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The present study examined whether teacher–child closeness and conflict across kindergarten and first grade varied by gender and disruptive behavior at kindergarten entry within a sample of 324 predominantly Black children from low-income, urban households. Three main findings emerged from the analyses. First, contrary to findings from previous work that revealed stability in closeness and conflict across the first few years of elementary school, this study identified significant changes in closeness across the kindergarten and first grade years. Second, girls experienced more closeness with teachers than boys across both kindergarten and first grade, and the rate of change in teacher–child closeness differed by child gender across time. Finally, across both school years, associations between gender and teacher–child conflict varied by level of disruptive behavior at the beginning of kindergarten, such that boys with high levels of disruptive behavior experienced more overall conflict with teachers than girls with high levels of disruptive behavior.

Research suggests that early mother–child attachment styles are predictive of cognitive skill development in middle childhood. Yet, little work has considered the differential associations of varying attachment styles on reading and math skills in middle childhood, and the mechanisms explaining those relationships across time. Using data from the first three phases of the National Institute of Child and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, this study examined associations between early mother–child attachment styles and math and reading skill development in middle childhood (i.e., ages 54 months to fifth grade). In addition, using a multilevel mediation approach, we considered children's task engagement and engagement/exploration in the classroom as mechanisms explaining gains in cognitive skills. Findings revealed that insecure/other attachment predicted lower average levels of reading and math skills in fifth grade, while ambivalent attachment was associated with lower average levels of math skills in fifth grade. Children's task engagement partially mediated associations between insecure/other attachment and reading skills, as well as associations between ambivalent attachment and math skills. Task engagement also partially mediated associations between insecure/other attachment and math skills in middle childhood. Implications for attachment theory and educational practice are discussed.

a b s t r a c t This study investigated the efficacy of INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament (INSIGHTS) in supporting the behaviors and engagement of low-income kindergarten and first-grade children with high-maintenance temperaments. INSIGHTS is a temperament-based social-emotional learning intervention that includes teacher, parent, and classroom programs. Participants in the study included N = 435 children (Mean age = 5.38 SD = 0.61) from 22 under-resourced, urban elementary schools who were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or a supplemental after-school reading program. Sixty-nine children were identified as having a high-maintenance temperament, characterized by low levels of task persistence and high levels of motor activity and negative reactivity. Individual growth modeling showed that children with high-maintenance temperaments in INSIGHTS evidenced faster reductions in disruptive behav- iors and off-task behaviors across kindergarten and first grade than their peers in the supplemental reading program. Such children in INSIGHTS also had lower overall levels of both disruptive behaviors and off-task behaviors and higher levels of behavioral engagement than children in the comparison group at the end of first grade. Intervention effects for children with high-maintenance temperaments were partially mediated through improvements in their relationships with their teachers. Implica- tions for social-emotional learning intervention for high-risk children and early educational policy are discussed.

The purposes of the present study were to examine associations between risk factors and the cognitive performance from one to three years of age of children living in poverty, and to investigate the protective and/or promotive effects of EHS on children's cognitive skill performance. Analyses were conducted using data from the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project, a prospective study of 3001 children and families living in poverty. There were four main findings. First, children's cognitive skill scores decreased significantly from one to three years of age in comparison to national norms. Second, children whose families were on government assistance, children whose mothers had less than a high school education, children who received lower levels of cognitive and language stimulation at home, and children who had higher levels of negative emotionality evidenced more rapid rates of decline. Third, children in families who received government assistance, children whose parents were unemployed, and children whose mothers had less than a high school education had lower cognitive skill scores at three years of age. Fourth, children who were enrolled in Early Head Start (EHS) had higher cognitive skill scores at three years of age than their peers who were not in EHS. Implications for policy and early education are discussed.