Maternal education is associated with early child outcomes. However, the several mechanisms that may explain this relationship remain underexplored. Using data from 1,097 children aged 12-15 months in Chile, we estimate the maternal education gap across child cognitive and language outcomes. Following a bioecological perspective, we explore…

It is well known that the first 1,000 days of life have long-lasting impact on a child's cognitive, language, socio-emotional, and physical development, but there is little evidence from Rwanda about how to maximize parent-child interactions during these critical early years. Save the Children piloted the First Steps "Intera za Mbere"…

The parenting gap is a big factor in the opportunity gap. The chances of upward social mobility are lower for children with parents struggling to do a good job--in terms of creating a supportive and stimulating home environment. Children lucky enough to have strong parents are more likely to succeed at all the critical life stages, which means…

A national probability sample of children who have been in child welfare supervised placements for about one year identifies the characteristics (e.g., age, training, education, health, and home) of the foster parents, kinship foster parents, and group home caregivers. Caregiving respondents provided information about their backgrounds.…

This study examines the overall quality of parenting behaviours among low-income mothers in the USA and the extent to which they are influenced by risk factors within the family environment, maternal well-being and maternal risk characteristics associated with socio-economic status. Participants consisted of 1070 low-income mothers of…

Are preventive early childhood interventions effective in improving home environments, as assessed with the HOME inventory (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984)? The authors traced 48 published articles, presenting 56 intervention effects (N = 7,350). The combined effect size on the HOME total score was d = 0.20 (p less than 0.001). Randomized…

Examined the effectiveness of the Avance Parent-Child Education Program in teaching low-income, Mexican American mothers of infants to teach their own children. Found significant program effects on Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scores, on view of self as teacher, and on videotaped mother-child interactions. Found results…

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…