Overview on research on school readiness and child health

1. Overview on research on school readiness and child health Judy Temple - Humphrey Institute Jayne Fulkerson - School of Nursing

2. Nationally representative data from the U.S. Department of Education are useful in studying the relationship between school readiness and child well-being

3. Large data sets from the US Department of Education To study school readiness, we can look at kindergarten year data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- kindergarten cohort (for children born in 1993). Within a few years, we also can look at the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- birth cohort (for children born in 2001). Note: a new ECLS-K is beginning for the kindergarten class of 2010-2011.

4. Many ways to measure school readiness Here we use test scores for reading in the fall of kindergarten. For simplicity, we compare child and family characteristics for children scoring in the lowest quartile versus highest quartile on reading. Sample of over 17,000 five year-olds.

5. Here, we present some descriptive statistics How do children performing in the lower quartile on the kindergarten reading test differ from children performing in the top quartile? Our data are from the ECLS-K. Importance: we know gaps in school performance between disadvantaged and advantaged children exist at school entry and may widen over time. All differences are statistically significant at 1% level.

6. Maternal education and household poverty by lower and higher levels of school readiness

7. Child health insurance coverage and timing of last dental visit by lower and higher levels of school readiness

8. Childhood obesity* prevalence by lower and higher levels of school readiness *BMI > 95th percentile for age & gender

9. Parent reports of child health and disability status by lower and higher levels of school readiness

10. Frequency of weekly family evening meals by lower and higher levels of school readiness

11. Prevalence of family dinner 7 nights per week by lower and higher levels of school readiness

12. Hours ofTV watching by lower and higher levels of school readiness

13. Prevalence of no family exercise per week by lower and higher levels of school readiness

14. Child health and school readiness Clear correlations exist between child health and school readiness. Preventative interventions by health providers and early educators may improve school readiness. Research challenge: Child health may not be exogenous – researchers need to understand how both health and school performance are determined.

15. Some plans of the Human Capital Research Collaborative – an incomplete list Use large data sets to estimate the effects of early interventions for children. Focus on new data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth cohort to understand the effects of early childhood health conditions and the benefits of early interventions.

16. About the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth cohort • Sponsored by US Department of Education • Nationally-representative sample of 10,000 children born in 2001. • Longitudinal data are available at around 9 months, 24 months, 4 years. Future waves include kindergarten and first grade. • Most of the data are restricted to licensed users. • Licensed users need to get approval from IRB, SPA, and US Depart of Educ. • Given the concern about obesity as a

17. Types of information in the ECLS-B cohort of 10,000 children born in 2001 • Child weight, height, cognitive skills, motor skills, parenting practices, etc. at ages 9 months, 24 months, 4 years (soon up to first grade). • Birth certificate data on birth weight and parent education and marital status • Detailed information on child care and preschool participation • Food security/insecurity - 18 questions from USDA • Maternal depression – 12 items from CES standard questionnaire

18. Some initial findings from the ECLS-birth cohort • Relationships between maternal depression and child outcomes • A. maternal depression associated with child overweight status • B. maternal depression associated with child health • C. food insecurity associated with maternal depression • Relationships between food insecurity and child outcomes

19. Food insecurity • A food insecure household has limited or uncertain availability of food, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods due to resource constraints • 11% of all households; 16% of all households including children are food insecure.

20. Child health at 24 months by adult food insecurity (5=excellent, 4= very good, 3=good, 2=fair, 1=poor)[ECLS-B data from Hernandez and Jacknowitz, 2009]

21. Cognitive scores at age 24 months by adult food insecurity [ECLS-B data from Hernandez and Jacknowitz, 2009]

22. Future research directions • What are the effects of various child health conditions on school readiness and later performance? • How does food insecurity affect the well being of children from age 0 to 5 and beyond? • What are the effects of government programs such as WIC, food stamps, Early Intervention, preschool, etc. on child well being and school performance?