Elizabeth P. Pungello

Early Childhood Education: Young Adult Outcomes From the Abecedarian Project

The high-risk infants who initially enrolled in the Abecedarian Project, a longitudinal prospective study of the benefits of early childhood educational intervention within a child care setting, were followed up as young adults (age 21 years). One hundred-eleven infants were in the original sample; 104 took part in the follow up. Treatment was provided in 2 phases: during preschool and in the primary grades. Participants received either both phases, 1, but not both, or neither. Assignment to groups was random. Those in the preschool treatment group earned significantly higher scores on intellectual and academic measures as young adults, attained significantly more years of total education, were more likely to attend a 4-year college, and showed a reduction in teenaged pregnancy compared with preschool controls. Preschool treatment was associated with educationally meaningful effect sizes on reading and math skills that persisted into adulthood. School-age treatment served to maintain preschool benefits for reading, but by itself, the effects were generally weaker than those of the preschool program. Statistically significant differences in the attainment of full economic independence were not found at this stage, but would not be expected among young adults still attending school. The incidence of self-reported violence and lawbreaking was not significantly reduced, although trends in the data favored the treated group. The reported incidence of marijuana use was significantly less among treated individuals. The positive findings with respect to academic skills and increased years of post-secondary education support policies favoring early childhood programs for poor children.

The development of cognitive and academic abilities: Growth curves from an early childhood educational experiment.

In the Abecedarian Project, a prospective randomized trial, the effects of early educational intervention on patterns of cognitive and academic development among poor, minority children were examined. Participants in the follow-up were 104 of the original 111 participants in the study (98% African American). Early treatment was full-time, high-quality, educational child care from infancy to age 5. Cognitive test scores collected between the ages of 3 and 21 years and academic test scores from 8 to 21 years were analyzed. Treated children, on average, attained higher scores on both cognitive and academic tests, with moderate to large treatment effect sizes observed through age 21. Preschool cognitive gains accounted for a substantial portion of treatment differences in the development of reading and math skills. Intensive early childhood education can have long-lasting effects on cognitive and academic development.

Early childhood investments substantially boost adult health.

Look After the Child Investing in children has been demonstrated to improve their lives, both during the school-age years and afterward, as assessed by outcomes such as employment and income; furthermore, these investments often help those in the most need. Campbell et al. (p. 1478) report that these investments can also lead to improved adult health. Results from a randomized and intensive intervention that involved 122 children in four cohorts recruited in the 1970s suggest that full-day child care for the first 5 years of life has produced adults in their 30s with better metabolic and cardiovascular health measures. Large investments in preschool children’s education, health care, and nutrition provide long-term health benefits. High-quality early childhood programs have been shown to have substantial benefits in reducing crime, raising earnings, and promoting education. Much less is known about their benefits for adult health. We report on the long-term health effects of one of the oldest and most heavily cited early childhood interventions with long-term follow-up evaluated by the method of randomization: the Carolina Abecedarian Project (ABC). Using recently collected biomedical data, we find that disadvantaged children randomly assigned to treatment have significantly lower prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in their mid-30s. The evidence is especially strong for males. The mean systolic blood pressure among the control males is 143 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), whereas it is only 126 mm Hg among the treated. One in four males in the control group is affected by metabolic syndrome, whereas none in the treatment group are affected. To reach these conclusions, we address several statistical challenges. We use exact permutation tests to account for small sample sizes and conduct a parallel bootstrap confidence interval analysis to confirm the permutation analysis. We adjust inference to account for the multiple hypotheses tested and for nonrandom attrition. Our evidence shows the potential of early life interventions for preventing disease and promoting health.

The effects of socioeconomic status, race, and parenting on language development in early childhood.

The authors examined the associations between socioeconomic status (SES), race, maternal sensitivity, and maternal negative-intrusive behaviors and language development in a sample selected to reduce the typical confound between race and SES (n = 146). Mother-child interactions were observed at 12 and 24 months (coded by randomly assigned African American and European American coders); language abilities were assessed at 18, 24, 30, and 36 months. For receptive language, race was associated with ability level, and maternal sensitivity and negative-intrusive parenting were related to rate of growth. For expressive communication, race, SES, and maternal sensitivity were associated with rate of growth; race moderated the association between negative-intrusive parenting and rate of growth such that the relation was weaker for African American than for European American children. The results highlight the importance of sensitive parenting and suggest that the association between negative-intrusive parenting and language development may depend upon family context. Future work is needed concerning the race differences found, including examining associations with other demographic factors and variations in language input experienced by children, using culturally and racially validated indices of language development.

Adult Outcomes as a Function of an Early Childhood Educational Program: An Abecedarian Project Follow-Up

Adult (age 30) educational, economic, and social-emotional adjustment outcomes were investigated for participants in the Abecedarian Project, a randomized controlled trial of early childhood education for children from low-income families. Of the original 111 infants enrolled (98% African American), 101 took part in the age 30 follow-up. Primary indicators of educational level, economic status, and social adjustment were examined as a function of early childhood treatment. Treated individuals attained significantly more years of education, but income-to-needs ratios and criminal involvement did not vary significantly as a function of early treatment. A number of other indicators were described for each domain. Overall, the findings provide strong evidence for educational benefits, mixed evidence for economic benefits, and little evidence for treatment-related social adjustment outcomes. Implications for public policy are discussed.

Environmental risk factors and children's achievement from middle childhood to early adolescence.

This study examined the long-term effects of low family income and stressful life events on math and reading achievement test percentile scores for 1,253 children. Four birth cohorts were followed for 2-4 years so that achievement across Grades 2 through 7 could be examined. Two types of analytic models, the multiplicative risk factor model and the cumulative risk model, were used. The moderating effects of ethnicity and gender were also explored. The results suggest that low income and minority ethnic status are significant risk factors for childrens achievement. No systematic evidence was found for a large impact of life events on reading achievement, and the effects of such events on math achievement appear to be best understood as part of the larger context of multiple risk factors during childhood. The findings suggest a differential impact of risk factors on math achievement compared with reading achievement.

Early Educational Intervention, Early Cumulative Risk, and the Early Home Environment as Predictors of Young Adult Outcomes Within a High‐Risk Sample

The extent to which early educational intervention, early cumulative risk, and the early home environment were associated with young adult outcomes was investigated in a sample of 139 young adults (age 21) from high-risk families enrolled in randomized trials of early intervention. Positive effects of treatment were found for education attainment, attending college, and skilled employment; negative effects of risk were found for education attainment, graduating high school, being employed, and avoiding teen parenthood. The home mediated the effects of risk for graduating high school, but not being employed for teen parenthood. Evidence for moderated mediation was found for educational attainment; the home mediated the association between risk and educational attainment for the control group, but not the treated group.

The Effect of an Early Education Program on Adult Health: The Carolina Abecedarian Project Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES We explored whether a successful randomized controlled trial of early education, the Carolina Abecedarian Project (ABC), which enrolled infants from 1972 to 1977 at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, improved health outcomes and behaviors by 21 years of age. METHODS ABC randomized 111 infants to receive an intensive early education program or nutritional supplements and parental counseling alone; participants have been followed to the present day. We examined the effect of ABC on health outcomes and behavioral risk factors when participants were aged 21 years, and then explored the mediators of this relationship. RESULTS Relative to the control group, the ABC treatment group was previously found to have improved cognition and educational attainment. We found that the intervention also improved heath (P = .05) and health behaviors (P = .03) when participants were aged 21 years. These improvements in behaviors were not mediated by IQ, math and reading scores at 15 years of age, educational attainment, or health insurance. CONCLUSIONS Effective early education programs may improve health and reduce risky health behaviors in adulthood.

The Development of Perceived Scholastic Competence and Global Self-Worth in African American Adolescents from Low-Income Families: The Roles of Family Factors, Early Educational Intervention, and Academic Experience.

Early childhood and concurrent factors associated with adolescents’self-perceptions of scholastic competence and global self-worth were examined longitudinally (at ages 12 and 15) among 88 adolescents from low-income families (87 African American). General linear mixed model analyses indicated that family conflict in adolescence, early childhood educational intervention, and academic achievement were predictors of perceived scholastic competence in adolescence, that the effects of the early home environment were moderated by early childhood educational intervention, and that the effects of the early home environment were stronger in earlier adolescence than in middle adolescence. Perceptions of scholastic, social, and physical competence, as well as the adolescents’ perceptions of concurrent family conflict, were significant predictors of global self-worth. This work adds to the understanding of the development of self-concepts by highlighting the influence of both early and concurrent factors on adolescents’views of themselves.

Ethnic Variations of Pathways Linking Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Preacademic Skills in a Nationally Representative Sample

Research Findings: Grounded in the investment model and informed by the integrative theory of the study of minority children, this study used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort data set, a nationally representative sample of young children, to investigate whether the association between socioeconomic status (family income and maternal education) and childrens preacademic skills (receptive language, expressive language, literacy, numeracy skills) as mediated by parenting (learning materials, language stimulation, and outside activities) varies across Euro-American, African American, Hispanic, and Asian children. Results indicated that in general, language stimulation and outside activities were the most consistent mediators for Euro-Americans, learning materials was the most consistent mediator for African Americans, learning materials and language stimulation were the most consistent mediators for Hispanics, and learning materials and outside activities were the most consistent mediators for Asians. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that how certain parenting behaviors are interpreted may vary by cultural context and thus how such parenting behaviors mediate the associations between socioeconomic status and preacademic skills outcomes may vary by cultural group as well. Thus, these findings have important implications for both future research and public policy. These results add to the growing literature demonstrating the necessity to consider parenting through the perspective of the majority culture not only when conducting research but also when providing programs for families from a variety of cultural backgrounds.