Research suggests that the quality of interactions and relationships teachers share with students and students' social skills are interrelated, but it is less clear if this relationship is bidirectional or consistent across elementary school. The purpose of this research study was to estimate the possible longitudinal and reciprocal effects of…

Preschoolers and kindergarteners demonstrate rapid growth and change in motor skills, socio-emotional (SE) skills, and academic performance. Data on 250 children with disabilities (CWD) and 250 typically developing children (TDC) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) data set were analyzed to explore the relation…

This study examines the association between class size, teacher characteristics and five non-cognitive student outcomes (i.e., self-control, interpersonal skills, approaches to learning, externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors) in grades K-3. Individual fixed-effects, that control for observed and unobserved time-invariant factors,…

Research Findings: Immigrant families who represent a growing share of the early schooling population face unique challenges related to involvement in their children's education. This study examined whether and to what extent home-based parent involvement and parental warmth are associated with the socio-emotional and academic outcomes of children…

In this study, we investigated longitudinal reciprocal relations among reading, executive function, and social-emotional skills in students from Grades 2 to 5, using the data set from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011. We addressed several important gaps in the literature on longitudinal reciprocal relations…

The purpose of this study was to estimate the longitudinal and reciprocal predictive relations between children's social skills, measured by an adaptation of the frequently used Social Skills Rating Scale, and their standardized academic achievement. A large nationally representative sample of elementary school students were assessed at least…

Evidence that the learning gains of preschool fade as children transition into elementary school has led to increased efforts to sustain preschool advantages during this key transitional period. This study explores whether the observed benefits of sustainability practices for a range of child outcomes are explained and/or moderated by family and…

Teachers provide emotional and behavioral supports essential for success in the classroom. This study examined the roles of child interpersonal skills, teacher expectations, and school racial and poverty compositions on the quality of relationships formed between teachers and children. A subsample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal…

This study examines how the use of peer tutoring instructional practices links to students' outcomes during kindergarten. Examining this pedagogical strategy allows us to contribute to the literature in three ways. First, we can study one potential mechanism by which peers might influence the outcomes of other peers in the classroom. Second, in…

Approximately one in 10 children in the United States is diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disability that can negatively affect academic achievement, yet relatively few children with ADHD are in special education. To better understand factors that determine which students with ADHD are in special education, we…

Publicly funded adult health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had positive effects on low-income adults. We examine whether the ACA's Medicaid expansions influenced child development and family functioning in low-income households. We use a difference-in-differences framework that exploits cross-state policy variation and focus…

Policymakers have advocated academic skills building at kindergarten as a way of improving student achievement. However, early childhood educators have concerns with this policy as gains in achievement may come at the expense of children's social-emotional skills. Using a nationally representative data set of kindergartners, we find that advanced…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of 1998 (n = 15,070), this study used propensity scores to examine the short- and long-term academic and psychosocial benefits of preschool education for a diverse sample of middle-class children. Compared with children who attended informal care at age 4, preschool…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the influence of social-emotional competence (SEC) and various other student- and school-level variables on the academic achievement of kindergarteners. Data were collected on a nationally representative cohort of kindergarteners as part of the United States Department of Education's Early…

This study evaluated whether parenting and childcare experience across infancy and toddlerhood were associated with children's reading, math, and social-behavioural skills prior to kindergarten entry. Analyses also examined whether race or ethnicity moderated associations. A representative sample of Hispanic, Black, and White children from the…