
PI: Karen Bierman
IES R305A200436
Administered in: College of the Liberal Arts
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the GoPals Kindergarten Club intervention. GoPals is designed to address the needs of economically disadvantaged students living in rural communities by engaging their families in guided home learning activities and fostering positive family-school involvement. Children from low-income families often enter school with less social-emotional and cognitive school readiness than their more advantaged peers, fueling a socioeconomic gap in school attainment that grows over time. Although public investment in prekindergarten programs is designed to reduce these early socioeconomic disparities, fewer than half of the children in rural areas attend prekindergarten.
Additional Faculty:

Cristin Hall
School Psychology

Damon Jones
Prevention Research Center

Janet Welsh
Prevention Research Center
Research Staff:

Sandra Stewart
Project Director
University Park

Linda Jacobson
Statistician
University Park

Michele Kelly
Data Manager
University Park

Shari Keyser-Groff
Research Coordinator
York County

Lisa Knudson
Family Educator
University Park

Becky Leiter
Family Educator
University Park

Stella Robinson
Family Educator
University Park

Brad Sizemore
Senior Research Assistant
York County

Tracy Spalvins
Research Coordinator
University Park