Dataset Information

Head start participation and school readiness: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort.

ABSTRACT: Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ? 6,950), a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001, we examined school readiness (academic skills and socioemotional well-being) at kindergarten entry for children who attended Head Start compared with those who experienced other types of child care (prekindergarten, other center-based care, other nonparental care, or parental care). Using propensity score matching methods and ordinary least squares regressions with rich controls, we found that Head Start participants had higher early reading and math scores than children in other nonparental care or parental care but also higher levels of conduct problems than those in parental care. Head Start participants had lower early reading scores compared with children in prekindergarten and had no differences in any outcomes compared with children in other center-based care. Head Start benefits were more pronounced for children who had low initial cognitive ability or parents with low levels of education or who attended Head Start for more than 20 hr per week.

SUBMITTER: Lee R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4050643 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Head start participation and school readiness: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort.

Lee RaeHyuck R Zhai Fuhua F Brooks-Gunn Jeanne J Han Wen-Jui WJ Waldfogel Jane J

Developmental psychology 20130325 1

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ≈ 6,950), a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001, we examined school readiness (academic skills and socioemotional well-being) at kindergarten entry for children who attended Head Start compared with those who experienced other types of child care (prekindergarten, other center-based care, other nonparental care, or parental care). Using propensity score matching methods and ordinary least squares regress ...[more]

PMID: 23527496

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Project description:Eviction affects a substantial share of U.S. children, but its effects on child health are largely unknown. Our objectives were to examine how eviction relates to 1) children's health and sociodemographic characteristics at birth, 2) neighborhood poverty and food security at age 5, and 3) obesity in later childhood and adolescence. We analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal cohort of children born in 20 large U.S. cities. Children who lived in rental housing with known eviction histories and measured outcomes were included. We compared maternal and infant health and sociodemographic characteristics at the time of the child's birth. We then characterized the associations between eviction and neighborhood poverty and food security at age 5 and obesity at ages 5, 9, and 15 using log binomial regression with inverse probability of treatment and censoring weights. Of the 2556 children included in objective 1, 164 (6%) experienced eviction before age 5. Children who experienced eviction had lower household income and maternal education and were more likely to be born to mothers who were unmarried, smoked during pregnancy, and had mental health problems. Evicted and non-evicted children were equally likely to experience high neighborhood poverty at age 5 (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.03, 95% CI 0.82, 1.29) but had an increased prevalence of low food security (PR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.46, 3.19). Obesity prevalence did not differ at age 5 (PR = 1.01; 95% CI 0.58, 1.75), 9 (PR = 1.08; 95% CI 0.715, 1.55); or 15 (PR = 1.05; 95% CI 0.51, 2.18). In conclusion, children who went on to experience eviction showed signs of poor health and socioeconomic disadvantage already at birth. Eviction in early childhood was not associated with children's likelihood of neighborhood poverty, suggesting that eviction may not qualitatively change children's neighborhood conditions in this disadvantaged sample. Though we saw evidence supporting an association with low child food security at age 5, we did not find eviction to be associated with obesity in later childhood and adolescence.

Project description:ObjectivesPoverty exposes children to adverse conditions that negatively impact development. However, there is limited understanding on how different types of poverty may affect children of various immigration backgrounds differently in outcomes such as school readiness. This study examined these relationships between household and/or neighbourhood poverty, poverty timing, and immigration background with school readiness outcomes at kindergarten.MethodsThis study utilized a retrospective, population-based cohort of administrative records linked with surveys completed by kindergarten teachers for 15 369 children born in British Columbia, Canada. The exposures investigated were neighbourhood poverty (residing in a neighbourhood in the lowest income-quintile) and/or household poverty (receiving a health insurance subsidy due to low household income). Experiencing both neighbourhood and household poverty simultaneously was defined as "combined" household and neighbourhood poverty. The outcome of vulnerability on school readiness domains was assessed at kindergarten (47.8% female; mean age = 6.01 years) using teacher ratings on the Early Development Instrument (EDI).ResultsChildren exposed to combined poverty between age 0 and 2 had greater odds of being vulnerable in two or more domains of school readiness than children not exposed to any poverty during this period (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.07, 95% CI: [1.74; 2.47], p < 0.001). The effect of combined poverty was larger than household poverty only (aOR = 1.54, 95% CI: [1.31; 1.82], p < 0.001) or neighbourhood poverty only (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI: [1.30; 1.70], p < 0.001). Combined poverty was associated with negative outcomes regardless of timing. Both non-immigrants (aOR = 2.40, 95% CI: [1.92; 3.00], p < 0.001) and second-generation immigrants (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI: [1.22; 2.17], p < 0.001) experiencing combined poverty scored lower on school readiness.ConclusionsChildren who experienced combined poverty had lower levels of school readiness at kindergarten, regardless of timing and immigration background.

Dataset Information

Head start participation and school readiness: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort.

Publications

Head start participation and school readiness: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort.

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