Early childrearing practices and their relationship to academic performance in Mexican American children.

Purpose: To examine whether parenting behaviors and childrearing practices in the first 3 years of life among Mexican American (MA) families predict children's academic performance at school age.

Methods: Thirty-six children were assessed using the Parent Behavior Checklist, Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale, Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory, and Bayley Scales of Infant Development II. Academic performance was measured with the Illinois Standards Achievement Test during third grade.