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How Much is Too Much? The Influence of Preschool Centers on Children’s Development Nationwide, Technical Report (PDF)
By Daphna Bassok, Margaret Bridges, Bruce Fuller, Susanna Loeb
November 4, 2005

Summary: This analysis examines the effects of different preschool or child care arrangements on children’s cognitive and social proficiencies at the start of kindergarten, focusing on how the duration and intensity of participation affect children across developmental domains. It is examined how such benefits or decrements in development may vary across children from different social classes and ethnic groups. Data indicate the strongest cognitive benefits were displayed by children who entered a center between two and three years of age. Children who started earlier did not display greater pre-reading or math skills. The negative behavioral effects associated with center attendance, compared with parental care at home, are much greater for those who enter a center when younger than two years of age, and are particularly large for those who start at less than one year of age. For both low and high income children, starting a center program before the age of two is not particularly beneficial for cognitive development and appears to be detrimental for social development. Hispanic children appear to benefit more in terms of cognitive development from attendance than White or Black children with similar characteristics, and Hispanic children’s center exposure yields no damaging effect on their social-behavioral growth. Contains 44 references.

Index Terms: Child Development, Early Childhood Delivery System, Early Childhood Education, Outcomes, Preschool Education, Academic Achievement, At Risk Children, Center Based Child Care, Demographics, Educational Quality, Low Income Families

Publisher: Stanford University

Publication Type: Reports (Research/technical)

Pages: 31 pages
Language: English
URL: http://pace.berkeley.edu/reports/Stanford_Berkeley_pr23DA13.pdf

Availability
University of California, Berkeley School of Education
3653 Tolman Hall
Berkeley, California 94720-1670
510-642-7223
FAX: 510-642-9148
pace@berkeley.edu
http://pace.berkeley.edu/

 
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