Multiple Pathways to Early Academic Achievement

Abstract

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (ECCRN) constructed a structural model predicting reading and mathematics achievement in first-grade children from parenting, childcare, and first-grade schooling environments, which is presented in this article. The model provided a strong fit for the data, and parenting emerged as the strongest single contextual predictor of children's achievement. Nevertheless, the child-care and firstgrade schooling contexts independently contributed to children's academic performance. There were also a number of indirect pathways of prediction that combined environmental and child factors. Overall, results confirmed that multiple factors act in concert over the school transition period to shape children's reading and mathematics skills.

Predicting developmental outcomes in middle childhood from early life language and parenting experiences

“…Our study design only allows speculating about the explanation for this finding; future research must explore, for example, if children with behaviour problems evoke more positive parenting (i.e., responsiveness of parents). Furthermore, we observed no associations between early life parenting and children's later behaviour academic performance, inconsistent with some previous findings (Chen et al, 1997 ; Grolnick & Ryan, 1989 ) but in line with others (Gunderson et al, 2018 ; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2004 ). Again, future research will be essential to better elucidate the relation between parenting and academic performance in middle childhood.…”

Linking Parenting and Social Competence in School-Aged Boys and Girls: Differential Socialization, Diathesis-Stress, or Differential Susceptibility?

“…Social competence is particularly important at school entry and in the first few years of school, when social interactions are critical for academic success (Raver, 2002). Social competence has repeatedly been linked to school performance (e.g., Shala, 2013) and is considered to be as important for school success as academic skills are (Raver and Zigler, 1997; NICHD, 2004). Parents play a crucial role herein as parent–child interaction is considered the foundation on which social development is built (Laible and Thompson, 2007).…”

Effectiveness of the SIME Program for Infants and Toddlers in Center-Based Settings

“…Similarly, high-quality programs are a way to improve developmental outcomes of at-risk children, including lower SES children (Garces et al, 2002). For example, studies have shown that children in poverty have the most to gain from high-quality childcare programs in the cognitive, social, and emotional domains (Dearing et al, 2009;Garces et al, 2002;NICHD Early Childcare Research Network & Duncan, 2003). Therefore, it is essential to provide high-quality care services for lower SES children as early as possible.…”

“…After reviewing the literature, we found at least two factors that might moderate (exacerbate or attenuate) the effects of childcare programs. First, studies have repeatedly shown that children reared in low-SES families gain more in terms of cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes from extended periods in high-quality childcare settings than their peers from high-SES families (Dearing, McCartney, & Taylor, 2009;Early Childcare Research Network & Duncan, 2003;Garces, Thomas, & Currie, 2002). Part of the reason is that low-SES children may be exposed to poorer parenting skills and less cognitive stimulation (e.g., books, compact discs) at home and thus benefit more from high-quality childcare with substantial amounts of positive interactions and cognitive stimulation, whereas high-SES children may not.…”