The program project objectives are to determine the: 1) effectiveness of school readiness interventions for 2 to 4 yr old children from poverty in center-based settings, 2) role of teacher behavior change in mediating school readiness, and 3) developmental processes (e.g., social, language, cognitive) that influence intervention efficacy on these outcomes. Approaches to supporting young children's learning across a range of skills (i.e., language, literacy, math, social) have overlooked key areas or attended to them in piecemeal ways. The central theme is to test integrated instructional content and processes on social and cognitive learning and mechanisms that explain how this occurs. Five projects and two cores (Administrative, Statistical/ Measurement) are included. Project 1 (2-3 yr old intervention) will test, in a randomized design, the impact of a cognitive curriculum with responsive teaching practices in contrast to its pairing with an explicit social curriculum. Project 2 (pre-K intervention) parallels Project 1 goals with a 4 yr old cohort and also examines the advantage of curriculum linked vs. general progress monitoring. Projects 3-5 will examine the developmental processes that explain intervention effects and how the intervention impacts specific developmental areas. Project 3 (social) will examine chains of mediation between the interventions and outcomes that target the role of social-emotional processes (e.g., emotional understanding, effortful control). Project 4 (language, theory of mind) addresses: a) how language growth promotes academic achievement and growth in theory of mind skills and b) the role that home and school language input play in this process. Project 5 (math) examines whether the developmental trajectories of early math domains predict academic outcomes and examines their precursors. This research program will determine the content, processes, and timing necessary to promote school readiness and the mediating and moderating factors and provide important cross-discipline insights into the interrelation of children's cognitive and social skills. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
5P01HD048497-03
Application #
7258436
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHD1-DSR-H (SL))
Program Officer
Griffin, James
Project Start
2005-09-30
Project End
2010-06-30
Budget Start
2007-07-01
Budget End
2008-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$1,854,908
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Health Science Center Houston
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771594
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77225
Merz, Emily C; Landry, Susan H; Zucker, Tricia A et al. (2016) Parenting Predictors of Delay Inhibition in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Preschoolers. Infant Child Dev 25:371-390
Lonigan, Christopher J; Phillips, Beth M; Clancy, Jeanine L et al. (2015) Impacts of a Comprehensive School Readiness Curriculum for Preschool Children at Risk for Educational Difficulties. Child Dev 86:1773-93
Merz, Emily C; Zucker, Tricia A; Landry, Susan H et al. (2015) Parenting predictors of cognitive skills and emotion knowledge in socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. J Exp Child Psychol 132:14-31
Merz, Emily C; Landry, Susan H; Williams, Jeffrey M et al. (2014) Associations Among Parental Education, Home Environment Quality, Effortful Control, and Preacademic Knowledge. J Appl Dev Psychol 35:304-315
Eisenberg, Nancy; Duckworth, Angela L; Spinrad, Tracy L et al. (2014) Conscientiousness: origins in childhood? Dev Psychol 50:1331-49
Landry, Susan H; Zucker, Tricia A; Taylor, Heather B et al. (2014) Enhancing early child care quality and learning for toddlers at risk: the responsive early childhood program. Dev Psychol 50:526-41
Silva, Kassondra M; Spinrad, Tracy L; Eisenberg, Nancy et al. (2011) Relations of Children's Effortful Control and Teacher-Child Relationship Quality to School Attitudes in a Low-Income Sample. Early Educ Dev 22:434-460
Eisenberg, Nancy; Eggum, Natalie D; Di Giunta, Laura (2010) Empathy-related Responding: Associations with Prosocial Behavior, Aggression, and Intergroup Relations. Soc Issues Policy Rev 4:143-180
Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos; Eggum, Natalie D (2010) Self-Regulation and School Readiness. Early Educ Dev 21:681-698
Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos; Sulik, Michael J (2009) How the study of regulation can inform the study of coping. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev 2009:75-86

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