Research on resilience (ability to overcome obstacles in life) has shown that early childhood socio-emotional competence is a strong predictor of future resilience as an adolescent and adult. Research shows that resilience is not a stable quality of individuals, but rather a changeable, dynamic pattern of functioning that is influenced by protective factors such as positive relationships, strong attachment bonds, and self-regulation skills. Early childhood intervention programs have been found to make lasting effects on the functioning of individuals into adulthood. Children who have attended preschool programs are less likely to be incarcerated, drop out of school, and placed into special education programs. (Barnett, 2002) However, research on preschool intervention has focused mostly on cognitive and adult outcomes, rather than socio-emotional competence in childhood. This study seeks to learn if preschool programs targeting disadvantaged children, is related to outcomes of protective factors and behavioral concerns, as measured the the DECA-C, an assessment tool becoming widely used to study resilient functioning in children ages 2 to 5 years. The design of this study involves two full-day, demographically-similar preschool classrooms. In addition to comparing children’s scores on the DECA instrument, teachers were audio-taped and observed for 20 hours to identify the quality of teacher-child relationships, a factor known to be very influential to child self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that children that participate in high-quality preschool intervention programs will show higher DECA scores measured over the course of one year. This research has implications for teacher-training, curriculum design, and family programs that have a stronger emphasis on socio-emotional development in low-income early childhood classrooms. This research is also specifically interested in how early childhood intervention can promote resilience to future adverse life experiences for underprivileged children.