Robert C. Pianta’s research while affiliated with University of Virginia and other places

The transition to and through kindergarten is consequential for the academic, social, and emotional wellbeing of children. Policies and practices are in place to smooth that transition. Researchers are working to understand which practices work best and for whom, particularly as the student population in U.S. schools continues to diversify. In this study, we analysed data from a large longitudinal study of racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse families, children, and their teachers. We used multi‐level modelling to examine the factors associated with families' reports of strong home–school interactions at the transition to and through kindergarten on the Family Involvement Questionnaire. We found that children having attended preschool and lower class size were associated with family reports of strong interactions. Surprisingly, we also found that teacher–family language match, teachers' self‐efficacy for working with families, and teachers' beliefs about children were not significantly associated with families' reports of strong or weak interactions. This work has implications for family engagement policy and practice as children transition to and through kindergarten.

Children's school enjoyment is examined from preschool to first grade in a sample of 1,400 U.S. children. On average, children showed increasing enjoyment over this time period. Girls exhibited greater average growth than boys, but boys showed more variability in their growth rates than girls. No discernable school enjoyment differences were found in average growth between students who spoke different languages at home and of different racial groups.

Background Past research describes robust associations between education and health, yet findings have generally been limited to the examination of education as the number of years of education or educational attainment. Little is known about the specific features or processes underpinning education that are health protective. The objective of the current study was to address this gap by examining specific aspects of early education pertaining to student characteristics and experiences, as well as features of the classroom environment, in predicting cardiometabolic health in adulthood. Methods Subjects were 1364 participants in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD, 1991–2009) and recent SECCYD 30-year follow-up, the Study of Health in Early and Adult Life (SHINE, 2018–2022). Models examined individual education indicators (student social skills, student-teacher relationship quality, and classroom emotional and instructional quality in the period of elementary school and student academic performance between ages 54 months and 15 years) in relation to a composite of cardiometabolic risk in adulthood (ages 26–31), reflecting central adiposity, blood pressure, insulin resistance, inflammation, and dyslipidemia. Models were adjusted for key explanatory factors including socio-demographics, infant characteristics, parental socioeconomic status (SES), and child health status. Follow-up analyses were performed to test potential mediators of early education effects on adult health, including adult SES (educational attainment, household income) and health behaviors (diet quality, activity level, sleep duration, smoking). Results In adjusted models, results showed greater student social skills, indexed by a mean of annual teacher ratings between kindergarten and 6th grade, predicted lower cardiometabolic risk in adulthood (β=-0.009, p <.05). In follow-up analyses, results showed the protective effect of student social skills on cardiometabolic risk may be mediated by adult income (β=-0.0014, p <.05) and diet quality (β=-0.0031, p <.05). Effects of the other early education indicators were non-significant (ps > 0.05). Conclusions Findings point to the potential significance of early student social competence as a link to long-term health, possibly via the acquisition of resources needed for the maintenance of health, as well as through engagement in health behaviors supporting healthy eating. However, more research is needed to replicate these findings and to elaborate on the role of early student social competence and the pathways explaining its effects on cardiometabolic health in adulthood.

This study used a person-centered approach to identify school readiness profiles in a sample of kindergartners (n=1,826) from a large and diverse school district in the United States. Using latent profile analyses and multi-level modeling, we examined three aims: 1) whether patterns of readiness skills at kindergarten entry could be detected, 2) the extent to which detected patterns predicted gains in academic and social-emotional skills, and 3) whether the quality of teacher–child interactions moderated the associations between profile membership and end of kindergarten outcomes. Based on a comparison of fit indices, a 4-profile solution best represented the data. Eighteen percent of children were in the “High Risk” profile, 34 % were in the “Ready” profile, 20 % percent of children were in the “Social-Emotional Risk” profile, and 28 % of children were in the “High Readiness” profile. For all outcomes, we found that profile membership predicted spring scores, after controlling for fall scores of each skill, suggesting that the constellation of kindergarten readiness skills matters more than any one skill. We also found that the quality of teacher–child interactions moderated associations between profile membership and changes in achievement and problem behavior for children within some groups. Results suggest that children enter kindergarten with unique profiles of skills and that supports for children may need to be individualized based on profiles to maximize social, emotional, and academic development. Results also suggest that high-quality teacher–child interactions may serve as an important protective and promotive factor for children with certain clusters of readiness skills at kindergarten entry.

This study proposes a psychometric validation of the Italian version of the Child–Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) developed by Pianta in 1992. Based on attachment theory, the scale assesses parents’ relationship perceptions with their own child and comprises three scales: Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. A sample of 501 parents (188 fathers and 313 mothers) completed 30 items of the Italian version of the Child–Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS-I) online, but only 437 answered 85% of the entire protocol; hence, the analyses only focused on 437 participants. The first analysis of the original theoretical model revealed poor fit, item loadings, and internal consistency. Therefore, a follow-up analysis was conducted. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses with a split sample (EFA = 218; CFA = 219) confirmed the original three-factor structure of the Italian sample, although some items were eliminated. The validity and reliability of the Italian version of the CPRS-I were also verified by correlating the above three factors with measures of adult attachment styles and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The CPRS-I showed significant correlations with all tested constructs, in line with those found by Driscoll and Pianta for the short form of the scale. Our results confirm that the CPRS-I has the same structure as the original scale; therefore, it can be a useful tool for assessing parents’ perceptions of their relationship with their children. The implications for educational and clinical settings are also discussed.

This study examined whether pre-K benefits persist through the end of first grade and the extent to which persistence differs based on outcome domains, subsequent classroom environments, and key subgroups of children. Data from 2,351 children living in a large and diverse county in Virginia revealed that the initial benefits of pre-K for academic and executive function persisted through the end of first grade but were 75% to 80% smaller than at kindergarten entry. Kindergarten and first-grade classroom environments did not sustain pre-K benefits. Although the initial benefits of pre-K were larger for dual language learners and children in poverty relative to English speakers and low-income children, there were no differential benefits by the end of first grade.

In this paper we argue that the quality of early education programs or classrooms can be defined in terms of features of teachers’ interactions with students observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, or CLASS. We present evidence suggesting that dimensions of teacher-student interactions can be described, observed, and measured consistently across cultures and countries and that such dimensions also have modestly positive influence student development and learning. Evidence is summarized indicating that interactions can also be improved systematically through professional development interventions. The paper relies on a framework that describes core features of effective teacher-student interactions present across countries’ highly varied settings and cultural contexts. Limitations of the study include exclusive reliance on the CLASS and that most countries were not low or middle income. We discuss the cross-cultural applicability of the framework and outline suggestions for education policy and practice and future directions for research.