New Report: Findings from the Foundations of Learning Demonstration

Posted by on October 19, 2009

Emotional and behavioral development paves the way to achievement

According to a new report from MDRC, evidence suggests that improving young children’s healthy emotional and behavioral development is both an important outcome in its own right and can also be a pathway to improved academic achievement. In survey after survey, the authors write, teachers consistently emphasize their need for professional development and other supports to help them address children’s behavioral issues. The report offers a preview of promising findings from Foundations of Learning (FOL), a demonstration and random assignment evaluation in Newark and Chicago of an intervention that trains preschool teachers to better support children’s behavior and emotional development. The model combined teacher training in effective classroom management with weekly classroom consultation, with mentors coaching teachers in workshop strategies and providing individualized support to the highest-risk children. The report found that program interventions improved teacher ability to effectively support children’s behavior and emotional development; increased instructional time and created a positive climate for learning in classrooms; reduced conflict and acting-out behaviors by children; and improved children’s ability to focus their attention, curb their impulsivity, and show greater engagement in the classroom.

See the report: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/527/full.pdf