As the federal and state governments increasingly invest in ECE programs to improve their quality, MDRC is leading several studies that conceive and measure the quality of ECE classrooms in new and innovative ways. In particular, MDRC is focusing on instructional quality by examining promising instructional practices, such as the use of rich content and individualized activity settings and the promotion of higher-order skills within a broad range of learning domains. In doing so, MDRC aims to improve the understanding of the critical aspects of instructional quality that promote school readiness among low-income children and their sustained academic success as they move through elementary school and beyond. (author abstract)