The results of dozens of research studies in early intervention and early-childhood education are synthesized in a new report released by the federal Institute of Education Sciences.
The report notes that teachers who learn strategies to engage children in print-focused conversations during group-reading time often produce a boost in literacy skills for their young pupils. And structured mathematics curricula can improve children’s knowledge of the subject beyond counting or identifying shapes. Yet some of the instructional methods that have been connected to positive student gains are used infrequently, researchers have found.
The report focuses on studies funded through the National Center on Education Research or the National Center on Special Education Research, and published in peer-reviewed journals from 2002 to June 2010.