We leveraged nationally representative data from the Panel study of Income Dynamics-Child Development Supplement (N = 3,562) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal study (N = 18,174), to chart the development of working memory, indexed via verbal forward and backward digit span task performance, from 3 to 19 years of age. Results revealed nonlinear…

The extent to which reading achievement is causally impacted by eligibility for special education services due to a learning disability (LD) or speech or language impairment (SLI) is currently unclear. In this registered report, we analyzed U.S. national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort of 2010-2011 (ECLS-K:…

This study proposes a two-stage causal modeling with instrumental variables to mitigate selection bias, provide correct standard error estimates, and address nonnormal and missing data issues simultaneously. Bayesian methods are used for model estimation. Robust methods with Student's "t" distributions are used to account for nonnormal…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the ECLS-K:2011 longitudinal study to determine the impact the mother's education has on her child's kindergarten academic performance, growth and attainment from kindergarten through fifth grade, and the background characteristics that affect child academic development. This study employed a…

This study examined the role of parents' early home language use in the English reading development of emergent bilinguals (N = 3,058) and how their relations are moderated by children's oral English language proficiency using longitudinal data from kindergarten to eighth grade (ages 6-15 years). Results from multi-group latent basis growth models…

The interrelationships between math and behavioral skill development prior to school entry are not well understood, yet have important implications for understanding how to best prepare young children for kindergarten. This study addresses this gap by utilizing a sample of 1,750 children (53% male; 47% White, 16% Black, 16% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and…

Following a theoretical framework that recognizes the potential of promotive and inhibitive effects on children's development, this study explored child-, family-, classroom-, and school-level factors as predictors of Latinx (N = 4,590) students' early elementary science achievement. Research Findings: Employing a path modeling approach with…

The purpose of this study was to examine the letter-writing ability of preschool children aged 3-5 years and the relationship between early literacy skills (i.e., alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and name writing) and letter-writing ability. Thirty-six children were individually assessed on letter writing and early literacy skills…

One potential source contributing to the misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could be as simple as a child's age in relation to others in their grade. Studies indicate that children who are youngest in their grade are at greater risk of being diagnosed with, and medicated for, ADHD. The…

Self-regulation is a critical component of school readiness and success. Practices for supporting self-regulation may be advanced by a better understanding of factors characterizing children at risk for challenges and contextual mechanisms associated with desirable developmental trajectories. The current study leverages a large national data set…

Although there is evidence to suggest that parent involvement (PI) in children's education positively impacts their academic success, the mechanisms of this effect are less well studied. One potential mechanism is a set of student-level motivational and behavioral factors labeled approaches to learning (ATL). The purpose of the current study was…

Student absences are a potentially important, yet understudied, input in the educational process. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey and rich administrative records from North Carolina, we investigate the relationship between student absences and academic performance. Generally, student absences are associated with…

We used structural equation modeling in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort (N = 17,020) to explore the influence of having an older sibling on kindergarten-age focal children's cognitive self-regulation. In model 1, we tested how having a sibling who is generally older than the focal child contributes to the focal child's…

We apply "value-added" models to estimate the effects of teachers on an outcome they cannot plausibly affect: student height. When fitting the relatively simple models that are widely used in educational practice to New York City data, we find the standard deviation of teacher effects on height is nearly as large as that for math and…

This study examined children's trajectories of mathematics and reading achievements from kindergarten to eighth grade along with the gender differences in these trajectories. A total of 8503 participants drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) formed the sample of the study. The results of the latent growth…