title: Cluster (school) RCT of ParentCorps: impact on kindergarten academic achievement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the impact of an early childhood, family-centered, school-based intervention on children's kindergarten academic achievement.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cluster (school) randomized controlled trial with assessments from pre-kindergarten (pre-k) entry through the end of kindergarten. The setting was 10 public elementary schools with 26 pre-k classes in 2 school districts in urban disadvantaged neighborhoods serving a largely black, low-income population. Participants were 1050 black and Latino, low-income children (age 4; 88% of pre-k population) enrolled in 10 schools over 4 years. Universal intervention aimed to promote self-regulation and early learning by strengthening positive behavior support and effective behavior management at home and school, and increasing parent involvement in education. Intervention included after-school group sessions for families of pre-k students (13 2-hour sessions; co-led by pre-k teachers) and professional development for pre-k and kindergarten teachers. The outcome measures were standardized test scores of kindergarten reading, writing, and math achievement by independent evaluators masked to intervention condition (primary outcome); developmental trajectories of teacher-rated academic performance from pre-k through kindergarten (secondary outcome).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative to children in control schools, children in intervention schools had higher kindergarten achievement test scores (Cohen's d = 0.18, mean difference = 2.64, SE = 0.90, P = .03) and higher teacher-rated academic performance (Cohen's d = 0.25, mean difference = 5.65, SE = 2.34, P = .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early childhood population-level intervention that enhances both home and school environments shows promise to advance academic achievement among minority children from disadvantaged, urban neighborhoods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. laurie.brotman@nyumc.org
authors.forename: Laurie Miller
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Brotman
authors.forename: Spring
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dawson-McClure
authors.forename: Esther J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Calzada
authors.forename: Keng-Yen
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kamboukos
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Palamar
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petkova
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011203:Poverty; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: academic achievement; early childhood; family intervention; poverty