Teachers’ efficacy is regarded as essential for the delivery of high-quality education. A recent research published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly examined how kindergarten teachers’ self-efficacy can affect children’s social skills through the classroom process quality, especially teacher-child interaction. 5,628 children and their teachers from 180 kindergarten classrooms participated in the study. The class sizes varied from 7 to 58 children per class. Teachers were surveyed about their teacher self-efficacy. Children’s social skills were assessed by their parents using the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales. From the videos covering the major routines of the kindergartens, five randomly selected, 20 minutes observation cycles were extracted for trained observers to assess the teacher-child interaction quality with the CLASS observational tool. The analysis showed that: Classroom organization, instead of emotion support and instructional support, significantly mediated teachers’ self-efficacy for classroom management and children’s social skills. Classroom organization also significantly mediated teacher self-efficacy for...

A Canadian study explored the impact on teachers of delivering a mindfulness-based social-emotional learning (SEL) program called MindUp with additional teacher training on trauma-informed practice. The study included 41 teachers in the control group and 71 teachers in the intervention group, composed of 45 teachers who delivered the intervention for one year, and 26 teachers who delivered the intervention for two years. Both groups included K-12 teachers and early childhood educators. Intervention teachers received a half-day in-person training on trauma-informed practice, and a full-day in-person MindUP training, in addition to another full-day extension training in the spring. The training for MindUp was offered by a trainer from the organization managing the program. After receiving the trainings, intervention teachers implemented MindUP in their classrooms throughout the school year. The intervention involved 15 weekly lessons and the implementation of core practice of the program three times a day. Comparison teachers received the same...

A recent meta-analysis by Li and colleagues analyzed results from 68 studies to explore the relationship between school discipline and self-control in students ranging in age from preschool through high school.  The researchers broke the topic of school discipline into three subcategories to better understand the association of each aspect with student self-control.  The first of these components was structure, which emphasizes the clear and fair enforcement of school rules to manage student behavior.  The second component was support, which emphasizes the creation of a nurturing environment that is responsive to student needs and is designed to help students develop good behavior.  The third component was the teacher-student relationship, which emphasizes quality interactions between students and staff as a means of managing student behavior. The meta-analysis found that: There is evidence of a significant, positive association between school discipline and student self-control (r = 0.190, p < 0.001).  When comparing the...

Young dual language learners are considered at higher risk than their monolingual peers in terms of language skills and school readiness. A recent cluster-randomized controlled study published in Child Development  investigated the effectiveness of a book-based language intervention – the Extend program – on bilingual children’s second-language skills in Norway. The Extend program is a loosely scripted intervention intended to support children’s language skills including vocabulary, grammar, narrative skills, and perspective-taking. 464 children from 60 preschools, who spoke a variety of first languages, participated in the study. Teachers used 15 books in the classroom for this shared-reading intervention, and 4 were sent home so that parents could share them with their children in their preferred language. The results indicated that the intervention had positive impacts on children’s second-language learning in general. In particular, the intervention had significant effects on second-language vocabulary (four indicators, ES= +0.24 to +0.87) and grammar skills (ES=+0.34). The findings also...

Teaching Together is an initiative that combines tiered school instruction with home curricular supplements to enhance language skills among pre-k children at risk for later reading difficulties. Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center and Florida Center for Reading Research examined the effects of Teaching Together, in a study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly. This study included a sample of Head Start children demonstrating risk for later reading difficulties and eligible for Tier-2 services (targeted instruction for children with weak skills). By adopting an RCT-design, researchers randomized one control and three treatment groups: Control or business-as-usual (BAU) family engagement experiences (n=72), Tier 1 Family workshops and universal text messages (n=241), Tier 2 Basic Family, which added learning materials and targeted text messages to the workshops (n=29), Tier 2 Enhanced Family, which added parent coaching/individualized communication to the above supports (n=31). Among all three treatments, findings were as follows: The Tier...

In March 2020, most schools in the United States transitioned to distance learning in an effort to contain COVID-19. During the transition, a significant number of students did not fully engage in remote learning opportunities due to resource or other constraints. An urgent question for schools around the nation is how much the pandemic impacted student outcomes. In a recent article published by Educational Researcher, the authors used administrative panel data from six large CORE Districts in California to approximate the impact of the pandemic by analyzing how absenteeism affected student outcomes. The results showed that: There were wide variation in absenteeism impacts on academic and social-emotional outcomes by grade and subgroup, as well as the cumulative effect of different degrees of absence.Student outcomes generally suffer more from absenteeism in mathematics than in English language arts.Negative effects are larger in middle school. Absences also negatively affect social-emotional development, particularly in middle school, which...

A well-known SEL program, First Step to Success, conducted an efficacy validation study of their updated intervention for preschool children, called First Step Next. A total of 160 classrooms within 50 Head Start and preschool programs in the United States were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control groups. Teachers in the intervention group received a one-day training on the intervention and the general principles of classroom management. Teachers provided the intervention to one selected child in each classroom screened to have high externalizing problems. A behavioral coach supported with modeling of implementation for the first 10 days, consultation, and supervision. Teachers in the control group received a 4-hour training on the general principles of classroom management and positive behavior support. There was a 104-day period on average between the collection of baseline data and the post-intervention data for the intervention group. Control teachers received training for the intervention in the...

The benefits of attending kindergartens have been shown in different longitudinal studies. However, a recent study published in Children and Youth Services Review pointed out, studies about the effects among ethnic minorities are rare, as the different language used in the education system might undermine the effect of attending kindergarten. In this regard, Ling Li and colleagues conducted a study among Zhuang students in China for the relationship between attending kindergarten and reading literacy. The data of this study was obtained from a larger study for junior high school students conducted in a rural area of southwestern China. It only included Zhuang students in the analysis. In total, there were 457 Zhuang students from 106 schools who were randomly sampled in this study. The participating students completed a questionnaire including questions about individual particulars, family factors, early education experience, after school time, parental expectations, and self-expectations. Their Chinese reading literacy...

A recent meta-analysis in Educational Research Review identified 21 studies to be used in an analysis of the relationship between teacher leadership and student achievement.  In defining teacher leadership for this analysis, the authors indicate that teachers who demonstrate leadership maintain their normal classroom responsibilities while also assuming leadership responsibilities beyond the classroom.  Among the studies analyzed, five demonstrated what the researchers classify as a desired effect (r > .20) and eight demonstrated what the researchers classify as a meaningful teacher effect (.10 < r < .20).  The researchers used a random-effects model for the meta-analysis, which indicates an overall meaningful teacher effect (r = 0.187, 95% CI = [0.127, 0.246]) when analyzing the relationship between teacher leadership and student achievement.  This provides evidence that teacher leadership is positively related to student performance (p < 0.001). The authors then further investigate this relationship by looking at differences between courses and specific elements...