Cultural context

Childcare effects

Child-care thru 3 & peer competenciesPositive responsive caregiver behavior most consistently

associated with positive skilled peer interactionMore time in child-care observed to be more positive

and skilled in peer play in child carecaregivers rated these kids as more negative with

playmates. but observed peer play not related to the quantity of care.

Child-care not associated with peer competence as rated by mothers or as observed in dyadic play with a friend.

Maternal sensitivity and children's cognitive and language competence predicted peer competence across all settings and informants, suggesting that family and child-care contexts may play different, but complementary roles in the development of early emerging individual differences in peer interaction.

NICHD_Early_Child_Care_Research_Network (2001). "Child care and children's peer interaction at 24 and 36 months: The NICHD study of early child care." Child Development 72(5): 1478-1500

No child care effects on observed interaction

Child-Care Effect Sizes Early Child Care and Youth DevelopmentNICHD Early Child Care Research Network

Children (n 1,261) were recruited at birth and assessed at 15, 24, 36, and 54 months.

Exclusive maternal care did not predict child outcomes

Higher quality child care related to advanced cognitive, language, and preacademic outcomes at every age and better socioemotional and peer outcomes at some ages.

More childcare hours predicted more behavior problems and conflict, according to care providers.

More center-care time was related to higher cognitive and language scores and more problem and fewer prosocial behaviors, according to care providers.

54 Month Outcomes

Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?

Parenting was a stronger and more consistent predictor of children’s development than early child-care experience.

But higher quality care predicted higher vocabulary scores and more exposure to center care predicted more teacher-reported externalizing problems. Belsky et al., 2007

Child-care History, Classroom Composition, and Children’s Functioning in KindergartenJulia Dmitrieva, Laurence Steinberg, and Jay Belsky

Non-parental child care associated withElevated levels of externalizing behaviorEnhanced linguistic, cognitive, and academic

functioning

Study studied classroom-composition effectsIs a child’s externalizing behavior explained

by the child-care histories of children in their classrooms above and beyond their own?

Peer contagion

Nayfeld

Effects of carePredictors of poorer achievement

>30 hrs/week initiation at center

before 2 years of age

Used as classroom level predictors proportion of children in classroom

Center care versus any child care

Nayfeld

Classroom-level effects > individual effects

Variance in class-level characteristics externalizing behavior

15% (T1) and 19% (T2) of variance

achievement 35% (T1) and 31%(T2) of variance

Significant classroom level effects

Nayfeld

Conclusions and DiscussionEffects of early or extensive non-parental

care affect not only the child, but their classmates as well

Being in a class with high proportion of students with child-care histories affects all children, independent of personal experience

Are effects amplified or attenuated over years of schooling?

Nayfeld

WHAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE: EARLY HEAD START EVALUATION FINDINGS IN A DEVELOPMENTAL CONTEXT JOHN M. LOVE, RACHEL CHAZAN-COHEN, HELEN RAIKES, AND JEANNE BROOKS-GUNN2013

The federal Early Head Start (EHS) program began in 1995, and a randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 17 EHS programs.

3,001 low-income families (35% African American, 24% Hispanic, and 37% White) with a pregnant women or an infant under the age of 12 months were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group (with 91% of the treatment group receiving some services).

Research questions examined (1) impacts of EHS at ages 2 and 3 (when services were being offered) and at age 5, and (2) contributions of early education experiences across children's first 5 years of life

DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5834.2012.00699.x

At ages 2 and 3 EHS benefited children and families: impacts were seen in all domains, effect sizes .10 -.20.

At 5, EHS children had better attention &approaches toward learning, fewer behavior problemsBut did not differ from controls on early school

achievement.Cognitive impacts at age 5 for African American

children and language impacts for Hispanic children who spoke Spanish. Some significant family benefits were seen at age 5.

Earlier treatment effects on child cognition and on engagement with the parent at 2 and 3 contributed to the child impacts at age 5.

Although fewer than half the children enrolled in center-based preschool programs between ages 3 and 4, almost 90% participated in the year preceding kindergarten. A higher percentage of EHS than control children were enrolled.

Nonexperimental analyses suggested that formal program participation enhanced children's readiness for school while also increasing parent-reported aggression.

At 5, children and families who experienced EHS followed by formal programs fared best overall.

Benefits in language, behavior, and parenting were associated primarily with EHS; benefits in early school achievement were associated primarily with preschool attendance.

Reviews positive influence of peer play on academic and social outcomes for African American preschool childrenPrevious research mostly on white & middle-

income childrenStrengths-based resiliency frameworkDevelopmental ecological theory

Within-group variabilityTransactional and bidirectional effects

Usher

Interactive peer playPlay dimensions specific to African American

children:Play interactionPlay disruptionPlay disconnection

Positive peer interactions mediated relation between ext. & int. problems and math outcomes (Tracy & friends)

Play buddies & play partners; and other RCTsOther ethnic groupsEducational practice

Usher

Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention (ASPI)--Context• Existing scales consider behaviors to be “stable deficits”

within children • Do not consider whether behaviors vary over different settings • Do not tell us when, where and how to intervene

• Development of the (ASPI) Specifically developed for low income preschool children “Language of preschool teachers, rather than psychiatric terms” 22 developmentally appropriate preschool classroom situations &

2 non-situation specific unusual behavior problems 22 maladaptive behaviors & 22 adaptive behaviors 5 behavioral dimensions: “Phenos”

o Externalizing: aggressive, oppositional & hyperactive/inattentive

o Internalizing : withdrawn/low-energy & socially reticent Limitations:

Didn’t measure impact of multiple contexts in classroom on outcomes

Fernandez

Fernandez

• Goal: To examine the individual and interactional influence of the types of behavioral problems (what) and the situational context(s) in which they occur (where) on children’s developmental outcomes

• Identified 3 reliable and unique situational dimensions: “Situs”

Structured learning Peer InteractionsTeacher Interactions N=3,799 Head Start children

4 > 5 year olds Boys > Girls

Problems in Peer Interactions

• Getting along with peers• Behaving in classroom• Respect for others’ belongings • Reaction to correction• Telling the truth• Standing in line

Problems in Teacher Interactions

• Talking to teacher• General manner with

teacher• Answering teacher

questions• Greeting teacher• Seeking teacher help• Helping teacher with

jobs

Problems in Structured Learning

• Involvement in class activities • Taking part in games with others• Maintaining companions/ friends • Paying attention in class• Sitting during teacher directed activities• Free play/individual choice• Working with hands (art)

EMOTIONAL & BEHAVIORAL ADJUSTMENTWithin Routine Classroom Situations

(Situational Needs)

Fernandez

Fernandez

• Implications for Policy & Practice ASPI guides intervention, rather than creating

diagnostic labels children are assessed within a “naturalistic context”

Developmental-ecological perspective Multiple levels of influence (dynamic transaction):

o child behavior (ontogenetic)o & classroom situation (microsystem)

Interventions: Goal shift:“fixing the child” broader systemic

approach Identification of “high-frequency” challenging

situations and behavior problems (Classroom Management & Intervention Strategies)

Professional Development Curriculum

Problems in peer interactions directly and indirectly affected play disruption at the end of kindergarten through its effect on play disruption at the end of Head Start

Problems in structured learning situations did not directly predict play disconnection but indirectly predicted play disconnection at the end of kindergarten through its effect on play

disconnection at the end of Head Start.

Fall Head Start Situational Needs Predicting Spring Head Start and Spring Kindergarten Social

Competence

Bulotsky-Shearer, Dominguez, Bell, Rouse, & Fantuzzo, 2010