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Concentrated poverty in preschools and children's cognitive skills: The mediational role of peers and teachers.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	Concentrated poverty in preschools and children's cognitive skills: The mediational role of peers and teachers.
Authors:	Coley, Rebekah Levine¹ (AUTHOR) coleyre@bc.edu, Spielvogel, Bryn¹ (AUTHOR) spielvog@bc.edu, Kull, Melissa² (AUTHOR) mkull@chapinhall.org
Source:	Journal of School Psychology. Oct2019, Vol. 76, p1-16. 16p.
Subject Terms:	Preschool children, Preschool teachers, Poor children, Teacher role, Teacher effectiveness, Reading comprehension, Structural equation modeling
Geographic Terms:	United States
Abstract:	Economic inequality and ensuing economic stratification in educational and community contexts are growing in the United States. Given these patterns, it is essential to understand the implications of economic stratification in early education settings. This paper delineates repercussions of the concentration of poor children in preschool programs using lagged structural equation models estimated in two longitudinal studies following 3396 4-year-old children in 486 primarily publicly-funded preschool classrooms through kindergarten entrance. Concentrated poverty in preschool classrooms was associated with lower language and reading skills in kindergarten in part through children's exposure to less cognitively-skilled peers, with teacher instructional quality not serving as a reliable mediator. These associations did not emerge in relation to children's math skills. Results expand conceptual models of peer effects and inform preschool policies which seek to increase quality and equity and enhance children's learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Journal of School Psychology is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Economic inequality and ensuing economic stratification in educational and community contexts are growing in the United States. Given these patterns, it is essential to understand the implications of economic stratification in early education settings. This paper delineates repercussions of the concentration of poor children in preschool programs using lagged structural equation models estimated in two longitudinal studies following 3396 4-year-old children in 486 primarily publicly-funded preschool classrooms through kindergarten entrance. Concentrated poverty in preschool classrooms was associated with lower language and reading skills in kindergarten in part through children's exposure to less cognitively-skilled peers, with teacher instructional quality not serving as a reliable mediator. These associations did not emerge in relation to children's math skills. Results expand conceptual models of peer effects and inform preschool policies which seek to increase quality and equity and enhance children's learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	00224405
DOI:	10.1016/j.jsp.2019.05.008