Portia Miller

Timing, extent, and type of child care and children's behavioral functioning in kindergarten.

Prior research has unearthed a link between early education and care (EEC) experiences and worse behavioral functioning for children, yet the research has not clearly delineated whether this link is due to early entry into care (timing), extensive hours of care (extent), or use of center-based care (type). Using a nationally representative sample of children followed from infancy through kindergarten (N ≈ 6,000), we assessed links between EEC timing, extent, and type, and childrens kindergarten functioning. Both center-based and full-time preschool predicted heightened behavior problems and more limited learning behaviors in kindergarten, with care type and extent functioning additively. EEC during infancy and toddlerhood showed limited independent links with childrens later functioning, but it exacerbated negative associations between preschool and childrens kindergarten behaviors.

Family income and early achievement across the urban-rural continuum.

Rural and suburban children account for the majority of poor children in the United States. Yet, most research examining povertys associations with child development is focused on urban samples. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 6,600), this study examines whether the form and magnitude of incomes relationship with early achievement differ across the urban-rural continuum. Results suggest that there are urbanicity-related differences in the functional form of the association between income and early achievement, with nonlinear associations in urban and suburban areas and a linear relationship in rural areas. The magnitude of the association between income and early reading and math skills also differs across the urban-rural continuum, such that income increases are related to the greatest improvements in early academic skills in large urban areas and only slight improvements in rural areas.

Center-Based Preschool and School Readiness Skills of Children From Immigrant Families

Research Findings: Children from immigrant families are more likely than children of native parents to start school with fewer of the academic skills that are important for long-term success, although evidence on behavioral skills is mixed. Center-based early education and care (EEC) programs, which have been linked to improvements in academic functioning in disadvantaged samples, may serve as a potent resource for children from immigrant families, but important questions remain about their benefits and drawbacks for academic and behavioral outcomes across the diverse population of children from immigrant families. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 6,550), this study examined prospective associations between center-based EEC at age 4 and school readiness skills at age 5 among children from immigrant families. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that center-based EEC is associated with heightened math, reading, and expressive language skills and also with lower parent-rated externalizing behaviors for children of immigrants in comparison to children of native parents. Results also revealed heterogeneity in associations between center-based EEC attendance and school readiness skills among children of immigrants based on parental region of origin, household language use, and the language used in EEC settings.

Pre-K classroom-economic composition and children’s early academic development.

There are currently 2 principal models of publicly funded prekindergarten programs (pre-K): targeted pre-K, which is means-tested, and universal pre-K. These programs often differ in terms of the economic characteristics of the preschoolers enrolled. Studies have documented links between individual achievement in school-age children and the economic composition of classroom peers, but little research has revealed whether these associations hold in pre-K classrooms. Using data from 2,966 children in 709 pre-K classrooms, we examined whether classroom-economic composition (i.e., average family income, standard deviation of incomes, and percentage of students from low-income households) relates to achievement in preschool. Furthermore, this study investigated whether associations between classroom-economic composition and achievement differed depending on initial academic skill level. Increased economic advantage in pre-K classrooms positively predicted spring achievement. Specifically, increasing aggregate classroom income between

Early Academic Skills and Childhood Experiences across the Urban-Rural Continuum.

22,500 and

Center-Based Child Care and Cognitive Skills Development: Importance of Timing and Household Resources.

62,500 was related to improvements in math scores. Increases in the proportion of children from low-income households in the classroom were negatively related to both math and literacy and language skills when increases occurred between 52.5% and 72.5% and 25% and 45%, respectively. There was limited evidence that links between classroom-economic composition and achievement differed depending on initial skill level. Results suggest that economically integrated pre-K programs may be more beneficial to preschoolers from low-income households’ achievement than classrooms targeting economically disadvantaged children.