flexibility did not demonstrate a significant mediating role between family cumulative risk and early reading and math abilities. The findings highlight the pathways through which cumulative family risk relates to academic achievement and underscore the significance of interventions aimed at enhancing global executive function - particularly working memory - for children subjected to elevated environmental risks, to bolster their school readiness. Research Findings: These findings reveal distinct pathways through which family cumulative risk relates to academic achievement, with working memory emerging as a particularly vulnerable and consequential component of executive function in the context of environmental adversity. Practice or Policy: These findings imply that interventions aimed at enhancing executive function-particularly working memory-should be given more support and assistance for children subjected to elevated environmental risks, to bolster their school readiness and child development.
This cross-sectional, survey-based study investigated the interrelations of playful parenting style with playfulness and well-being of kindergarten children. Participants were parents (87.3% mothers, 11.8% fathers) and teachers (N = 34) of 228 kindergarten children in Hong Kong (mean age = 5.01 years, 59.2% boys). Parents reported demographic information (i.e. child age, child gender, parent education, and household income), their playful parenting style, and their child's playfulness, whereas teachers rated children's emotional well-being (positive and negative) and character strengths (interpersonal, intellectual, temperance, and transcendence strengths) in the school context through questionnaires. Research Findings: Results from a path analytic model revealed that the indirect relations of playful parenting style with children's positive emotional well-being and interpersonal, intellectual, temperance, and transcendence strengths, mediated through child playfulness, were positive and significant. However, the relation with negative emotional well-being was nonsignificant. Practice or Policy: The results highlighted a playful parenting style and child playfulness as plausible protective factors associated with children's well-being in the school context. Practically, promoting a playful parenting style at home may be a good way to support holistic early childhood development, fostering emotional resilience, character strengths, and overall well-being.
Studies show that young children's readiness at kindergarten entry is significantly associated with their academic achievement and lifelong well-being. Kindergarten entry assessments (KEA) and the presentation of their data are important to understanding and supporting children's educational journeys. However, there has been limited exploration of states' implementation of KEAs and data reports. The current study conducted a national scan of KEA implementation, KEA training for teachers, and data presentation. In 2023-2024, we collected data from state home pages in 50 United States and Washington, D.C. Data included KEA administration (e.g. assessment type and timeline), KEA training (e.g. training required to ensure reliability), and KEA data reports (e.g. data analyzed by child demographics). Research Findings: There were 35 active KEAs (68.6%). While most states relied on teachers' informal assessment (80.0%), only about 30.0% of the states required teacher training. Although many states reported the overall KEA scores, fewer states reported non-academic KEA domains and the KEA data by districts/schools or by child demographics. Practice or Policy: We discuss implications and offer suggestions for states to provide more training and support for kindergarten teachers, the need for more focus on non-academic KEA domains and contextualized reporting of KEA data.
