Variations in early life home environment quality and children's achievement

Abstract

The current study examines to what extent naturally occurring variation in the timing of home environment quality during the first five years of life differentially predicts achievement before school entry and at the end-of-elementary school. Data from two longitudinal studies were used: the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study (EHSRE; N = 2977) and the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1364). Across both datasets, there was support for later time-specific variations in home quality during the first five years as relatively more important for school readiness. In the EHSRE dataset only, there was support for earlier time-specific variations in home quality during the first five years as relatively more important for end-of-elementary school achievement. Implications for the developmental timing of variations in home environmental quality over the first five years and children's achievement are discussed.