3-118 - Exploring longitudinal effects of early care and education

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The question of whether the effects of early care and education (ECE) are sustained over time is a critical one. While there are documented long-term benefits of ECE, there are also examples where continued impacts were not discernible (Reynolds, 2016). The proposed symposium will explore the issue of sustainability using three different samples of low-income children followed from preschool into elementary and/or middle school.
Paper 1 uses data from the current Child-Parent Center (CPC) cohort, a study of the impact of a comprehensive ECE program. It seeks to replicate longitudinal findings from the original CPC program in 1985 and finds initial support for short-term longitudinal effects on academics and attendance.
Paper 2 uses data from the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF) evaluation, a sample of low-income children, some involved with the child protection system (CPS), who participated in high-quality ECE the year before kindergarten. This study, which uses propensity score matching, examines unique longitudinal benefits of ECE for the CPS-involved and non-CPS-involved children, finding academic and attendance benefits only for the non-CPS-involved children.
Paper 3 links administrative data and ECE program data for children in Chicago receiving a child care subsidy. It employs quasi-experimental methods to examine treatment effects on achievement scores, finding no linkages between CCDF-program participation and achievement from 3rd-8th grade.
The mixed findings highlight the challenges in obtaining consistent longitudinal findings across different low-income populations and provide ripe opportunity for discussion. The discussant, a well-recognized developmental psychologist, has a specific interest in examining the sustainability of ECE.

Sub Unit

• Social Policy

Chair

• Amy Susman-Stillman, Center for Early Education and Development, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota

Discussant

• Arthur J Reynolds, University of Minnesota

Individual Presentations

• The Impact of an Early Childhood Education Program on Student Achievement: A Generalizability Study Across Three Decades - Presenting Author: Michelle M. Englund, University of Minnesota; Momoko Hayakawa, University of Minnesota

• Does a high quality preschool experience affect educational outcomes of low-income children in 3rd grade? - Presenting Author: Amy Susman-Stillman, Center for Early Education and Development, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota; Kristine Piescher, University of Minnesota; Nicole Mickelson, University of Minnesota

• Child Care Subsidies and Long-Term Achievement of Low-Income Children - Presenting Author: Wladimir Zanoni, University of Chicago; Anna Johnson, Georgetown University