Despite support for the importance of early language environments, little is known about the naturally occurring experiences children have in preschool settings. The current study sample included 91 children (M[subscript age] = 4.72 years; 56% male; 67% White) from 23 preschool classrooms and nearly 1500 h of language environment data from three…

There is a great demand for quality early intervention services for autistic children and their families. Caregiver-mediated interventions are critical components of evidence-based early intervention. However, their implementation in publicly funded systems is often done with poor fidelity. Qualitative evidence suggests that family characteristics…

Data on attaining indicators of early speech, language, and literacy development, notably phonological awareness, among children with visual impairments (VI) are limited. This U.S. study utilized the "National Survey of Children's Health" (NSCH), 2016-2020, to observe the distinctive population of children with VI and speech, language,…

This snapshot provides updated findings about parents' child care and early education (CCEE) search and decision-making using the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Household (HH) Survey. We present findings on (1) the prevalence of CCEE searches among household respondents, usually parents, that reported on children under…

Moving can be a stressful and disruptive event for children, but the associations among the type of move, accompanying neighborhood characteristics, and children's development are less well understood, particularly for elementary school children. In the current dissertation, I developed and tested components of a conceptual model that uses…

Despite initiatives by key actors in the last two decades, Early Childhood Development in Ghana, measured by physical, cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional development of children up to 8 years of age, remains poor. This study aimed to assess Ghana's Early Childhood Development (ECD) status and determinants by analyzing the Ghana Multiple…

Supportive early relationships are critical to young children's development. Previous research has focused primarily on aspects of specific parenting practices that impact infants' and toddlers' development. However, additional research is needed for a more nuanced understanding of the relationships among family experiences, parenting behaviors,…

Theorists and researchers have been discussing the relationship between social class background and differences observed in cognitive ability test points of children from lower social class families and their middle or upper SES peers. It has been discussed that for a "more detailed understanding" of these cognitive inequalities, it…

This document describes plans for the analysis of the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) follow-up data collected when participating children were in kindergarten or first grade. The overarching goal of MIHOPE is to provide information about whether families and children benefit from Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood…

This study examined the links between classroom skill compositions and preschoolers' early learning and development in the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014 (FACES, n = 1,711 children/207 classrooms) and public pre-K programs in a county in Virginia (n = 1,467 children/123 classrooms). Results from a…

In this study (n = 1000, M[subscript age at K1entry] = 53.4 months, SD = 3.4; 53% females), we investigated the contributions of the family socioeconomic status (SES; maternal education and an income-related measure) and number and age of siblings to the development of children's math, reading, and working memory (WM) updating skills over the…

Early years policy in England is at a turning point. There has perhaps never been more political attention on the sector, with growing sentiment from parents that existing provision does not serve their needs. This briefing lays out existing evidence for the benefits of early education, including inequalities in access to existing entitlements,…

Extreme wealth inequality imposes significant constraints on financially vulnerable families, especially on the development of children in those families. Child Development Accounts (CDAs)--investment accounts offering financial access, subsidies, and incentives to provide assets for children--are designed to reduce wealth inequality over time and…

Wealth inequality is at a historic high in the United States. Yet little is known about the implications of wealth on children's development because research has focused mainly on the role of wealth in shaping outcomes in adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 8,095), we examine how family wealth relates to…

Research Findings: Multiple factors likely influence the language development of young children growing up in low-income homes, potentially including stressors experienced by parents. Here, we ask: (1) What is the association between stress (i.e., economic hardship and parenting stress) and toddlers' language development? and (2) Does number of…