Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Research Articles

Assessing the Causal Effect of Special Education Services on Math Achievement: A Causal Inference and Machine Learning Study

This study aims to assess the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) of receiving special education services on revised Item Response Theory (IRT) scaled math achievement test scores. By employing a methodological repertoire comprising linear regression with ordinary least squares (OLS), propensity score matching (PSM), Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART), and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), we examine the impact of these interventions. Leveraging data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten 2010-11 cohort (ECLS-K:2011), we systematically analyze the ATE of special education services on students' math achievement. The results show that all models yield negative ATE results, suggesting a deleterious effect of special education services on fifth-grade math scores. Furthermore, we employ Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to corroborate these findings, aligning with outcomes obtained from causal inference and Machine Learning (ML) based methods. This research emphasizes the importance of method diversity in educational research and highlights the need for assessments of intervention effectiveness to help educational practices and policies.

Dynamics of a dynamic interrelationship: Exploring whether bidirectional learning behaviors-achievement relations differ across student-teacher relationship profiles

Children who engage more in classroom instruction tend to also have higher levels of academic achievement relative to their peers who engage less. Although research has clearly established an association between such learning behaviors and academic achievement, the directionality of this relationship, and the possibility of bidirectional relations, remain unclear. It is possible that this lack of clarity stems from the fact that interrelationships between achievement and learning behaviors may differ across student-teacher relationship contexts. We evaluated this possibility using a large nationally representative sample of kindergarten to third grade students (N = 2010) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort of 2011. Using latent profile moderation analyses, we identified three profiles of student-teacher relationships across kindergarten through third grade students: (a) Close (68%), (b) Conflictual (16%), and (c) Uninvolved (16%). Our follow-up models identified bidirectional relations that differed across these profiles, indicating more robust bidirectional learning behavior-achievement interrelationships in the Close profile and more unidirectional achievement to learning behavior relations in the Conflictual and Uninvolved profiles. These findings illustrate how differences in environmental contexts impact the relationship between students' learning behaviors and their achievement. Future studies should consider contextual influences when investigating children's academic growth processes and developing interventions.

Academic performance in moderately and late preterm children in the United States: are they catching up?

To determine whether preterm birth of 32-36 6/7 weeks gestation affected school performance from kindergarten through fifth grade. We assessed 14350 term infants and 1195 32-36 6/7 weeks gestation infants followed in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten 2011 cohort for classroom performance in kindergarten-fifth grade. Multivariable regression was performed for comparisons, and data were weighted to be representative of the US population. Children born 35-36 6/7 weeks gestation had no significant difference in their academic scores or performance, while 32-34 6/7 weeks' children had lower academic scores and teacher performance scores when compared to term children. Children born between 32 and 36 6/7 weeks gestation had higher odds of individualized education plan needs and had learning disability diagnoses compared to term children. Children born between 32 and 34 6/7 weeks gestation have poor school performance compared to term children. Children born between 32 and 36 6/7 weeks gestation are at risk for learning disabilities and likely benefit from continued support and services to improve achievement throughout school.

An examination of the use and outcomes of readiness assessments, retention policies, and title 1 funding for kindergarten children in the United States

The current study examined the prevalence and usage of three theoretically informed school-level policies, namely the use of readiness assessments, retention policies, and Title I funds in kindergarten classrooms across the United States. Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011, we examined whether these school-level policies in kindergarten were related to children's academic learning both generally, and specifically for those who had attended pre-K. Results revealed that the use of kindergarten readiness assessments, kindergarten retention policies, and Title I funds in kindergarten were widespread across the nation. However, application and usage of these school-level policies were varied. Moreover, these school-level policies were generally not associated with children's academic learning broadly or differentially for those who had attended pre-K in the year before kindergarten. This study establishes a national snapshot of the kindergarten landscape in the United States and opens a door for future research to continue to explore how kindergarten specific school-level policies shape children's learning.

Number of Siblings and Mental Health Among Adolescents: Evidence From the U.S. and China

A growing number of children are being raised with few or no siblings yet the consequences of this seismic demographic shift in family forms are not well understood. We investigate this question in the U.S. and China because previous studies highlight how contextual features can play an important role shaping how siblings matter. Our Chinese analyses draw on more than 9,400 eighth graders from the China Education Panel Study (CEPS). In the U.S., we analyze over 9,100 American eighth graders from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort of 1998 (ECLS-K:98), where our data allow us to consider multiple features of the sibship structure (e.g., size, sex composition, and density). We find that number of siblings is negatively associated with mental health in both China and the U.S., although the details of this pattern (non-linear association, sisters versus brothers, and closely versus widely spaced siblings) vary.

Family-School Connections, Early Learning, and Socioeconomic Inequality in the US

Policy interest in parental involvement in the U.S. has rapidly grown, necessitating a deeper understanding of how families and schools can partner to promote learning and reduce performance disparities in this country. Matching multidisciplinary theory with growth curve analyses of American children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, this study found that family-school engagement (in which school personnel and parents reached out to each other) and family-school symmetry (in which parents and teachers constructed parallel learning environments) were associated with greater reading gains during the primary grades. Socioeconomically disadvantaged children appeared more at risk from one-sided engagement, and their more advantaged peers appeared to benefit more from symmetry.

Self-regulation in elementary school: Do teacher-reported effortful control and directly assessed executive function codevelop?

Self-regulation (SR) is a central developmental task of early childhood and is considered essential for children's success during elementary school. It has typically been conceptualized as effortful control (EC) or executive function (EF), drawing respectively on research traditions in temperament and cognitive development. These aspects of SR are theorized to emerge from an intertwined developmental process, but the nature of their relation throughout elementary school has not been established. In particular, it is not known whether ratings given by teachers based on behavioral observations align with those directly assessed via novel performance tasks. This article addresses this gap in the knowledge by examining the codevelopment of EC and EF with regard to intraindividual trajectories of change. Drawing on a national sample (N = 8,742) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 2010-2011, two longitudinal modeling approaches (parallel-process latent growth curves with structured residuals, Curran et al., 2014; multidimensional growth mixture models, Wickrama et al., 2021) were applied to examine children's SR between second and fifth grade. Overall, results do not reveal a systematic codevelopmental relation between EC and EF when accounting for intraindividual processes. Findings are discussed with regard to developmental theory and application. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A longitudinal examination of parallel growth and reciprocal changes in teacher-student relationships and academic achievement.

There is a compendium of research to support the premise that positive teacher-student relationships (TSR) set the stage for children's success via classroom engagement, social functioning, and academic skills development. Although studies have demonstrated reciprocal associations between TSR and academic achievement, inferences that stem from prior study results are limited due to methodological designs that fall short in capturing directionality in developmental change processes. To address gaps in the literature and improve our understanding of the complex associations between TSR and academic achievement, we analyzed the codevelopment of TSR and achievement in reading and mathematics using dual change score models (DCSM), a type of latent change score model, focusing on the associations between longitudinal trajectories of TSR-achievement pairs and on the reciprocal prediction of latent changes between each wave of measurement. We examined data from a large-scale, nationally representative study (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of 2010-2011). Results of our DCSM, contrary to prior findings, demonstrate that variability in the ratings of TSR did not predict subsequent latent changes in reading or mathematics achievement. Likewise, the variability in achievement scores did not predict subsequent latent changes in ratings of TSR. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Untangling the relationship between BMI and academic achievement in the elementary years.

Although the negative relationship between BMI and academic achievement (AA) is well documented, no prior studies have investigated the potential bi-directional relationship between BMI and AA in childhood. We investigated the longitudinal relationships between child BMI and AA across different school subjects (reading, math and science) and sexes. To do so, we employed the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study kindergarten cohort (2011), which is a nationally representative sample of American children who entered kindergarten in 2010-2011. We utilised the kindergarten-fifth grade longitudinal sample (n 17480) and applied cross-lagged panel models with fixed effects to address unobserved heterogeneity. Our results showed significant but small reciprocal relationships between BMI and math/science achievement for girls (n 8540) (year-to-year effect sizes ranged from -0·01 to -0·04), but not for reading. In contrast, we did not find any evidence of reciprocal relationships between BMI and AA for boys (n 8940). Our results reveal that early weight status and academic performance may be jointly responsible for a vicious cycle of poor AA and unhealthy weight. Breaking the cycle from AA may complement existing obesity prevention strategies, particularly for girls in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field.

Spanking and parental verbal aggression during early childhood: Association with later academic achievement and the mediating role of executive function

AbstractSpanking and parental verbal aggression are potentially toxic stressors that can negatively affect children's academic achievement by disrupting mental skills like executive function. Yet little empirical evidence has been provided for this mediating pathway. This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of 2010–2011 (n = 11,421) to examine the associations between early childhood exposure to spanking and parental verbal aggression and subsequent academic achievement. We also investigated the mechanism for these associations by exploring the mediating role of executive function within those associations. Findings revealed that spanking and parental verbal aggression in kindergarten and first grade were negatively associated with reading and math scores in fifth grade, controlling for demographics and initial academic performance. Executive function (i.e., inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory) accounted for more than half (50%–57%) and more than one fourth (24%–31%) of the total effects of spanking and verbal aggression on academic achievement, respectively. Findings provide important evidence for early intervention programs aiming to promote children's academic achievement and executive function by interfering or preventing harsh discipline.Highlights We examined the pathway from spanking and verbal aggression in early childhood to academic achievement in later school years through executive function. Path analysis results show executive function was a significant mediator in the negative associations between academic achievement in fifth grade and early exposure to spanking and aggression. Besides avoiding harsh parenting, intervention programs to support child academic achievement could also target promoting executive function development.

How Do Combinations of Transition Activities Available to Children and Families Predict Successful Kindergarten Transitions?

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The transition to kindergarten can be challenging for children and families. Research shows that some transition activities implemented by elementary schools can have small positive associations with children’s outcomes. Examining the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 dataset (N= 13813), we explored whether children and families had access to different combinations of transition activities and whether those combinations were associated with child and family outcomes. Using latent class analysis, we found four distinct groups based on teacher and parent reports. Two groups had opportunities for engaging in many transition activities, while the other two groups had fewer transition activities offered – particularly face-to-face experiences. Children from low-income households were more likely to experience fewer types of transition activities, and children from higher-income households were more likely to experience a more comprehensive set of transition activities. Group membership predicted children’s initial adjustment to kindergarten, parent involvement in school, and parent satisfaction with the elementary school. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that more work is needed to develop policies and practices that ensure children and families with low incomes have transition supports available to them. This research also highlights the importance of considering how transition supports benefit parents, not just children.

Nationally Representative Evidence on the Association Between Preschool and School-Based Parental Involvement in Elementary School

Increasing school-based parental involvement—which has links to improved student outcomes like academic achievement—is a core area of focus in many preschool programs. Yet, little research to date has examined what the association is between attending preschool and school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. This study addresses this gap by drawing on nationally-representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010 to 2011 ( N = 18,174) to examine the association between preschool attendance and measures of school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. The findings reveal consistent positive associations between preschool attendance and school-based parental involvement. There is little evidence of variation in associations based on the type (e.g., private and Head Start) or location (e.g., center-based and school-based) of the preschool program.

When Do Gender Differences in Academic Achievement Originate? Examining Preschoolers and Early School Children Longitudinally

The skewed emphases on central tendency and dispersion statistics often provide an estimated summary of scores and variances of the overall distribution. Studies may therefore overlook significant variations across these distributions' different percentiles. This study examined gender academic disparities in STEM and reading subjects of the USA sample (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten, ECLS-K:2011). The Quantile Regression (QR) model was utilized and found academic gender differences across school subjects, students’ academic grades, and proficiency levels. There were often more differences in the extreme tails of the distribution than around the mean. The gender gap started with the top students in kindergarten and quickly spread throughout the distribution and primary school grades. Boys at the extreme ends of the distribution had the lowest reading scores by a significant margin. However, boys consistently rank among the top students in math and science. Early-age attention and intervention are needed to avert subsequent-grade academic achievement inequalities.

Effects of Having an IEP on the Reading Achievement of Students With Learning Disabilities and Speech or Language Impairments

The extent to which reading achievement is causally impacted by eligibility for special education services due to a learning disability (LD) or speech or language impairment (SLI) is currently unclear. In this registered report, we analyzed national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort of 2010–2011 (ECLS-K: 2011) using student-fixed effects with a lagged dependent variable estimated by maximum likelihood to assess (a) whether being assigned an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and so receiving special education services affects individually measured reading achievement for students with LD or SLI ( N = 2,400) and (b) heterogeneity in the effect of having an IEP for different demographic groups. We observed small, negative effects in early grades ( d = −0.09) but larger, positive effects in later grades ( ds = 0.29–0.67). These more negative early effects primarily occurred among students identified with SLI, male students, and students who faced socioeconomic barriers. Effects were more positive for students who are Black, Hispanic, or who exited special education.

Children’s Academic Achievement and Behavior Problems at the Intersection of Gender and Family Environment

This article investigates whether gender differences in children’s math, reading, and behavior problems vary across mothers’ education and family structure. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-Children and Young Adults (N > 6,200; age range = 5–14; 51 percent female; 30 percent Black, 20 percent Hispanic, and 50 percent other ethnic backgrounds), we hypothesized that boys growing up with less educated mothers and in single-parent families may lag behind girls more significantly in reading and behavior problems. They may be less ahead in math than their peers from more advantaged backgrounds. Our findings demonstrate this heterogeneity of gender differences by maternal education but not by family structure. This may indicate that cultural norms associated with gender play a significant role in explaining the observed heterogeneity across family circumstances. We replicated these findings for academic achievement using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class 1998–1999.

The role of executive function in shaping the longitudinal stability of math achievement during early elementary grades

There is substantial rank-order stability in children's mathematical skills throughout development. Research has shown that children who enter school with relatively low math skills are unlikely to catch up to peers who begin kindergarten with more developed math skills. Emerging evidence suggests that children's executive function skills might play an important role in shaping the rate and stability of mathematical skill development during early development. Therefore in the present study, we used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort 2010-11—a prospective sample of over 18,000 children in the United States—to examine executive function as an antecedent to characteristics of growth in math skills and to test whether executive function moderates the longitudinal stability of math achievement from kindergarten through second grade. Latent growth curve models reveal that executive function is related to not only the level of math skills at school entry but also to the rate of growth in early elementary years. Moreover, we found that executive function moderated the stability of math achievement from kindergarten to second grade, suggesting that early executive function skills can serve as a compensatory mechanism for children who enter school with lower levels of mathematical skills. These findings might have important implications for narrowing gaps in math achievement during early elementary school.

Estimating the co-development of executive functions and math achievement throughout the elementary grades using a cross-lagged panel model with fixed effects

Executive functioning (EF) is associated with children’s math skill development, both concurrently and longitudinally. However, it is not known how components of EF might be related to mathematics skills and vice versa over the course of elementary school. The present study addresses this issue by investigating relations between math achievement and two key components of EF -- working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF) -- from kindergarten to 5th grade, using the large-scale nationally representative dataset (N = 18,174) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K: 2011). Results from cross-lagged panel models with fixed effects support a transactional theoretical model, demonstrating a long-term reciprocal relationship between WM and math achievement from kindergarten to 5th grade and between CF and math achievement from 2nd grade to 5th grade. However, we found that reciprocal relations decrease as children grow older, suggesting that their math achievement relies less on EF and more on prior math knowledge over time.

Semiparametric partial linear modeling of risk factors for ear infections: the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (ECLS-K:2011) ascertained timing of ear infections within age specified intervals and parent's/caregiver's report of medically diagnosed hearing loss. In this nationally representative, school-based sample of children followed from kindergarten entry through fifth grade, academic performance in reading, mathematics, and science was assessed longitudinally. Prior investigations of this ECLS-K:2011 cohort showed that age has a non-linear, monotonically increasing functional relationship with academic performance. Because of this knowledge, a semiparametric partial linear model is proposed, in which the effect of age is modeled by an unknown monotonically increasing function along with other regression parameters. The parameters are estimated by a semiparametric maximum likelihood estimator. A test of a constant effect of age is also proposed. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, as compared with the commonly used linear model; the former outperforms the latter based on several criteria. We then analyzed ECLS-K:2011 data to compare results of the partial linear parametric model estimation with that of classical linear regression models.

Pre‐K attendance and social development: The moderating role of kindergarten classroom experiences

AbstractMany studies have established that there are important life‐long benefits of attending pre‐K. At the same time, recent research suggests that pre‐K attenders may enter and exit kindergarten exhibiting less optimal social and learning behaviours than their non‐attending peers, and little attention has been paid to what factors may contribute to these patterns of development after children enter kindergarten. The current study will address these gaps in knowledge using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 to examine the social and learning behaviours of pre‐K attenders and nonattenders at kindergarten entry and exit. Moreover, we will determine the extent to which children's social and behavioural skills change at differential rates across the kindergarten year as a function of pre‐K attendance and their kindergarten classroom experiences, with a focus on the academic rigour, activity settings and teacher‐student relationships.

Does artistic activity help kids avoid obesity? Emergent considerations in the ecology of childhood BMI

Although the positive relationship between arts engagement and mental health is well documented, arts participation may be an emergent factor in the ecology of childhood obesity. Prior research hypothesized several potential health benefits of arts participation including healthy diet and lifestyles, but the available evidence is mainly limited to cross-sectional covariate-adjustment models for the adult population. We employed a newly released panel of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K: 2011), which is a nationally representative sample of American children who entered kindergarten in 2010–2011 (n = 15,820). We applied both dynamic panel models with Maximum Likelihood estimation as well as difference-in-differences models to address unobserved heterogeneity. Our results showed that childhood arts activity is significantly associated with reduced weight status in elementary schooling. In particular, arts participation in elementary schooling reduced the risk of being overweight on a year-to-year basis; the effect size was between 12% and 23% of a SD of BMI for all children. Arts participation at kindergarten also had a significant relationship with cumulative changes in BMI over the course of elementary schooling, especially for female and White female children (about 22% and 32% of a SD of BMI). There are considerable arts participation gaps between families and regions, and these early artistic experiences appear to affect the risk of being overweight. This suggests the possibility of a larger social reproduction process via an ecological pathway that might be easily overlooked—the accumulation of arts experience and concurrent health inequalities in childhood.