The Effect of School-Based Kindergarten Transition Policies and Practices on Child Academic Outcomes.

This study examined the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child outcomes. The authors followed 17,212 children from 992 schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten sample (ECLS-K) across the kindergarten school year. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the number of school-based transition practices in the fall of kindergarten was associated with more positive academic achievement scores at the end of kindergarten, even controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic factors. This effect was stronger for low- and middle-SES children than high-SES children. For low-SES children, 7 transition practices were associated with a .21 standard deviation increase in predicted achievement scores beyond 0 practices. The effect of transition practices was partially mediated by an intervening effect on parent-initiated involvement in school during the kindergarten year. The findings support education policies to target kindergarten transition efforts to increase parent involvement in low-SES families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Capitalizing on one's advantages: Role of core self-evaluations.

The authors examined (a) whether core self-evaluations in adolescence and young adulthood predict income at midlife and (b) whether people with positive core self-evaluations are more likely to capitalize on advantages resulting from family socioeconomic status and academic achievement, resulting in even higher levels of income at midcareer. The sample consisted of participants from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a national probability sample that first surveyed participants in 1979. The authors found that core self-evaluations and family socioeconomic status and academic achievement predict income and that, furthermore, high core self-evaluations enhance the benefits derived from these factors. Overall, it appears that individuals with positive core self-evaluations are particularly adept at translating early advantages into later economic success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's Achievement in Early Elementary School: Longitudinal Effects of Parental Involvement, Expectations, and Quality of Assistance.

In this prospective, longitudinal study, the authors examined the relations among parental behaviors, parental expectations, and children's academic achievement. Participants were 187 low-income children and their mothers, studied from birth of the child through 3rd grade. Mothers' quality of instruction prior to school entry had significant direct effects on IQ and indirect effects on achievement in 1st and 3rd grades. Parental expectations in 3rd grade had significant direct effects on parental involvement in 3rd grade. Children's achievement in 1st grade had significant direct effects on parental involvement and expectations in 3rd grade. Parental involvement in 3rd grade had a significant direct effect on achievement in 3rd grade. Results suggest that early parenting factors are important for children's academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family Correlates of Trajectories of Academic Motivation During a School Transition: A Semiparametric Group-Based Approach.

The present study examined whether academic motivations, conceptualized from the stance of self-determination theory, fluctuate over time in a homogeneous or heterogeneous fashion during a school transition. Three objectives were pursued: First, motivational trajectories were studied using the conventional, homogeneous approach. Second, the group-based, semiparametric approach to developmental trajectories was used to study heterogeneous motivational trajectories. Third, family factors were compared across trajectory groups for each type of motivation. Results suggested that most types of motivation tend to fluctuate differently over time for distinct groups of individuals. Furthermore, students characterized by problematic motivational trajectories perceived their parents to be less involved in their scholastic work and less autonomy supportive than those of other students. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for research and theories on motivation and parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

G. Stanley Hall's Contribution to Science, Practice and Policy: The Child Study, Parent Education, and Child Welfare Movements.

G. Stanley Hall influenced several social movements that had great implications for child wellbeing: the Child Study, Parent Education, and Child Welfare Movements. However, while Hall laid much of the foundation for the field of scientific child study and policy-relevant research, his legacy is virtually nonexistent. The current article reviews the life and contributions of G. Stanley Hall, and the dual role Hall played in history as a revered leader of the Child Study Movement and a controversial figure in the landscape of early child psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Contributions of Ineffective Discipline and Parental Hostile Attributions of Child Misbehavior to the Development of Conduct Problems at Home and School.

Data were collected in a longitudinal study of 134 boys and 132 girls and their families during kindergarten and first grade. Four hours of parent-child interaction were coded to ascertain parent discipline practices. A structured interview assessed maternal attributions about child behavior. Maternal ratings of child conduct problems at kindergarten entry reliably predicted the mother's subsequent hostile attributions concerning child misbehavior and use of ineffective discipline tactics. Ineffective maternal discipline and the interaction of ineffective discipline and hostile attribution predicted growth in child conduct problems at home during kindergarten and first grade. Changes in teacher-reported and observed child conduct problems at school during kindergarten and first grade were predicted by growth in conduct problems at home and by the interaction of ineffective discipline and hostile attribution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the positive role of neighborhood socioeconomic advantage in achievement: The contribution of the home, child care, and school environments.

The goal of this study was to examine the mechanisms underlying associations between neighborhood socioeconomic advantage and children's achievement trajectories between ages 54 months and 15 years. Results of hierarchical linear growth models based on a diverse sample of 1,364 children indicate that neighborhood socioeconomic advantage was nonlinearly associated with youths' initial vocabulary and reading scores, such that the presence of educated, affluent professionals in the neighborhood had a favorable association with children's achievement among those in less advantaged neighborhoods until it leveled off at moderate levels of advantage. A similar tendency was observed for math achievement. The quality of the home and child care environments as well as school advantage partially explained these associations. The findings suggest that multiple environments need to be considered simultaneously for understanding neighborhood–achievement links. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct and Indirect Longitudinal Effects of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement: Second-Order Latent Growth Modeling Across Ethnic Groups.

The present study on the influence of parental involvement on students' academic achievement overcame limitations in current research by including simultaneous considerations of multidimensional, longitudinal, mediational, and ethnic factors. Results indicated (a) significant ethnic differences in the direct effects of parental involvement on academic achievement; (b) consistent indirect effects, mediated by student educational aspiration, across all 4 ethnic groups for initial status and subsequent academic growth; (c) consistent indirect effects, mediated by student locus of control, across all 4 ethnic groups for initial achievement status only; and (d) greater parental involvement, in terms of communication and educational aspiration for children to enhance students' educational aspiration and students' locus of control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child emotional insecurity and academic achievement: The role of sleep disruptions.

The authors examined children's sleep as an intervening variable in the connection between emotional insecurity in the family and academic achievement. The role of ethnicity (African American and European American) and socioeconomic status (SES) in moderating the examined relations was assessed. One hundred sixty-six children (8- and 9-year-olds) reported their emotional insecurity, and the quantity and quality of children's sleep were examined through actigraphy and self-report. Decreased amount and quality of sleep were intervening variables in the relations between insecurity in the marital relationship and children's achievement. The effects of disrupted sleep on achievement were more pronounced for both African American children and children of lower SES. Results highlight the importance of the contemporaneous examinations of family and sleep functioning in the prediction of child outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent Differentiation of Self and Child Competence in Low-Income Urban Families.

In this study, the author examined whether family system functioning was associated with resilience in children exposed to negative environmental stress. In a sample of 55 low-income, urban families, greater differentiation of self among mothers predicted child competence--that is, better verbal and math achievement scores and lower aggression--after considering the effects of neighborhood violence and family life stress. No relations were observed between parent functioning and child academic self-concept. Furthermore, mothers' differentiation-of-self scores predicted children's cognitive skills, even after controlling for parent level of education. Implications, limitations, and directions for further research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement.

Early adolescence is often marked by changes in school context, family relationships, and developmental processes. In the context of these changes, academic performance often declines, while at the same time the long-term implications of academic performance increase. In promoting achievement across elementary and secondary school levels, the significant role of families, family–school relations, and parental involvement in education has been highlighted. Although there is a growing body of literature focusing on parental involvement in education during middle school, this research has not been systematically examined to determine which types of involvement have the strongest relation with achievement. The authors conducted a meta-analysis on the existing research on parental involvement in middle school to determine whether and which types of parental involvement are related to achievement. Across 50 studies, parental involvement was positively associated with achievement, with the exception of parental help with homework. Involvement that reflected academic socialization had the strongest positive association with achievement. Based on the known characteristics of the developmental stage and tasks of adolescence, strategies reflecting academic socialization are most consistent with the developmental stage of early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic differences in reading trajectories: The contribution of family, neighborhood, and school contexts.

In the present study, the authors use the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999, to examine the extent to which family, school, and neighborhood factors account for the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on children's early reading. Through the use of hierarchical linear modeling techniques, growth curve models were estimated to depict children's reading trajectories from kindergarten to 3rd grade. Family characteristics made the largest contribution to the prediction of initial kindergarten reading disparities. This included home literacy environment, parental involvement in school, and parental role strain. However, school and neighborhood conditions contributed more than family characteristics to SES differences in learning rates in reading. The association between school characteristics and reading outcomes suggests that makeup of the student population, as indexed by poverty concentration and number of children with reading deficits in the school, is related to reading outcomes. The findings imply that multiple contexts combine and are associated with young children's reading achievement and growth and help account for the robust relation of SES to reading outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental Problem Drinking and Children's Adjustment: Attachment and Family Functioning as Moderators and Mediators of Risk.

Children's perceived attachments with parents, and family cohesion and adaptability were examined as predictors, mediators, and moderators in the parental problem drinking-child outcomes link. A total of 216 6- to 12-year-olds (110 boys, 106 girls) participated. Data were obtained from children and their mothers, fathers, and teachers. A higher level of family cohesion and adaptability functioned as (a) a robust protective factor against adjustment and cognitive difficulties otherwise associated with problem drinking and (b) a mediator of adjustment problems. Children's perceptions of attachments to mothers and fathers were consistent predictors of behavioral, social, and cognitive problems and further moderated relations between problem drinking and child functioning. The results support that child-parent and family functioning variables act as either pathways and/or vulnerability and protective factors for children exposed to a high-risk environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental drinking as a risk factor for children's maladjustment: The mediating role of family environment.

In the present study, the relationships among parental drinking, family environment, and child adjustment is investigated in a community sample of 207 10-14-year-olds. Multiple aspects of perceived family environment (e.g., cohesion, organization, conflict) as well as multiple indicators of adjustment (e.g., negative affect, feelings of competence, self-esteem) are taken into consideration. Parental alcohol problems are found to be associated with low family cohesion, poor family organization, and low global self-worth of the child. A mediational analysis reveals that the relation between parental drinking and low global self-worth is mediated by family cohesion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family Income and Its Relation to Preschool Children's Adjustment for Families in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care.

The current study examines relations of mean-level estimates, linear changes, and instability in income and family processes to child outcomes and addresses whether income, through its impact on family functioning, matters more for children living in poverty. Temporal changes and instability in family processes, but not income, predicted children's adjustment. Cross-sectional mediational analyses indicated that for families living at the poverty threshold, family processes fully mediated the effect of average income over the study period on social behavior but only partially mediated its effect on cognitive-linguistic development. The strength of these associations diminished as average income exceeded the poverty threshold. That is, income had a greater impact on the family functioning and development of poor children than of nonpoor children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic status, schooling, and the developmental trajectories of adolescents.

The socioeconomic stratification of American society profoundly influences how the life course unfolds by shaping various developmental pathways as well as the connections among these pathways. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of American adolescents, this study charted trajectories of personal control and parental consultation from middle school to the end of high school and then examined how various combinations of these trajectories were associated with math/science course taking in high school across socioeconomic strata. Results indicated that low and/or decreasing levels of personal control were associated with the accumulation of fewer math/science credits, as were declining levels of parental consultation no matter what the initial level. Mismatches between control and consultation trajectories (e.g., high, stable control with low, stable consultation) were also associated with fewer math/science credits. These patterns tended to be less predictive of math/science credit accumulation at the highest and lowest ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of a Family Literacy Program on Low-Literate Children and Their Parents: Findings From an Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program.

A randomized experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of Even Start, a federally supported family literacy program providing early childhood education, adult education, parenting education, and joint parent-child literacy activities to children and parents from low-literate families. The evaluation of 18 Even Start projects followed 463 families for 2 years and found no statistically significant or educationally important impacts on Even Start families when they were compared with control families on child literacy outcomes, parent literacy outcomes, or parent-child interactions. The study concludes that Even Start projects were able to properly implement family literacy programs, and the observed lack of effectiveness is attributed to a combination of 2 factors: (a) a lack of full participation on the part of families and (b) instructional services that may be ineffective because of the curriculum content or the instructional approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing differential effects: Applying regression mixture models to identify variations in the influence of family resources on academic achievement.

Developmental scientists frequently seek to understand effects of environmental contexts on development. Traditional analytic strategies assume similar environmental effects for all children, sometimes exploring possible moderating influences or exceptions (e.g., outliers) as a secondary step. These strategies are poorly matched to ecological models of human development that posit complex individual by environment interactions. An alternative conceptual framework is proposed that tests the hypothesis that the environment has differential (nonuniform) effects on children. A demonstration of the utility of this framework is provided by examining the effects of family resources on children’s academic outcomes in a multisite study (N = 6,305). Three distinctive groups of children were identified, including 1 group particularly resilient to influence of low levels of family resources. Predictors of group differences including parenting and child demographics are tested, the replicability of the results are examined, and findings are contrasted with those obtained with traditional regression interaction effects. This approach is proposed as a partial solution to advance theories of the environment, social ecological systems research, and behavioral genetics to create well-tailored environments for children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family lives and friendships: The perspectives of children in step-, single-parent, and nonstep families.

Children's reports on their experiences in different family settings (stepfamilies, single-parent families, and intact families), their contact with friends, and the quality of their friendships were studied with data from 238 children drawn from a community sample. A particular focus was on children's confiding and communication: children's recall of communication about family transitions and their current communication about stepfamily issues with family and friends. Friends were found to be key confidants. The relations between children's family lives (confiding, parent–child relationships, family activities, involvement in parental conflict, and communication about stepfamily issues) and their friendships were investigated and found to be linked to biological relatedness and family setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Relations Between Contextual Risk, Earned Income, and the School Adjustment of Children From Economically Disadvantaged Families.

This longitudinal study examined the relations between multiple risk indexes representing contextual adversity, income-to-needs ratios, and the elementary school adjustment of children from economically disadvantaged families. The results provide evidence for volatility in family circumstances over 2-year intervals from preschool to 5th grade, for relations between the contextual risk indexes and change in externalizing behavior, and for relations between the income-to-needs ratios and change in academic competence. The results also show differences in the timing of the effects. Little evidence was found for persistence effects. Theoretical implications concern conceptualizations of the diverse and dynamic nature of the family circumstances experienced by disadvantaged children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)