This study examined the influence of home environment, socioeconomic status, and visual functioning on mothers' perceptions of the family needs and development of 19 toddlers with visual impairments from Latino and Anglo backgrounds. Differences were found between the mothers' perceived needs based on ethnicity and their children's degree of…

Using multilevel models of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 20,356), the authors find that parental involvement in education partially mediates the association between family poverty and children's math and reading achievement in kindergarten, but differences exist across race. In Asian families, poor and…

The effects of geographic variations in cost of living and family income on children's academic achievement and social competence in first grade (mean age = 86.9 months) were examined, mediated through material hardship, parental investments, family stress, and school resources. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten…

Examined theoretical model of early environmental action of 282 Caucasian and African American infants, using structural equation modeling. Model included socioeconomic status, early cognitive status, stimulation with home environment, parental use of negative control, and later cognitive status. Models for males and females showed similar…

Education professionals have long known that family background is a stronger predictor of academic success than are school or teacher characteristics. The past 30 years have seen a series of drastic alterations in patterns of family living in the United States, and these changes mean that a substantial number of youngsters are being born or are…