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Growing evidence has linked center-based early care and education settings to improvements in children's cognitive skills. Additional research is needed to more carefully delineate when and for whom these associations are most pronounced. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N <= 6,350;Flanagan & West, 2004), this study examined whether the beneficial effects of center-based care settings for children's cognitive skills at age 5 differ by the age at which children experience these settings and for subgroups based on household income, parental education, and quality of the home leaming environment. The results suggest that center-based preschool was supportive of the math and reading skills development of the sample as a whole. However, both center-and home-based care for 2-year-olds as well as 4-year-olds were beneficial for children from lower income, less educated, and less enriching family contexts, helping to diminish the cognitive skills gap between more and less advantaged children.

Children from immigrant families make up a growing proportion of young children in the United States. This study highlights the heterogeneity in early academic skills related to parental region of origin. It also considers the contributions of early home and nonparental care settings to the diversity in early academic performance. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N ≅ 6,850), this study examines associations between parental region of origin and children’s math and reading skills at age 5. It also considers whether home and nonparental care environments are pathways through which parental region of origin relates to academic achievement. There was significant heterogeneity in children’s early reading and math skills related to parental region of origin. Children of Indian Asian and East Asian/Pacific Islander parents outscored children of native-born White parents and every other immigrant subgroup. Children of Mexican and Central American/Spanish Caribbean parents performed below other immigrant subgroups and native-born White children. Differences in child, socioeconomic, and family characteristics largely explained relations between parental region of origin and early academic skills. Indirect effects of early home environments and nonparental care played a modest but important role in explaining variability in academic skills related to region of origin.

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 children's 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 children's later functioning, but it exacerbated negative associations between preschool and children's kindergarten behaviors.

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