Title: A Course on Supporting Early Language and Literacy Development through Effective Teacher-Child Interactions: Effects on Teacher Beliefs, Knowledge and Practice.

(NCRECE) program of research is a series of experimental studies of specific approaches to training early childhood (EC) educators to be effective in implementation of curriculum and instructional interactions focused on promoting language and literacy skills, two domains that operate as gatekeepers to later achievement. This program builds progressively on research demonstrating that: a) early education promotes early literacy and language largely as a function of effective instructional practices and implementation but enormous variation in such practices undermines the promise of early education; b) effective curricula are not enough to ensure achievement in early childhood; teachers need training to be effective in their approaches to literacy and language skill instruction and interactions with children; and c) the growing demand for early childhood educators places a premium on the value of evidence-based training linked to child performance if expanding programs are to be effective in reducing the achievement gap. This presentation reports the efficacy of a course for EC teachers designed to enhance their use of effective teaching practices. Below, we briefly discuss the context for this work. By age 5, an unacceptably large number of children in- and near-poverty are lacking in competencies fundamental to their school success (Duncan et al., 2007; Fantuzzo et al, 2007