1-106 - Disparities in Early Childhood Education: Three observational approaches to literacy achievement and development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Socio-economic disparities are associated with gaps in early literacy and academic achievement (Duncan, Magnuson, & Votruba-Drzal, 2014; Duncan & Murnane, 2011; Welsh, Nix, Blair, Bierman, & Nelson, 2010). As such, governments have aimed to improve children’s participation in preschool programs to secure the individual and social returns of education. From a human development perspective, the goal is to mitigate the poverty gap in school readiness which grows as a function of income inequality (Duncan & Magnuson, 2013). In this panel, we analyze three different scenarios of preschool participation to discuss how early gaps in literacy and development are created and sustained. The first paper will use global data to examine whether preschool access in Perú, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and India predicts differences in language development. Using a longitudinal perspective, the authors sustain that the rural-urban gap in access to early childhood education programs partially explains differences in receptive vocabulary in Perú and Ethiopia. Notably, Colombia has made efforts to guarantee access to preschool education for rural and urban children. Thus, the second paper analyzes cross-sectional data from a national study to explain associations between structural quality in public preschool services and children’s development. The third paper focuses on a public preschool program with moderate levels of instructional quality in the U.S to explore whether classroom interactions effectively close early achievement gaps after a year, once access and structural quality are guaranteed. Finally, an expert in literacy will discuss the theoretical and practical implications these papers have in closing students’ developmental gaps.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Christina Weiland, University of Michigan

Discussant

• Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, Vanderbilt University

Individual Presentations

• Long-term Associations of Attending Early Childhood Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and Vocabulary Skills - Presenting Author: Laura Betancur, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, University of Pittsburgh

• Quality of Early Childhood Education and Children's Development in Colombian Pre-Schools - Presenting Author: Carolina Maldonado-Carreno, Universidad de Los Andes; Non-Presenting Author: Maria Catalina Rey Guerra, Universidad de los Andes; Non-Presenting Author: Jorge Armando Cuartas Ricaurte, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Tatiana Plata-Caviedes, Universidad de Los Andes; Non-Presenting Author: Jesus Rodríguez De Luque, Universidad de Los Andes; Non-Presenting Author: Eduardo Escallon-Largacha, Universidad de Los Andes; Non-Presenting Author: Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University

• Associations Between Classroom Quality and Early Development: The Moderating Role of Early Gaps in Language - Presenting Author: Paola Andrea Guerrero Rosada, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Christina Weiland, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Snow, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: JoAnn Hsueh, MDRC; Non-Presenting Author: Jason Sachs, Boston Public Schools