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The early childhood program participation component of the National Household Education Survey (NHES) was developed to collect information on children's experiences in a wide range of care settings. Findings of the NHES for 1995 found that approximately 39 percent of the nation's primary school children receive some form of nonparental care before and/or after school on a weekly basis. Children may receive before- and after-school care in home-based or in center-based settings, but are more likely to spend time in such care after school than before school, and are more likely to be cared for by a relative. Overall, very few children care for themselves before and/or after school. In general, part-day kindergartners participate in some form of nonparental care arrangements more than first through third graders. Black children are more likely to receive after-school care than children of any other race or ethnicity. While participation in after-school care does not differ by household income, there are differences by family type: children living with only one parent or no parents (guardian or grandparents) are more likely than those living with both parents to participate in after-school care arrangements. Children whose mothers did not complete high school are less likely to receive after-school care than those of mothers with a high school diploma or college degree. Children were also more likely to participate in after-school care when their mothers were employed. Kindergartners through third-graders participated in care an average of 14 hours a week, either before or after school. White children spend less time in nonparental care than Black or Hispanic children, and children from lower income households spend more hours per week in care arrangements than those from higher income households. Out-of-pocket cost for families using before- and after-school care varies widely due to differences in fees and subsidies, and care provided by relatives. Families who pay for nonparental care spend an average of $33.00 per week. No significant differences in costs were found by race-ethnicity or family type. Families with higher incomes spend more for care than those with lower incomes, although the difference was not statistically significant. (Includes description of NHES survey methodology and other national data on participation in before- and after-school care. (HTH)

Released in December 2000 by the National Center for Education Statistics, "this report attempts to answer two basic sets of questions about children's knowledge and skill acquisition during the kindergarten year." The report presents and analyzes data on improvements in math and reading skills for children pre- and post-kindergarten in specific cognitive skills such as letter recognition, understanding the letter-sound relationship, and sight-word recognition (in reading) and "counting beyond 10, recognizing the sequence in basic patterns, and comparing the relative size (dimensional relationship) of objects" (in mathematics). The report is presented in .pdf format and features a hypertext table of contents.

Released in December 2000 by the National Center for Education Statistics, "this report attempts to answer two basic sets of questions about children's knowledge and skill acquisition during the kindergarten year." The report presents and analyzes data on improvements in math and reading skills for children pre- and post-kindergarten in specific cognitive skills such as letter recognition, understanding the letter-sound relationship, and sight-word recognition (in reading) and "counting beyond 10, recognizing the sequence in basic patterns, and comparing the relative size (dimensional relationship) of objects" (in mathematics). The report is presented in .pdf format and features a hypertext table of contents.