Adult outcomes of sustained high-quality early child care and education: Do they vary by family income?

Experimental research demonstrates sustained high-quality early care and education (ECE) can mitigate the consequences of poverty into adulthood. However, the long-term effects of community-based ECE are less known. Using the 1991 NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 994; 49.7% female; 73.6% White, 10.6% African American, 5.6% Latino, 10.2% Other), results show that ECE was associated with reduced disparities between low- and higher-income children's educational attainment and wages at age 26. Disparities in college graduation were reduced the more months that low-income children spent in ECE (d = .19). For wages, disparities were reduced when children from low-income families attended sustained high-quality ECE (d = .19). Findings suggest that community-based ECE is linked to meaningful educational and life outcomes, and sustained high-quality ECE is particularly important for children from lower-income backgrounds.

Dialogue with a conversational agent promotes children's story comprehension via enhancing engagement.

Dialogic reading, when children are read a storybook and engaged in relevant conversation, is a powerful strategy for fostering language development. With the development of artificial intelligence, conversational agents can engage children in elements of dialogic reading. This study examined whether a conversational agent can improve children's story comprehension and engagement, as compared to an adult reading partner. Using a 2 (dialogic reading or non-dialogic reading) × 2 (agent or human) factorial design, a total of 117 three- to six-year-olds (50% Female, 37% White, 31% Asian, 21% multi-ethnic) were randomly assigned into one of the four conditions. Results revealed that a conversational agent can replicate the benefits of dialogic reading with a human partner by enhancing children's narrative-relevant vocalizations, reducing irrelevant vocalizations, and improving story comprehension.

Quality of early childcare and education predicts high school STEM achievement for students from low-income backgrounds.

High-quality early childcare and education (ECE) has demonstrated long-term associations with positive educational and life outcomes and can be particularly impactful for children from low-income backgrounds. This study extends the literature on the long-term associations between high-quality caregiver sensitivity and responsiveness and cognitive stimulation (i.e., caregiving quality) in ECE settings and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in high school. Using the 1991 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1,096; 48.6% female; 76.4% White, 11.3% African American, 5.8% Latine, 6.5% other), results demonstrated that caregiving quality in ECE was associated with reduced disparities between low- and higher-income children's STEM achievement and school performance at age 15. Disparities in STEM school performance (i.e., enrollment in advanced STEM courses and STEM grade point average) and STEM achievement (i.e., Woodcock-Johnson cognitive battery) were reduced when children from lower-income families experienced more exposure to higher caregiving quality in ECE. Further, results suggested an indirect pathway for these associations from caregiving quality in ECE to age 15 STEM success through increased STEM achievement in Grades 3 through 5 (ages 8-11 years). Findings suggest that community-based ECE is linked to meaningful improvements in STEM achievement in Grades 3 through 5 which in turn relates to STEM achievement and school performance in high school, and caregiving quality in ECE is particularly important for children from lower-income backgrounds. This work has implications for policy and practice positioning caregivers' cognitive stimulation and sensitivity in ECE settings across the first 5 years of life as a promising lever for bolstering the STEM pipeline for children from lower-income backgrounds. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Reinventing the public square and early educational settings through culturally informed, community co-design: Playful Learning Landscapes.

What if the environment could be transformed in culturally-responsive and inclusive ways to foster high-quality interactions and spark conversations that drive learning? In this article, we describe a new initiative accomplishing this, called Playful Learning Landscapes (PLL). PLL is an evidence-based initiative that blends findings from the science of learning with community-based participatory research to transform physical public spaces and educational settings into playful learning hubs. Here, we describe our model for conducting this research, which is mindful of three key components: community input, how children learn best, and what children need to learn to be successful in the 21st century economy. We describe how this model was implemented in two PLL case studies: one in a predominantly Latine community and the second in early childhood education classrooms. Furthermore, we describe how research employing our model can be rigorously and reliably evaluated using observational and methodological tools that respond to diverse cultural settings and learning outcomes. For example, our work evaluates how PLL impacts adult-child interaction quality and language use, attitudes about play and learning, and community civic engagement. Taken together, this article highlights new ways to involve community voices in developmental and educational research and provides a model of how science can be translated into practice and evaluated in culturally responsive ways. This synthesis of our process and evaluation can be used by researchers, policymakers, and educators to reimagine early educational experiences with an eye toward the built environment that children inhabit in everyday life, creating opportunities that foster lifelong learning.

Translating cognitive science in the public square.

Public space interventions offer one example of how to translate cognitive science into the public square. Here, we detail several successful projects and the six principles of learning that underlie them that support caregiver-child engagement, interaction, and the use of content area-specific language. Policy and community implications are also discussed.

More than just a game: Transforming social interaction and STEM play with Parkopolis.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) focused language and interactions build a foundation for later STEM learning. This study examines the ability of the life-size math and science board game "Parkopolis" to foster STEM language and interaction in young children and their families. This study is part of a larger initiative called Playful Learning Landscapes that aims to create playful learning opportunities for children and families in the places they naturally go. Observational results from 562 families suggest that caregivers and children in Parkopolis demonstrated greater STEM language, engagement, interaction, and physical activity compared to a STEM focused traditional children's museum exhibit. Implications and next steps are discussed in regards to maximizing the number of families that can benefit from Parkopolis' playful STEM learning opportunities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).