Government commitment to early-life education intervention has contributed to human capital accumulation and economic growth in developing countries. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, ...we investigate the effects of the primary school consolidation program on children’s cognitive development and behavioral performance. Using a cohort difference-in-differences model, we find that rural children who experienced school consolidation performed better in cognitive tests and had higher levels of openness of the Big Five personality traits, but lower levels of extraversion. Further analysis suggests that early-life education intervention generates long-term effects. Those who experienced school consolidation had higher educational attainment, better occupational fit, and more consistent independent learning, but difficulties in interpersonal interaction. Our findings imply that early-life education intervention should pay more attention to the cultivation of socio-emotional abilities.
•Data drawn from the nationally representative ECLS-K: 2011.•Compared children of Hispanic immigrants to peers differing by ethnicity and immigration status.•Cognitive stimulation predicted reading ...and Approaches to Learning.•Center-based care, compared to other arrangement types, predicted school readiness.
The present study estimated the independent and joint influence of early home and education contexts on three school readiness outcomes for children with Hispanic immigrant parents. These associations were compared to those for children whose parents differed by ethnicity and immigration status − children of non-Hispanic immigrants and children of Hispanic native-born parents − to determine if associations were distinct for children of Hispanic immigrants. Data were drawn from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (ECLS-K: 2011) (N ≈ 3480). Outcome measures at kindergarten entry included direct assessments of math and reading skills, as well as teacher reports of approaches to learning (ATL). Results indicated that parental provision of cognitive stimulation and center-based ECE both predicted outcomes among children of Hispanic immigrants and their peers, with some variation in patterns by developmental domain and subgroup. Specifically, participation in center-based care predicted math and reading scores for children of Hispanic immigrant and Hispanic native-born parents, but not children of non-Hispanic immigrants. Furthermore, center-based care participation predicted ATL scores more strongly for children of Hispanic immigrants than their peers. Some trend-level evidence of moderation of early home and education environments emerged, again with patterns varying by outcome and subgroup. Findings highlight the importance of policies that seek to enhance both the home and ECE environments for young children with Hispanic immigrant parents and their peers.
Disproportionality and inequity exist in the special education services that children receive based on factors such as race, geographic location, and resources of the school system. ...Overrepresentation and underrepresentation are both prevalent issues and can vary by region or school district and are likely due to multiple factors. Although several areas of special education services have been examined critically, one missing piece in the literature seems to be the writing and revising of the Individualized Education Program (IEP). The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature and background of special education services and the IEP, followed by an examination of the required portions of the IEP form and where the existing law might allow for implicit biases, specifically racism, to surface in the development of this program and its implementation.
•Promoting curiosity in schools might support motivation and learning.•Little is known about how often curiosity promotion occurs.•Frequency of curiosity-promoting instructional practices were ...measured.•Curiosity promotion differed slightly between preschool math and science lessons.•Curiosity promotion during preschool lessons was infrequently observed.
Curiosity is an important driver of student's learning and school is a promising venue for promoting curiosity through social interactions between teachers and students. However, some research suggests that curiosity in school may decline with grade, perhaps due to educational practices (Engel, 2011). The current study assessed the frequency of curiosity promoting and suppressing instructional practices in 269 preschool math and science lessons across 72 classrooms/teachers (97% female, 80% White), exploring differences between subject and associations with student outcomes (N = 456 students; 54.1 months, 49% female, 64% White). Consistent with prior research, few instances of curiosity-promoting instruction were observed. Although the levels of promotion were similar between math and science, some differences in curiosity promotion were observed, with more variation in curiosity promotion between lessons than between teachers. Curiosity promotion was not associated with child math or science outcomes, but curiosity suppression was negatively associated with child task orientation. The current study demonstrates that it is possible to rigorously measure curiosity promotion in classrooms, and future work should examine strategies for encouraging curiosity promotion.
•We explore micro-features of quality across early education and care in Massachusetts.•Children in middle-income families are the least likely to attend formal settings.•Public school ...prekindergarten show relative strengths on some indicators.•Quality measures did not explain differences in child skills across settings.
This paper uses rich, representative data from the Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H) to examine the landscape of early education and care among three- and four-year-olds in one state. We examine the distribution of children in setting types, taking socio-demographic characteristics of children and families into account, investigate how micro-features of quality differ across early education and care setting types (i.e., formal and informal settings), and explore whether variation in micro-features of quality is associated with children's language, literacy, math, executive functions, and social-emotional skills across the setting types. To address these aims, we employ measures of quality that capture detailed information about adult–child interactions and the nature of daily activities. Overall, we found a slight majority of three- and four-year-olds in the state were enrolled in formal settings, with fewer children enrolled in informal settings or parental care only. We observed different patterns of enrollment in formal and informal care settings based on child and family characteristics; younger children were less likely than older children to attend formal care settings, and middle-income families were less likely to use formal care relative to lower-income and higher-income families. Moderate differences in quality across setting types were observed. Children's skills also varied across setting types. However, controlling quality features did not change these patterns, and child and family characteristics accounted for much of the variation in child skills between setting types.
•Students’ early learning gains from Pre-K often converge with similar students who did not attend Pre-K in early elementary school.•We find that skill heterogeneity does indeed moderate student ...learning gains over the kindergarten year, particularly for students who attended Pre-K.•We provide evidence that Pre-K attendees scoring higher at the beginning of kindergarten, relative to the average score in their classroom, made smaller achievement gains throughout their kindergarten year.•These findings have important implications for Pre-K effectiveness research and the educational environments that subsequently sustain or constrain Pre-K's longitudinal effects
Students’ gains from Pre-K converge with similar students who did not attend Pre-K in elementary school. One theory for convergence is that students who attend Pre-K enter kindergarten classrooms that are skill heterogeneous, and these students are positioned near the top of the classroom skill distribution. Kindergarten teachers, however, focus their instruction on students toward the bottom of the skill distribution, which generates observed convergence. We explore this theory by analyzing data from six rural school districts in North Carolina (N = 655, aged 4–6, 51 % female, 77 % non-White). We find mixed evidence in support of this hypothesis. Our measures of kindergarten classroom heterogeneity were inconsistently related to skill convergence based on both the outcome measure and the specific construction of the heterogeneity measure, but all significant associations were in the predicted direction.
This current study shows the range of culturally-shaped, storytelling patterns present in three multicultural, multilingual preschool classrooms serving children from families with lower ...socioeconomic status in the U.S. Stories were collected in the context of a small group, child-led storytelling activity called story circles. Results show that story circles encourage diverse story forms and topics that reflect interdependent conceptions of self in young learners. In their stories, young children demonstrate the early emerging potential for cultivating linguistic and cultural dexterity in early childhood by surfacing and centering multiple meaning-making patterns in the classroom, rather than solely topic-centered, linear, temporal stories that predominate in U.S. schools.
•Korean universal childcare subsidy reduceed total child-rearing costs but not out-of-pocket childcare expense and affected childcare cost differently by mothers' working status.
This study aims to ...investigate the effects of universal child care and early education subsidy on child-rearing cost burdens, and examine the extent to which this association differs depending on mothers’ working status in South Korea. Using the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) and a fixed effects panel model, we found that child care and early education subsidy usage is associated with a reduction of total child-rearing costs, but not much out-of-pocket child care expenses. Furthermore, the introduction of universal child care and early education subsidy is likely to benefit households with part-time working mothers in terms of reducing total child-rearing cost burden, but it increased out-of-pocket child care cost in households where mothers were not working. The child care and early education subsidy achieved the aim of reducing household financial burden associated with parenthood, and enabling parents to combine their paid work with parenthood—in particular for mothers with part-time jobs. However, full-time working mothers are limited in enjoying the benefits of the subsidy. Our findings regarding South Korea’s child care and early education system provide important insights for emerging and developing economies that are increasingly showing an interest in instituting new child care and early education systems.
Since April 1, 2022, all children in Bulgaria attend nursery and kindergarten completely free of charge. This paper makes the argument that without improving the quality of kindergarten services, ...policy gains toward expanding access remain fragile. The public early education system will continue to be challenged to realize the full potential of its impact. Strengthening demand for high quality kindergartens could bolster efforts to enhance the supply of such services. This could be achieved by reframing the role of kindergartens to society, improving the capacity of parents to voice their demands, and creating opportunities for them to do so. Moreover, civil society could encourage the establishment and communication to the public of process quality measurement in an effort to secure a broad foundation of support for greater investment in early education.
