Factors Predictive of Being Bullies or Victims of Bullies in US Elementary Schools.

We analyzed a population-representative cohort (=13,611; at kindergarten, first, and second grade = 67.5, 79.5, and 91.

Which Children are Frequently Victimized in U.S. Elementary Schools? Population-based Estimates.

We analyzed a population-based cohort of 11,780 U.S. kindergarten children to identify risk and protective factors predictive of frequent verbal, social, reputational, and/or physical bullying victimization during the upper elementary grades.

Which Students With Disabilities are Placed Primarily Outside of U.S. Elementary School General Education Classrooms?

Students with disabilities (SWD) who are Black or Hispanic have been reported to be more likely to be placed primarily outside of general education classrooms while attending U.S. schools.

Longitudinal Trajectories of Reading and Mathematics Achievement for Students With Learning Disabilities.

We examined to what extent subgroups of students identified with learning disabilities (LDs; = 630) in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K): 1998 national longitudinal study displayed heterogeneity in longitudinal profiles of reading and mathematics achievement from first to eighth grades. Multivariate growth mixture modeling yielded four classes of combined reading and mathematics trajectories for students with LD. The largest class of students with LD (Class 2, 54.

High School Math and Motivation for autistic students.

Analyzing data from students in the NCES High School Longitudinal Study dataset, we drew upon expectancy-value theory to examine the role of student motivation (measured by self-efficacy, identity, utility, and interest), as mediators between 9th grade math test scores and final math GPA for autistic students. In predicting final high school math GPA, math identity was the strongest predictor for autistic students with above average test scores. Findings for autistic students contrast with results for non-autistic students whose final math GPA is strongly predicted by the direct effects of 9th grade test scores.

The subcomponents of affect scale (SAS): validating a widely used affect scale.

Objective: There is a need for a brief affect scale that also encompasses different components of affect relevant for researchers interested in physiological and health outcomes. The Subcomponents of Affect Scale (SAS) meets this need. This 18-item scale has nine positive and nine negative affect items encompassing six subscales (calm, well-being, vigour, depression, anxiety, anger).

The Observed Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions With and Without a Mobile Screen Device.

Objective: This study investigated how caregivers' mobile device use influenced the quality of their interactions with their children. The associations between quality of interactions and the type of activity (eg, typing/swiping, looking at screen), setting, caregiver-child proximity, and child behaviors were also examined.

Method: Researchers anonymously and systematically observed and coded the behavior of 98 caregiver-child dyads in public settings (eg, parks, food courts) during real-time, naturally occurring interactions using time sampling.

Reciprocal effects of reading and mathematics? Beyond the cross-lagged panel model.

Prior nonexperimental studies have been used to conclude that children's reading and mathematics achievement bidirectionally influence each other over time, with strong paths from (a) early reading to later mathematics and (b) early mathematics to later reading. In the most influential study on the topic, the early math-to-later-reading path was reported to be stronger than the early reading-to-later-math path (Duncan et al., 2007).

Are students with disabilities suspended more frequently than otherwise similar students without disabilities?

Students with disabilities (SWD) have been reported to be disproportionately suspended from U.S. schools and so more likely to experience the "school-to-prison pipeline" through suspension's associations with lower academic achievement, dropout, juvenile delinquency, and adult criminality.

Double Down or Switch It Up: Should Low-Income Children Stay in Head Start for 2 Years or Switch Programs?

Background: Recent growth in subsidized preschool opportunities in the United States for low-income 4-year-old children has allowed federal Head Start programs to fund more slots for 3-year-old children. In turn, when Age-3 Head Start participants turn four, they may choose to switch into one of the many alternative care options or choose to stay in Head Start for a second year.

Objectives: We analyze a nationally representative sample of Age-3 Head Start participants to examine whether children who stay in Head Start for a second year at Age 4 exhibit greater school readiness and subsequent cognitive and behavioral performance compared with children who switch out of Head Start into alternative care.

Kindergarten Children's Executive Functions Predict Their Second-Grade Academic Achievement and Behavior.

Whether and to what extent kindergarten children's executive functions (EF) constitute promising targets of early intervention is currently unclear. This study examined whether kindergarten children's EF predicted their second-grade academic achievement and behavior. This was done using (a) a longitudinal and nationally representative sample (N = 8,920, M  = 97.

Executive Functioning Deficits Increase Kindergarten Children's Risk for Reading and Mathematics Difficulties in First Grade.

Whether executive functioning deficits result in children experiencing learning difficulties is presently unclear. Yet evidence for these hypothesized causal relations has many implications for early intervention design and delivery. We used a multi-year panel design, multiple criterion and predictor variable measures, extensive statistical control for potential confounds including autoregressive prior histories of both reading and mathematics difficulties, and additional epidemiological methods to preliminarily examine these hypothesized relations.

Eight-Year Latent Class Trajectories of Academic and Social Functioning in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

We examined trajectories of academic and social functioning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to identify those who might be at risk for especially severe levels of academic and social impairment over time. We estimated a series of growth mixture models using data from two subsamples of children participating in the NIMH Collaborative Multisite Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) including those with at least baseline and 96-month data for reading and mathematics achievement (n = 392; 77.3% male; M age = 7.

Late Talkers: A Population-Based Study of Risk Factors and School Readiness Consequences.

Purpose: This study was designed to (a) identify sociodemographic, pregnancy and birth, family health, and parenting and child care risk factors for being a late talker at 24 months of age; (b) determine whether late talkers continue to have low vocabulary at 48 months; and (c) investigate whether being a late talker plays a unique role in children's school readiness at 60 months.

Method: We analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a population-based sample of 9,600 children. Data were gathered when the children were 9, 24, 48, and 60 months old.

Minorities are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions.

We investigated whether and to what extent minority children attending elementary and middle schools in the U.S. are over- or under-identified as disabled and so disproportionately represented in special education.

Mathematics Content Coverage and Student Learning in Kindergarten.

Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998-99 and 2010-11 school years, they continued to place more emphasis on basic content.

Head Start at ages 3 and 4 versus Head Start followed by state pre-k: Which is more effective?

As policy-makers contemplate expanding preschool opportunities for low-income children, one possibility is to fund two, rather than one year of Head Start for children at ages 3 and 4. Another option is to offer one year of Head Start followed by one year of pre-k. We ask which of these options is more effective.

Academic and Social Functioning Associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Latent Class Analyses of Trajectories from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are known to exhibit significantly lower academic and social functioning than other children. Yet the field currently lacks knowledge about specific impairment trajectories experienced by children with ADHD, which may constrain early screening and intervention effectiveness. Data were analyzed from a nationally representative U.

Who Receives Speech/Language Services by 5 Years of Age in the United States?

Purpose: We sought to identify factors predictive of or associated with receipt of speech/language services during early childhood. We did so by analyzing data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; Andreassen & Fletcher, 2005), a nationally representative data set maintained by the U.S.

Does Head Start differentially benefit children with risks targeted by the program's service model?

Data from the Head Start Impact Study ( = 3540) were used to test for differential benefits of Head Start after one program year and after kindergarten on pre-academic and behavior outcomes for children at risk in the domains targeted by the program's comprehensive services. Although random assignment to Head Start produced positive treatment main effects on children's pre-academic skills and behavior problems, residualized growth models showed that random assignment to Head Start did not differentially benefit the pre-academic skills of children with risk factors targeted by the Head Start service model. The models showed detrimental impacts of Head Start for maternal-reported behavior problems of high-risk children, but slightly more positive impacts for teacher-reported behavior.

24-Month-Old Children With Larger Oral Vocabularies Display Greater Academic and Behavioral Functioning at Kindergarten Entry.

Data were analyzed from a population-based, longitudinal sample of 8,650 U.S. children to (a) identify factors associated with or predictive of oral vocabulary size at 24 months of age and (b) evaluate whether oral vocabulary size is uniquely predictive of academic and behavioral functioning at kindergarten entry.

Does Minority Status Increase the Effect of Disability Status on Elementary Schoolchildren's Academic Achievement?

We investigated whether children's reading and mathematics growth trajectories from kindergarten to fifth grade inter-related, and to what extent disability and minority status interacted to predict their achievement trajectories. We conducted secondary data analysis based on a nationally representative sample of 6,446 U.S.

Which kindergarten children are at greatest risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity and conduct disorder symptomatology as adolescents?

We sought to identify which kindergarten children are simultaneously at risk of moderate or severe symptomatology in both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD) as adolescents. These risk factor estimates have not been previously available. We conducted multinomial logistic regression analyses of multiinformant ratings by the end of middle school of a population-based, longitudinal sample of children followed from kindergarten to eighth grade (N = 7,456).

Which Instructional Practices Most Help First Grade Students with and without Mathematics Difficulties?

We used population-based, longitudinal data to investigate the relation between mathematics instructional practices used by 1 grade teachers in the U.S. and the mathematics achievement of their students.

Preschool center care quality effects on academic achievement: an instrumental variables analysis.

Much of child care research has focused on the effects of the quality of care in early childhood settings on children's school readiness skills. Although researchers increased the statistical rigor of their approaches over the past 15 years, researchers' ability to draw causal inferences has been limited because the studies are based on nonexperimental designs. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate how an instrumental variables approach can be used to estimate causal impacts of preschool center care quality on children's academic achievement when applied to a study in which preschool curricula were randomly assigned across multiple sites.