Estimating the Consequences of Norway’s National Scale-Up of Early Childhood Education and Care (Beginning in Infancy) for Early Language Skills

Abstract

While most early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs taken to scale in the United States have served socially disadvantaged 3- to 5-years-olds, Norway scaled up universal ECEC from age 1. We investigated the consequences of Norway’s universal ECEC scale-up for children’s early language skills, exploiting variation in ECEC coverage across birth cohorts and municipalities in a population-based sample (n = 63,350). Estimates from two-stage least squares (i.e., instrumental variable) regression and generalized difference-in-differences models indicated the scale-up of universal ECEC led to improved language outcomes, particularly for low-income children. As preschool programs at scale become increasingly common in the United States, our results from Norway help inform debate about the merits of universal versus targeted policies and should provoke discussion about the benefits of beginning ECEC programs as early as infancy.

Taking Selection Seriously in Correlational Studies of Child Development: A Call for Sensitivity Analyses

“…These efforts have focused on methods that do not rely entirely on measured variables to control for selection, such as instrumental variables, as well as fixed‐effects, difference‐in‐difference, and regression discontinuity analyses (e.g., Duncan et al, ; McCartney et al, ; Miller et al, , for further explanation of these issues). We agree with these ideas and have used these designs in our research (e.g., Dearing, Zachrisson, Mykletun, & Toppelberg, ; Dearing, Zachrisson, & Nærde, ; Zachrisson & Dearing, ). Yet many instances remain in which developmental researchers cannot use these methods, despite their strengths.…”

Socioeconomic Differences in the Long-Term Effects of Teacher Absence on Student Outcomes

“…Disadvantaged children, however, may suffer from less developmental stimulation from parents, and their human capital accumulation is more dependent on the learning environment in kindergarten and school. Such differential sensitivity to instructional quality by socioeconomic background is consistent with evidence that school and preschool programs are particularly important for disadvantaged children (Borman & Kimball, 2005;Dearing, Zachrisson, Mykletun, & Toppelberg, 2018;Havnes & 4 There is some evidence, however, suggesting a positive interaction effect of family and school resources. Kim (2001) finds that low-educated parents cut back on their childcare time use in response to an increase in per pupil school expenditure.…”

Too Early for Early Education? Effects on Parenting for Mothers and Fathers

“…Norway offers universal subsidized ECEC to families beginning when their children are 1 year of age, and prior to this families have paid parental leave. Use of informal care is rare (Dearing, Zachrisson, Mykletun, & Toppelberg, 2018). Children almost exclusively attend full day care, though the amount of hours children actually spend in care varies, averaging 34 hours per week at age 2 in the sample used in the present study (Dearing et al, 2015), a weekly average reflecting that some parents either work part time or flexi-time, thus reducing their children's time in ECEC.…”