Fast Track Longitudinal Study
Fast Track is a comprehensive intervention project designed to look at how children develop across their lives by providing academic tutoring and lessons in developing social skills and regulating their behaviors. Selection began when the participants entered kindergarten and children were placed either in the intervention group or the control group. The intervention was guided by a developmental theory stating the interaction of multiple influences on the development of behavior. Fast Track identified a sample of children in kindergarten through a multistage screening of nearly 10,000 children. With four communities participating (Durham, Nashville, rural Pennsylvania, and Seattle) and with the help of researchers from Washington University, Vanderbilt University, Duke University, and Penn State University, sets of schools were matched on size, ethnic composition, and poverty, and were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. Learn more