INTRODUCTION:Evidence-based assessments for ADHD include the collection of standardized ratings of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders symptoms. There is limited research on ADHD diagnostic procedures in Hispanic/Latino children and a growing concern that ADHD may be underdiagnosed due to language barriers that exist between parents and the standardized measures. To address this gap, we examined potential language related biases in the assessment of ADHD among Spanish-speaking parents. METHODS:The sample was 107 Hispanic/Latino, Spanish-speaking parents of children in kindergarten or first grade. The Spanish translated versions of the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale (DBD-RS), Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and Impairment Rating Scale (IRS) were administered to assess ADHD symptoms, concurrent validity, and the influence of time since arrival in the United States on parent ratings. RESULTS:The Spanish DBD-RS demonstrated strong internal consistency for both Inattention (α = .85) and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity (α = .85) subscales. Parent ADHD ratings were positively correlated with SDQ Hyperactivity/Inattention scores (r = .38, p < .001), supporting concurrent validity. In regression analyses, parent time in the U.S. significantly predicted IRS impairment scores beyond ADHD symptoms (ΔR2 = .036, p = .035). CONCLUSION:Despite limitations such as reliance on self-report measures and cultural heterogeneity in the sample, this research contributes to understanding ADHD assessment in an under-studied ethnic group. Our findings contribute to ongoing efforts to refine diagnostic tools and promote equitable access to ADHD evaluations that are culturally appropriate for Hispanic/Latino children.

Children’s externalizing behaviors are associated with low academic outcomes across development. The developmental cascade model suggests that early behavior problems may contribute to later academic difficulties. However, most prior studies concerning the associations between children’s externalizing behaviors and academic outcomes have been limited by factors related to study design, methodology, and statistical analysis. Consequently, most studies have not been able to address questions about if and how externalizing behaviors influence academic outcomes. The aims of this study were to address these limitations by examining how different dimensions of children’s externalizing behaviors related to growth in early literacy skills during the preschool year. Participants were a racially diverse group (i.e., 51% White, 42% Black, 3% multiracial, 2% Asian, 2% other/specified; 3% Latino/Hispanic) of 1,078 preschool children (mean age = 55.15 months; SD = 3.65; 45% female). Children’s early literacy skills (vocabulary, phonological awareness, print knowledge) were assessed three times during the preschool year (fall, winter, spring). Children’s inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, and oppositional-defiant behaviors were rated by both teachers and parents during the fall assessment. Most dimensions of externalizing behaviors from both raters were significantly and negatively associated with initial scores on some early literacy skills. Teachers’ ratings were more predictive of early literacy-skill growth than were parents’ ratings, and inattentive-related behavior was more predictive than hyperactive/impulsive- or oppositional-defiant-related behaviors. These results suggest that children’s externalizing behaviors influence the development of early literacy skills, and they have implications for improving identification of, and targeted intervention for, children at risk for future reading difficulties.

Although children frequently engage with digital media, their exposure to informational content such as documentaries remains limited. This exploratory study examined how preschoolers learn vocabulary and content knowledge from a child-friendly documentary presented through shared reading, video viewing, or both formats. Sixty 4- to 5-year-old children were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. Children either experienced one format twice or both formats once. The book and video contained identical language; the book used static images, whereas the video featured animations and background music. Vocabulary and knowledge were assessed before and after children were read the book or shown the video. Research Findings: Controlling for pretest scores, no significant overall group differences emerged. However, significant interactions were found: children with lower baseline vocabulary showed greater gains in the video viewing group compared to shared reading, while children with higher baseline knowledge benefited more from video viewing than from the other conditions. Practice or Policy: These findings highlight how media format interacts with individual learner characteristics and suggest that informational videos may support vocabulary and knowledge development by interacting with children's existing language and knowledge levels. Educators may consider incorporating high-quality informational videos strategically to support vocabulary and knowledge development, especially for children whose baseline skills may shape responsiveness to different instructional formats. Policymakers and curriculum designers should attend to learner characteristics when evaluating and selecting educational media for early childhood settings.

Teachers play a large role in determining whether or not the classroom climate experienced by students is positive, especially through their visible emotional behaviors, which may either support or hinder students’ learning experiences. Research suggests that positive teacher emotional expression in the classroom is beneficial to student learning, but we do not yet know what amount and variation in affective demeanor is reasonable to expect from teachers. In this study, secondary analysis using video recordings of 83 first through third grade teachers’ classrooms as well as questionnaires completed by the teachers were used to explore teacher affective demeanor. This study took a person-centered approach—where multiple characteristics of each teacher were organized into profiles that group similar teachers together. Specifically, the present study addressed two main research aims: (1) to identify reliable profiles of teacher displayed affective demeanor among first through third grade teachers, and (2) to determine potential predictors of teacher displayed affective demeanor profile membership. Three reliable profiles were found representing neutral, negative, and positive teacher affective demeanor patterns. Additionally, grade level and instructional group size were found to predict profile membership. Findings are discussed in the context of classroom emotional climate drawing from research related to teacher-student relationships, classroom management, and teacher enthusiasm.

The acquisition of language skills is an important developmental task in early childhood. Research suggests that the language skills of young students are related to the language skills of their peers in the classroom. However, this relation has not been explored in the context of targeted small-group (i.e., Tier 2) instruction in early childhood. This study estimated the association of peer language skills with the language development of prekindergarten (n = 522) and kindergarten (n = 652) students participating in targeted, small-group, language interventions (345 total small groups). The results indicate that peer language skills are related to the development of students' language skills in the context of targeted, small-group instruction. However, these relations appear to be complex and vary depending on the language skill, conceptualization of peer language skills, grade level, and pretest score.

The present study aims to investigate the roles of both teacher and child factors in teacher-child relationships in preschools serving children experiencing poverty (i.e., attending Head Start). Specifically, we examined the relations between children's gender, undesired behavior, teacher's job stress, and teacher-reported teacher-child relationships. A total of 129 teachers and 635 children from collaborating Head Start centers across six U.S. states were recruited in this study. Teachers completed a set of validated online survey questionnaires that measured children's undesired behavior, teacher job stress, and teacher-child relationships. Multilevel modeling results indicated that teachers tended to report conflictual relationships with boys and closer relationships with girls. Children's undesired behavior was strongly and positively associated with conflict, and negatively and weakly associated with closeness, particularly for boys. Teachers' job stress was not related to teacher-child relationship quality. Our study reveals the important role of children's undesired behavior in teacher-child relationships and indicates that potential bias in gender-based expectations might negatively contribute to teacher-perceived teacher-child closeness.

The strong association of early language skills to later reading ability suggests that supporting the development of these skills in children who enter preschool or kindergarten with below-average language abilities may lead to stronger reading skills. Despite this, few evidence-based supplemental language instructional programs exist for school-based implementation. The current study reports on two large-scale randomized trials of combinations of small-group, intensive language-focused instructional component lessons implemented in preschool and kindergarten settings. After screening on two listening comprehension measures, 740 preschool and 870 kindergarten children were randomized to business-as-usual general education or to 18 weeks of instruction that paired two of three possible 9-week component programs. Children were assessed pre- and postinstruction on a battery of proximal, instructionally aligned measures and on standardized language and early literacy measures. Results indicated significant and often sizeable impacts on measures aligned with the content of instruction received. Moderation by order of instructional components and child characteristics provides insight into the overall and specific benefits of early intensive support for language development.

This multiple case study investigates early childhood language teaching belief-practices alignment using structured interviews and video recordings of classroom instruction from 12 preschool teachers serving children from low-income backgrounds in the U.S. By mapping researcher-observed instructional practices onto teacher-reported pedagogical beliefs, we identified three patterns of belief-practice misalignment (i.e., belief-knowledge misalignment; positive misalignment; and missed teaching opportunities). Results suggest that some preschool teachers implement language teaching strategies intuitively while lacking language teaching knowledge and pedagogies needed to optimize language environments in the classroom. Moreover, teacher-perceived language teaching challenges (e.g., behavior management) indicate potential moderators that may explain the belief-practice incongruence.

Although previous research suggests the use of classroom management strategies can support student engagement and learning, gaps in the literature still exist including the frequency of classroom management strategies in small-group instruction. The purpose of this descriptive study was to measure the frequency of paraprofessionals' (n = 94) classroom management strategies within the context of a small-group intervention for kindergarteners at-risk of reading difficulties. This study contributes to the field by finding that trends described in previous studies continue to be demonstrated in this targeted instructional setting, in particular, regarding the infrequent use of praise with students at-risk of academic failure. The results of paired-sample sign tests suggest that when providing corrective feedback, paraprofessionals were more likely to specifically label the behavior being reprimanded. However, paraprofessionals infrequently labeled the specific behavior being reinforced when praising students.

To better understand the language environments of early childhood education (ECE) classrooms with dual language learners (DLLs), we examined the frequency with which adults use various language facilitation strategies, potential classroom characteristics that may predict teacher strategy use and the impact that teacher strategy use may have on DLL children's lexical and morphosyntactic skills. The study included 21 preschool classrooms and 69 children from a Latine background who spoke Spanish at home. Classroom observations were recorded at three different timepoints in one school year. A total of 14 strategies were of interest: English-General (n = 5), Spanish-General (n = 5), and DLL-Specific (n = 4) language facilitation strategies. A between-subjects one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the frequency in which teachers were using the strategies did not differ by strategy type. Hierarchical linear models (HLM) were used to test the association between classroom characteristics and strategy use and DLL language outcomes. Results indicated that the proportion of DLLs had significant positive associations with teachers' use of general strategies in Spanish and DLL specific language strategies. The analyses also revealed a significant negative association between teachers' use of Spanish general language strategies and children's English lexical outcomes and positive associations between English general language strategy use and children's morphosyntactic outcomes. This study informs our understanding of adult-DLL interactions in ECE programs, the frequency in which different language facilitation strategies are used in these classrooms, and the impact that implementation of such strategies may have on DLL children's language growth.

Children from backgrounds of poverty often lag behind more advantaged peers in early language skills, including breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. We report the results of a pilot study of an explicit and elaborated vocabulary intervention in preschool classrooms serving children from lower-income backgrounds. The intervention used multimodal instruction, including segments from public television children's programs and interactive games, to build children's knowledge of and semantic connections for 128 words across 18 weeks of daily lessons. Within 39 classrooms representing childcare, Head Start, and public prekindergarten settings, 192 preschool-age children (M = 52.10 months) participated in structured lessons and extension activities delivered by teachers and aides. Within-child comparisons of growth for taught target words versus matched untaught words revealed that children grew on all words but demonstrated significantly greater growth for taught words. Results support the value of elaborated and explicit vocabulary instruction and the role of visual media as contexts for preschooler's word learning.

Children from backgrounds of poverty often lag behind more advantaged peers in early language skills, including breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. We report the results of a pilot study of an explicit and elaborated vocabulary intervention in preschool classrooms serving children from lower-income backgrounds. The intervention used multimodal instruction, including segments from public television children's programs and interactive games, to build children's knowledge of and semantic connections for 128 words across 18 weeks of daily lessons. Within 39 classrooms representing childcare, Head Start, and public prekindergarten settings, 192 preschool-age children (M = 52.10 months) participated in structured lessons and extension activities delivered by teachers and aides. Within-child comparisons of growth for taught target words versus matched untaught words revealed that children grew on all words but demonstrated significantly greater growth for taught words. Results support the value of elaborated and explicit vocabulary instruction and the role of visual media as contexts for preschooler's word learning.

Reports an error in "Factor structure and utility of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version" by Jamie A. Spiegel, Christopher J. Lonigan and Beth M. Phillips (Psychological Assessment, 2017[Feb], Vol 29[2], 172-185). In the original article, paraphrased references to the BRIEF-P test items originally provided in Table 2 have been removed by request of the copyright holder due to discrepancies between the APA guidelines and the copyright holder's internal policies. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2016-22451-001). Executive function (EF) is a domain general cognitive construct associated with a number of important developmental outcomes. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version (BRIEF-P) is intended to assess 5 distinct components of EF in preschool age children. In this study, a series of factor analyses was conducted with teacher-reported EF of 2,367 preschool students to assess the structure of the BRIEF-P, and the predictive relations between the resulting factors and children's academic abilities and behavioral self-regulation were assessed to test the construct and convergent validity of the BRIEF-P scores. Results yielded mixed findings concerning the structure of the BRIEF-P and validity of its resultant scores. Results of the factor analyses indicated that the items of the BRIEF-P did not map onto factors in the way that would be expected based on its item-to-subscale mapping. The best solutions were a 4-factor and a bifactor model. The 4-factor solution revealed substantial correlations between factors, and although the bifactor solution identified a General Self-Regulation factor that explained variance in responses across items, this general factor did not account for all of the overlap among specific factors. Analyses of the relations for the factors from the correlated-factors and the bifactor models indicated that the majority of the factors had limited convergent validity with academic ability or with a measure of behavior self-regulation. Overall, these findings call into question the validity of aspects of BRIEF-P. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

In the context of the critical need to support children's early language development, teacher knowledge may enhance children's opportunities to build linguistic skills. In this study we explored how early childhood teachers' (n = 86) pedagogical content knowledge for language and vocabulary, and their book-reading implementation across the school year independently and jointly predicted children's (n = 582; mean age = 49.76 months, SD = 7.06) growth and spring status on five standardized measures of vocabulary and syntax. Results indicated modest book-reading durations, on average, but also variability across teachers. Whereas there were limited or no main effects for book reading or teacher knowledge there were significant moderation effects in 6 of 10 models when predicting spring status and in 5 of 10 models when predicting growth. Findings suggest that longer fall book readings may be especially beneficial when teachers have low pedagogical knowledge, but that this pattern does not apply later in the school year. We discuss implications for future research, for understanding the constructs of knowledge and their role in authentic classroom practices, and for professional development.

There is strong evidence linking children’s self-regulation with their academic and behavioral outcomes. These relations have led to the development of interventions aimed at improving academic outcomes by promoting self-regulation, based in part on the idea that self-regulation promotes the development of academic skills. Although a considerable number of studies have examined the degree to which interventions designed to improve aspects of self-regulation have a positive impact on academic outcomes, only a few studies have examined the degree to which children’s self-regulation moderates the effects of academic interventions. The goal of this study was to examine whether self-regulation, indexed by a direct assessment of executive function and teacher-rated attention, moderated the uptake of early literacy interventions for 184 children (average age = 58 months, SD = 3.38; 66% Black/African American, 28% White; 59% male) at risk for reading difficulties who participated in a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of Tier 2 interventions in preschool. Multilevel models were used to examine the degree to which children’s self-regulation moderated the impacts of the interventions. The results of this study provided little evidence that self-regulation moderated the impacts of the interventions and call into question the likelihood of a causal relation between self-regulation and academic achievement.

The strong association of early language skills to later reading ability suggests that supporting the de-velopment of these skills in children who enter school with below average language abilities may lead to stronger literacy development. Despite this, few evidence-based supplemental language interventions exist for school-based implementation. The current paper reports on 2 large-scale randomized trials of 5 small-group, intensive language-focused interventions implemented in preschool and kindergarten set-tings. After screening on an expressive language measure, 342 preschool children were randomized to either business-as-usual general education or to 1 of 3 10-or 12-week interventions. Comparably, after screening, 905 kindergarten children were randomized to business-as-usual or to 1 of 4 8-12-week inter-ventions. Children were assessed pre-and post-intervention on a battery of distal standardized language, including listening comprehension, and early literacy measures. Results indicated significant impacts for 3 of the 5 interventions in 1 or 2 grades, on at least 1 standardized measure, although none of the interventions directly impacted listening comprehension measures. Implications for supporting language development and for the early prevention of reading comprehension difficulties are discussed. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Little is known regarding the extent to which aspects of the home language and literacy environment (HLE) promote growth in language skills among dual language learners (DLLs). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate which aspects of the HLE significantly predict growth in English and Spanish vocabulary among Spanish-speaking DLLs. 944 Spanish-speaking DLLs (51.6% female; mean age = 53.77 months) completed assessments of English and Spanish vocabulary at four time points across two academic years. Parents completed a survey of the HLE that included information on language exposure, reading exposure, and family reading habits. Results indicated that specific literacy-related practices, including availability of books in the home, language read to the child, and parental reading skills were significant predictors of growth in children's Spanish and English vocabulary knowledge, even after controlling children's initial level of language skills and family socioeconomic status.

Children entering kindergarten vary greatly in their language and literacy skills. 1 Therefore, up-to-date information about evidence-based practices is essential for early childhood educators as they support preschool children’s lan guage and literacy development. This study used a process modeled after the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) review standards and procedures. It identified rigorous evidence from research conducted from 1997 to 2017 on the effectiveness of early childhood curricula, lesson packages, instructional practices, and technology programs that aim to improve students’ language, phonological awareness, print knowledge, decoding, early writing, and general literacy performance. The study team identified 132 interventions evaluated by 109 studies that the study team determined were high-quality experimental or quasi-experimental studies. The WWC’s evidence standards are used to assess the quality of an evaluation study and the strength of its claims about whether an intervention caused the observed effect of student achievement. The implementation characteristics (for example, group size) and instructional features specific to each instructional domain were coded for each of the 132 identified interven tions in order to explore the characteristics or features related to effectiveness.