To Pre-K and Beyond: Child Development and Educational Environments Across Pre-K and Elementary School

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

A high-quality pre-kindergarten (pre-K) education can set the stage for success in school (Phillips et al., 2017). However, pre-K can no longer be viewed in isolation from the subsequent years of schooling. Children also depend on high-quality educational environments during elementary school in order to pursue a positive developmental trajectory.

This panel compiles four studies investigating the continuum of educational environments children experience beginning in pre-K and extending through elementary school. These studies consider classroom/school environments in relation to children’s development of social-emotional and/or early academic skills. The relation between environmental inputs and developmental outcomes is examined as time-specific (i.e., the relation between inputs and outcomes at each grade), cumulative (i.e., the accumulation of inputs across grades), and/or interactive (i.e., the dynamic complementarity/substitutability between inputs across grades). Papers 1 & 2 test the dynamic interaction between pre-K participation and subsequent kindergarten classroom environments. Paper 3 examines the quality of classroom-wide teacher-child interactions as cumulative and time-varying from pre-K through fourth grade. Paper 4 will present preregistered findings on the relation between time-specific, cumulative, and interactive school environments and child outcomes in pre-K through first grade.

The studies address SRCD’s strategic goals by first focusing on children’s development of school related skills across a wide range of children and communities representing socio-demographic and geographic diversity. Second, findings can inform practice and policy related to school accountability and quality improvement. Finally, we represent an interdisciplinary panel of researchers and methodologies spanning the fields of early childhood education, human development, and public policy.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Robert C. Carr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• Can Kindergarten Teacher Value-Added Sustain the NC Pre-K Boost During Kindergarten? - Presenting Author: Robert C. Carr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jade V Marcus Jenkins, University of California - Irvine; Tyler Watts, Teachers College, Columbia University; Ellen S Peisner-Feinberg, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University

• Pre-K Attendance and Social Development: The Moderating Role of Kindergarten Classroom Experiences - Presenting Author: Kathryn Zimmermann, Ohio State University; Qingqing Yang, Ohio State University; Kelly M Purtell, Ohio State University; Arya Ansari, Ohio State University

• Cumulative and Time-Specific Effects of Classroom Quality on Child Outcomes From Pre-K to Fourth Grade - Presenting Author: Kylie Garber, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD); Maya Hardrick, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Anna Soto, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Sandra L Soliday Hong, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Bentley Ponder, Department of Early Care and Learning; Randy Hudgins, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning; Susan Adams, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning

• School Characteristics in Relation to PK-G1 Gains: Multisite Evidence from the Early Learning Network - Presenting Author: Mary Bratsch-Hines, University of Florida; Arya Ansari, Ohio State University; Ximena Franco-Jenkins, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Natalie A. Koziol, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Laura J Kuhn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Tzu-Jung Lin, Ohio State University; Meghan Patricia McCormick, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City; Kelly M Purtell, Ohio State University; Amanda Witte, University of Nebraska - Lincoln