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“A timely work on one of the most important social policy issues of the next decade. This volume will inform the discussion of such essential questions as how to balance affordability and quality in early care and education; how early education curricula can balance 'hard' and 'soft' skills; and what programs have proven most effective and scalable. It will inspire scholarship and guide professional training. The book is equally useful for college courses in education and for policy briefing.”

—Kenneth A. Dodge, PhD, William McDougall Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University


“A 'must-have' resource for professionals in early childhood development and learning. In an era of transformative advances in science and practice, this volume provides critical information that organizes and advances the field. Leading researchers have contributed to a progressive, content-rich work situated squarely within an ecologically valid approach. The book is both ambitious and exciting in its identification of research directions that could honestly begin to close the gaps that define early schooling experiences today. Interventionists and administrators will appreciate the rigorous reviews of programs for school and community use. As a text, this is a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate classes; it is particularly relevant for graduate student research and seminars on critical issues in the field.”

—Susan M. Sheridan, PhD, George Holmes University Professor of Educational Psychology and Director, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, University of Nebraska-Lincoln


“Boivin and Bierman have pulled together a masterful volume on topics that lie at the forefront of theory, research, practice, and policy. They have assembled a cadre of internationally renowned experts who collectively advance an interdisciplinary understanding of the conceptualization and measurement of school readiness; its developmental antecedents and sequelae; the societal value of designing state-of-the-art childhood programs and interventions; and the challenges associated with implementing changes at a broader, national scale. This is a 'must-read' book for researchers, students, practitioners, and policymakers across a range of disciplines who are interested in the sociocultural contexts of early learning and who aim to nurture children's development of cognitive, language, social, and emotional skills.”

—Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, PhD, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University


“An excellent, much-needed resource for understanding the full developmental spectrum of school readiness, this volume is comprehensive and research based. It reveals the breadth and depth of a construct that is often discussed in simplistic terms.”

—Susan B. Neuman, EdD, Teaching and Learning Department, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University


“Synthesizing current research on early childhood development as it relates to school readiness and school transition, this book combines breadth of coverage—spanning basic research to interventions—with thoughtful analyses of current issues. It includes a helpful introduction and conclusion by the editors. This will be a very useful addition to the reading lists of advanced seminars in developmental psychology, early childhood education, and public policy.”

—Frederick J. Morrison, PhD, Department of Psychology and School of Education, University of Michigan

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Table of Contents

I. Setting the Stage: The Importance of School Readiness for School Success

1. School Readiness: Introduction to a Multifaceted and Developmental Construct, Michel Boivin and Karen L. Bierman

2. Early Predictors of High School Completion: The Developmental Interplay between Behavior, Motivation, and Academic Performance, Frank Vitaro, Mara Brendgen, and Richard E. Tremblay

3. Assessing the Predictive Validity and Early Determinants of School Readiness Using a Population-Based Approach, Michel Boivin, Hélène Desrosiers, Jean-Pascal Lemelin, and Nadine Forget-Dubois

II. Determinants of School Readiness

4. A Multilevel Approach to the Examination of Cognitive Skills in School Readiness, Mark Wade, Heather Prime, Dillon Browne, and Jennifer M. Jenkins

5. The Role of Oral Language Development in Promoting School Readiness, Ginette Dionne, Catherine Mimeau, and Émylie Mathieu

6. Early Child Care Experiences and School Readiness, Sylvana M. Côté, Marie-Claude Geoffroy, and Jean-Baptiste Pingault

III. Supporting School Readiness with Evidence-Based Programs and Practices

7. The Role of Language and Literacy Interventions in School Readiness, Barbara A. Wasik and Annemarie H. Hindman

8. Promoting Math Readiness through a Sustainable Prekindergarten Mathematics Intervention, Prentice Starkey, Alice Klein, and Lydia DeFlorio

9. The Development of Self-Regulatory Skills and School Readiness, Christine Pajunar Li-Grining, Jaclyn Lennon, Maria Marcus, Valerie Flores, and Kelly Haas

10. Integrating Evidence-Based Preschool Programs to Support Social-Emotional and Cognitive Development, Karen L. Bierman, Celene E. Domitrovich, Robert L. Nix, Janet A. Welsh, and Scott D. Gest

11. Parenting Programs That Promote School Readiness, Janet A. Welsh, Karen L. Bierman, and Erin T. Mathis

IV. Going to Scale with Evidence-Based Programs: Sustaining High-Quality Practice

12. Better Beginnings, Better Futures: A Comprehensive, Community-Based Early Child Development Project to Facilitate Transition to Primary School and Beyond, Ray DeV. Peters and Angela Howell-Moneta

13. Large-Scale Dissemination of an Evidence-Based Prevention Program for At-Risk Kindergartners: Lessons Learned from an Effectiveness Trial of the Fluppy Program, François Poulin, France Capuano, Frank Vitaro, Pierrette Verlaan, Monique Brodeur, and Jacinthe Giroux

14. Informing Policy to Support Evidence-Based School Readiness Programs and Practices, Rob Santos

15. School Readiness in a Developmental Perspective: Summary of Findings and Implications for Future Research and Practice, Karen L. Bierman and Michel Boivin

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About the Editors

Michel Boivin, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Canada Research Chair in Child Social Development at Laval University in Quebec. He is director of Laval University's Research Unit on Children's Psychosocial Maladjustment and of the Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development, a pan-Canadian consortium. Dr. Boivin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His research focuses on the biological, psychological, and social components of child development. He has played a central role in the creation and follow-up of large population-based longitudinal studies of children, including the Quebec Newborn Twin Study and the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.

Karen L. Bierman, PhD, is Evan Pugh University Professor, Professor of Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies, and Director of the Child Study Center at Pennsylvania State University. Since the 1980s, her research has focused on social-emotional development and children at risk, with an emphasis on the design and evaluation of school-based programs that promote social competence, school readiness, and positive peer relations, and that reduce aggression and related behavior problems. Currently, she directs the Research-based Developmentally Informed (REDI) classroom and home visiting programs, developed in partnership with Head Start programs in Pennsylvania. A clinical psychologist, Dr. Bierman also directs a predoctoral training program in the interdisciplinary educational sciences. Dr. Bierman has served as an educational advisor to organizations including Head Start and Sesame Workshop.

• Author's website
• All titles by Karen L. Bierman

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Contributors

Karen L. Bierman, PhD, Child Study Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Michel Boivin, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Mara Brendgen, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Monique Brodeur, PhD, Department of Special Education and Training, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Dillon Browne, PhD, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

France Capuano, PhD, Department of Special Education and Training, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sylvana M. Côté, PhD, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Lydia DeFlorio, PhD, College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada

Hélène Desrosiers, MA, Social and Longitudinal Surveys, Quebec Institute of Statistics, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Ginette Dionne, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Celene E. Domitrovich, PhD, Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Valerie Flores, MA, doctoral student, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Nadine Forget-Dubois, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Marie-Claude Geoffroy, PhD, MRC Center of Epidemiology for Child Health/Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Scott D. Gest, PhD, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Jacinthe Giroux, PhD, Department of Special Education and Training, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Kelly Haas, PhD, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Annemarie H. Hindman, PhD, College of Education, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Angela Howell-Moneta, PhD, Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Jennifer M. Jenkins, PhD, Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Alice Klein, PhD, STEM Program, WestEd, Oakland, California

Jean-Pascal Lemelin, PhD, Department of Psychoeducation, Faculty of Education, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

Jaclyn Lennon, BS, doctoral student, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Christine Pajunar Li-Grining, PhD, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Maria Marcus, BS, doctoral student, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Emylie Mathieu, BA, doctoral student, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Erin T. Mathis, MS, doctoral student, Child Study Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Catherine Mimeau, BA, doctoral student, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Robert L. Nix, PhD, Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Ray DeV. Peters, PhD, Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Jean-Baptiste Pingault, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, University of Montreal, Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Heather Prime, PhD, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

François Poulin, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Rob Santos, PhD, Healthy Child Manitoba Office, Healthy Child Committee of Cabinet, Government of Manitoba; and Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Prentice Starkey, PhD, STEM Program, WestEd, Oakland, California

Richard E. Tremblay, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; School of Public Health and Population Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Pierrette Verlaan, PhD, School of Psychoeducation, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

Frank Vitaro, PhD, Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment, School of Psychoeducation, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Mark Wade, PhD, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Barbara A. Wasik, PhD, College of Education, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Janet A. Welsh, PhD, Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

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Audience

Developmental and educational psychologists; early childhood professionals and researchers.

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Course Use

May serve as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses.