Evidence on improving preschoolers' social and emotional competence

MDRC has released findings from the Head Start CARES demonstration, an evaluation of the effects of three classroom-based approaches to enhancing children's social-emotional development on a large scale. These programs were The Incredible Years Teacher Training Program (which focuses on teachers' management of the classroom and of children's behavior); Preschool PATHS (which uses structured lessons to help children learn about emotions and interact with peers appropriately); and Tools of the Mind-Play (a one-year version of the Tools of the Mind curriculum that promotes children's learning through structured "make-believe" play).

The demonstration was conducted with 17 Head Start providers that varied by geographic location, organizational setting, and size. Centers operated by these providers were randomly assigned to one of the three interventions or to a "business-as-usual" control group. Key findings included:

• PATHS showed small to moderate improvements in children's knowledge and understanding of emotion (emotion knowledge), social problem-solving skills, and social behaviors.
• The Incredible Years improved children's emotion knowledge, social problem-solving skills, and social behaviors. It did not produce expected impacts on children's problem behavior and executive function (except for highest-risk children).
• Tools of the Mind-Play did not demonstrate expected impacts on executive function or self-regulation; it produced only positive impacts on emotion knowledge.