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Early care and education (ECE) experiences shape children's developmental trajectories, particularly for children who have or may have disabilities. However, caregivers of children with disabilities have faced considerable challenges finding care for their children, which have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using survey data from nearly 3,000 caregivers of preschool-age children in Virginia collected in December 2020 and January 2021, we find that caregivers of children with disabilities were less likely to find ECE programs that met their needs, more likely to experience high levels of stress, and more likely to be concerned about their children's development than were caregivers of children without disabilities. Concerns about child development were particularly pronounced among caregivers of children with disabilities in remote instructional settings. Our findings suggest a disproportionate impact of ECE disruption on caregivers of children with disabilities and the need for targeted supports for these caregivers moving forward. [Note: The correct volume number is 8, and the correct issue number is 1.]

There is growing evidence that school starting age impacts children's likelihood of receiving special education services, but less is known about variations in this effect. Using a regression discontinuity design, I found that the youngest students in a kindergarten cohort are 40% more likely (p < 0.001) to be placed in special education than are the oldest students, and that this effect persists through eighth grade. I found little evidence of heterogeneity by gender, race, or socioeconomic status, but some suggestive evidence that the effect is particularly great for White boys in early grades and for Black girls in the later elementary grades. I also found exploratory evidence that this effect is largest in schools with kindergarten cohorts that vary widely in age. These findings add new evidence to support policies to reduce age-induced bias in early special education placements, particularly those that address variation in this effect across students and schools. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED621422.]

Researchers largely rely on child language and literacy measures to determine the effectiveness of interventions for Latino dual language learners. However, some of these measures may miss certain strengths of these students. This study identified two unstandardized language and literacy tasks (IDELA food and animal vocabulary and personal narratives) that might leverage some eco-cultural assets of Latino children; it also examined concurrent associations between these tasks and standardized language and literacy tests. Participants were 237 Latino kindergarteners (M age = 67.22 months, SD = 4.12; 51% female). Positive associations were found between standardized tests and the IDELA food and animal vocabulary ([beta] = 0.92-1.40; large magnitude) and personal narrative tasks ([beta] = 0.28-0.46; medium magnitude), controlling for important covariates, including the language of administration of assessment. Further research might use these tasks as complementary assessments to gauge the impact of interventions on the language and literacy skills of Latino dual-language learners in kindergarten.

Narrative language abilities are foundational to literacy development and are a culturally grounded measure of early literacy for Latino children. This study evaluates the impacts on narrative language abilities and the costs of a 4-week, strengths-based program that leverages two valued sociocultural practices with built-in benefits, personal narratives, and family food routines (e.g., grocery shopping), for improving Latino kindergarteners' learning outcomes in the United States. Two-hundred and 34 children (M age = 67 months; 51% girls; 13 schools) and their parents participated in a cluster randomized trial. Children produced personal narratives at three time points: pretest, end-of-treatment, and 5-month follow-up. Four narrative features were measured: narrative coherence, elaborations, word types, and literate language features. Large positive impacts were observed on all four narrative features at the end-of-treatment posttest (d = 1.21-1.76). There was suggestive evidence of moderate impacts on one narrative feature (i.e., narrative coherence) at the 5-month follow-up (d = 0.59). The costs required to implement the family program were relatively low. Findings highlight the potential value of implementing this strengths-based program in schools serving Latino kindergarteners using a rigorous evaluation of its effectiveness.

There are unique challenges to estimating causal effects of preschool for students with special needs that have not received attention in the literature. We revisit the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS) to illustrate that when and how special needs is defined has implications for the internal validity of and interpretation of special needs subgroup impact estimates. We find that the treatment group in the HSIS was three percentage points more likely to be classified as special education (SD = 0.11, p < 0.001) at baseline, likely biasing the impact estimates for this subgroup. We also find that the estimated intent-to-treat effects of Head Start on cognitive and socioemotional measures are sensitive to subgroup definition.

Universal public prekindergarten programs have been expanding in recent years, but not all eligible families apply to these programs, for reasons that are not well understood. Using two cohorts of students (N = 8,391) enrolled in Boston Public Schools, we use geographic information systems to combine administrative records with census data to compare the student-, neighborhood-, and school-level characteristics of kindergarteners who did and did not apply to the Boston Public Schools prekindergarten program. We find that nonappliers are more likely to be non-White (SD = 0.27), low income (SD = 0.11), and dual language (SD = 0.58), particularly those who did not attend any other prekindergarten program. We find similar differences at the neighborhood and school levels. Our study provides some of the first descriptive information on the sociodemographic characteristics and spatial distribution of families who opt out of applying to universal prekindergarten programs. Findings may inform recruitment strategies to promote equitable and universal prekindergarten enrollment.

Food routines are an ecocultural asset of Latino families. This cluster-randomized trial with 248 children (M[subscript age] = 67 months; 50% girls; 13 schools) investigated the impact of a 4-week family program designed to capitalize on food routines in improving Latino kindergarteners' outcomes in the United States. There were moderate-to-large impacts on child vocabulary (especially food-related) at end-of-treatment and the 5-month follow-up, and suggestive evidence of moderate impacts on approaches to learning (ATL; including ATL math) and executive function at the 5-month follow-up (d = 0.38-0.95). There were no statistically significant impacts on children's math or literacy skills. A strengths-based, culturally responsive family intervention that is integrated into Latino family life can improve the skills needed to succeed in school.

There is limited research on the relation between approaches to learning (ATL) and Latino kindergarteners' math development, and mixed results regarding the role of Latino home numeracy practices. This study examined the associations among Latino kindergarteners' ATL, home numeracy practices, and growth in math skills. Participants were 151 low-income Latino parents and their children (M age = 67 months; 52% female). In early fall(beginning of kindergarten), parents completed a home numeracy survey and children's ATL were assessed. At three time points during the kindergarten year (early and late fall, and spring), children's math skills were assessed. Positive linear growth in Latino kindergarteners' math skills was observed. Latino kindergarteners' ATL positively related to variation in math skills, but not growth. Home numeracy practices did not relate to math skills. Findings highlight the unique role that ATL might play as an ecocultural asset that supports Latino kindergarteners' math development.

Narrative language abilities are foundational to literacy development and are a culturally grounded measure of early literacy for Latino children. This study evaluates the impacts on narrative language abilities and the costs of a 4-week, strengths-based program that leverages two valued sociocultural practices with built-in benefits, personal narratives, and family food routines (e.g., grocery shopping), for improving Latino kindergarteners' learning outcomes in the United States. Two-hundred and 34 children (M age = 67 months; 51% girls; 13 schools) and their parents participated in a cluster randomized trial. Children produced personal narratives at three time points: pretest, end-of-treatment, and 5-month follow-up. Four narrative features were measured: narrative coherence, elaborations, word types, and literate language features. Large positive impacts were observed on all four narrative features at the end-of-treatment posttest (d = 1.21-1.76). There was suggestive evidence of moderate impacts on one narrative feature (i.e., narrative coherence) at the 5-month follow-up (d = 0.59). The costs required to implement the family program were relatively low. Findings highlight the potential value of implementing this strengths-based program in schools serving Latino kindergarteners using a rigorous evaluation of its effectiveness. [This article is published in "Developmental Psychology" (EJ1338851).]

Food routines are an ecocultural asset of Latino families. This cluster-randomized trial with 248 children (M[subscript age] = 67 months; 50% girls; 13 schools) investigated the impact of a 4-week family program designed to capitalize on food routines in improving Latino kindergarteners' outcomes in the United States. There were moderate-to-large impacts on child vocabulary (especially food-related) at end-of-treatment and the 5-month follow-up, and suggestive evidence of moderate impacts on approaches to learning (ATL; including ATL math) and executive function at the 5-month follow-up (d = 0.38-0.95). There were no statistically significant impacts on children's math or literacy skills. A strengths-based, culturally responsive family intervention that is integrated into Latino family life can improve the skills needed to succeed in school. [This article was published in "Child Development" (EJ1329133).]

Preschool improves children's kindergarten readiness, but the cognitive outcomes of preschool enrollees and nonenrollees tend to converge partially or fully in elementary school. In older programs, most of this convergence occurs in kindergarten (Li et al., 2016), but evidence from today's programs is sparse. Using data on 4,971 children who applied to the Boston Public School Prekindergarten program and a quasi-experimental approach, we examine convergence in kindergarten through third grade (K-3) literacy outcomes of prekindergarten enrollees and nonenrollees. Consistent with previous literature, most of the convergence in K-3 literacy outcomes occurred in kindergarten. Our findings suggest that detailed investigations into the kindergarten teaching and learning context may be particularly important for solving the widely noted preschool convergence pattern.

It was recently suggested that the Sun could switch to a high‐activity regime which would lead to a rise of ultraviolet radiation with an amplitude of about four times larger than the amplitude of an average solar activity cycle and a simultaneous drop in total solar irradiance. Here, we applied the SOCOLv3‐MPIOM model with an interacting ocean to simulate the response of chemistry, dynamics, and temperature of Earth's atmosphere to such a change in solar irradiance. We studied the effect of high activity regime on the atmosphere investigating the influence of the chemical and radiative processes on the climate, and chemistry of NOx, HOx, and O3. We find a climate cooling by up to 1K and a substantial increase in stratospheric ozone (up to 14%) and total ozone (up to 8%). To understand the role of the different processes we performed simulations with two sets of forcing accounting separately for the influence on chemical processes and for direct radiation energy balance. Our calculations show that the stratospheric O3 response is almost fully driven by the chemical processes. We also found that the direct radiation processes lead to near‐surface cooling that results in the suppression of the Brewer‐Dobson circulation. This, in turn, leads to the reduction of H2O influx from the low layers of the troposphere and to less intensive transport of ozone from the tropics to the middle latitudes. The surface climate response is dominated by direct radiation influence with only a small contribution from chemical processes. Plain Language Summary: It was recently suggested that activity of the Sun could significantly rise which would lead to a rise of ultraviolet radiation and a simultaneous drop in total solar irradiance. In this study, we modeled the response of chemistry, dynamics, and temperature of Earth's atmosphere to such a change in solar irradiance. We studied the effect of high activity regime on the atmosphere investigating the influence of the chemical and radiative processes on the climate, and chemistry. We find a climate cooling by up to 1K and a substantial increase in stratospheric ozone (up to 14%) and total ozone (up to 8%). Our calculations show that the stratospheric ozone response is almost fully driven by the chemical processes. We also found that the direct radiation processes lead to near‐surface cooling that results in the suppression of the Brewer‐Dobson circulation. This, in turn, leads to the reduction of water vapor influx from the low layers of the troposphere and to less intensive transport of ozone from the tropics to the middle latitudes. The surface climate response is dominated by direct radiation influence with only a small contribution from chemical processes. Key Points: A switch of the Sun to a high activity regime would lead to a simultaneous increase of the UV irradiance and a drop of the longwave irradianceSolar UV changes control stratospheric ozone and temperature with only a small contribution from solar longwaveTropospheric climate is driven by direct changes in the surface radiation balance with no substantial contribution from the chemical processes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associations between home learning opportunities, parental growth mindset (the belief that intelligence is malleable), and children's academic skills have been documented primarily in European descent communities. Less is known about other communities. This study examined associations among home learning opportunities, parental mindsets, and child academic skills in a sample of 107 Latino parents and their kindergartners (M age = 67 months; 51% girls). Home learning opportunities were measured via a survey that included conventional learning practices (e.g. book sharing) and food practices (e.g. mealtime conversations). Parental mindsets were assessed through a widely used mindset scale. Child academic skills were assessed using standardized and non-standardized tests. Research Findings: Parental growth mindsets positively related to food practices (β = 0.29) and there was suggestive evidence that food practices positively related to child expressive vocabulary (β = 0.35). Conventional learning practices and parental growth mindset did not relate to child outcomes. Practice or Policy: If replicated in larger samples, findings suggest that Latino parents might view food practices as prime learning opportunities for their children. In addition, results suggest that food practices might foster Latino children's academic skills. Findings have the potential to inform family interventions targeting Latino families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study leverages naturally occurring lotteries for oversubscribed Boston Public Schools prekindergarten program sites between 2007 and 2011, for 3,182 children (M = 4.5 years old) to estimate the impacts of winning a first choice lottery and enrolling in Boston prekindergarten versus losing a first choice lottery and not enrolling on children's enrollment and persistence in district schools, grade retention, special education placement, and third-grade test scores. There are large effects on enrollment and persistence, but no effects on other examined outcomes for this subsample. Importantly, children who competed for oversubscribed seats were not representative of all appliers and almost all control-group children attended center-based preschool. Findings contribute to the larger evidence base and raise important considerations for future prekindergarten lottery-based studies. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED605893.]

This article explores the effects of transitional kindergarten (TK) programs on third-grade test scores in Michigan. TK programs are a form of early childhood education that focuses on academic skills and is offered in public schools. The study finds that attending TK has a positive impact on third-grade math scores and suggests potential benefits for English Language Arts as well. The research utilizes longitudinal administrative data from Michigan public school students and employs a regression discontinuity framework to determine the effects of TK. These findings contribute to the existing body of literature on the influence of early childhood programs on educational outcomes. [Extracted from the article]