Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Crane, Jonathan
Duncan, Greg J.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Phillips, Meredith
How Might Genetic Influences on Academic Achievement Masquerade as Environmental Influences?
Smart Library on Children and Families, 2003.
Also: http://www.children.smartlibrary.org/NewInterface/segment.cfm?segment=2606
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Qontent
Keyword(s): Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Ethnic Differences; Family Background; Family Environment; Family Income; Genetics; I.Q.; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Background; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article reports on Phillips et al.'s study of the effects of families on black and white children's test scores. This abstract comes from the article's description of the researchers' methodology:

"Part of the problem in determining "how much" of the black-white achievement gap results from heredity versus environment is that a person's genes and environment influence each other in complicated ways. It is often difficult to tell what part of a person's situation is influenced by their genetic makeup and what part is shaped by their environment."

"Phillips and her colleagues sought to determine the relative importance of a wide range of family characteristics for children's vocabulary test scores. They did this by running statistical models in which they would factor in different influences and examine how the included variables changed the differences in black and white children's test scores."

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Smith, Judith R.
Duncan, Greg J.
Lee, Kyunghee
The Black-White Test Score Gap in Young Children: Contributions of Test and Family Characteristics
Applied Developmental Science 7,4 (2003): 239-252.
Also: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S1532480XADS0704_3
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Birthweight; Ethnic Differences; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study examined Black-White test score gaps in young children. Scores from a receptive verbal test (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised [PPVT-R]) and 2 full-scale intelligence tests (Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence [WPPSI]) were examined in 2 samples: (a) the Infant Health and Development Program: 315 premature, low birth weight 3- and 5-year olds; and (b) the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-Child Supplement: 2,220 3- to 4-year-olds and 1,354 5- to 6-year-olds. Questions addressed by the study included the following: Would similar test score gaps be seen on both tests and at both ages? Would gaps be reduced by controlling for family conditions and home environment? Would similar gaps be seen for the different tests? Fifteen- to 25-point differences in Black-White test scores were seen at both ages. The addition of demographic conditions reduced the disparities to 9 to 17 points. Including home environment measures further reduced the disparities to 4 to 13 points. Test score gaps were 11/2 to 3 times larger for the PPVT-R than for the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the WPPSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duncan, Greg J.
Dowsett, Chantelle J.
Claessens, Amy
Magnuson, Katherine A.
Huston, Aletha C.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Pagani, Linda S.
Feinstein, Leon
Engel, Mimi
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Sexton, Holly
Duckworth, Kathryn
Japel, Crista
School Readiness and Later Achievement
Presented: Atlanta, GA, Society for Research in Child Development, Biennial Meetings, April 10, 2005.
Also: http://www.cpc.unc.edu/training/Duncan_SchoolReadiness_04253.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); British Cohort Study (BCS); Children, Academic Development; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Entry/Readiness;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using six longitudinal data sets, we estimate links between three key elements of school readiness—school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills—and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to illuminate how naturally occurring changes in these early skills are associated with children's subsequent learning, most of our regression models control for cognitive, attention and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry.

Across all six studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading skills and then attention. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Duncan, Greg J.
Dowsett, Chantelle J.
Claessens, Amy
Magnuson, Katherine A.
Huston, Aletha C.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Pagani, Linda S.
Feinstein, Leon
Engel, Mimi
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Sexton, Holly
Duckworth, Kathryn
Japel, Crista
School Readiness and Later Achievement
Developmental Psychology 43,6 (November 2007): 1428-1446.
Also: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/43/6/1428/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); British Cohort Study (BCS); Children, Academic Development; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Entry/Readiness;

Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness—school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills—and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. (Copyright 2007 by the American Psychological Association)

Phillips, Meredith
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Duncan, Greg J.
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Crane, Jonathan
Family Background, Parenting Practices, and the Black-White Test Score Gap
In: The Black-White Test Score Gap. C. Jencks, and M. Phillips, et al., eds. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1998: pp. 103-145.
Also: http://brookings.nap.edu/books/0815746091/html/103.html
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Brookings Institution
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Ethnic Differences; Family Background; Family Environment; Family Income; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Preschool Children; Racial Differences; School Quality; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Test Scores/Test theory/IRT;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Chapter: Surveyed recent data from 2 samples of children to investigate R. J. Herrnstein and C. Murray's (see record 1994-98748-000) claims about the association between family background and young children's cognitive skills. The authors examine the contribution of parental education and income to the test score gap among 5- and 6-yr-olds. They then look at a much larger set of family environment indicators, including grandparents' educational attainment, mothers' household size, high school quality, and perceived self-efficacy, children's birth weight, children's household size, and mothers' parenting practices. Most of the analyses use data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, focusing on 1,626 African-American and European- American 5- and 6-yr olds. Data on 315 children from the Infant Health and Development Program were used to supplement the analyses. Even though traditional measures of SES account for no more than a third of the test score gap, results show that a broader index of family environment may explain up to two-thirds of it. The results help to identify the family characteristics that matter most for the gap. They suggest that eliminating environmental differences between Black and White families could help to eliminate the test score gap. ((c) 1998 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)

Smith, Judith R.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Consequences of Living in Poverty for Young Children's Cognitive and Verbal Ability and Early School Achievement
In: Consequences of Growing Up Poor. G.J. Duncan and J. Brooks-Gunn, eds., New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997: 132-189
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Development; Children; Children, Academic Development; Children, Poverty; Children, School-Age; Cognitive Ability; Family Income; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Marital Status; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Schooling;

In Consequences of Growing Up Poor, developmental psychologists, economists, and sociologists revisit a large body of studies to answer specific questions about how low income puts children at risk intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Many of their investigations demonstrate that although income clearly creates disadvantages, it does so selectively and in a wide variety of ways. Low-income preschoolers exhibit poorer cognitive and verbal skills because they are generally exposed to fewer toys, books, and other stimulating experiences in the home. Poor parents also tend to rely on home-based child care, where the quality and amount of attention children receive is inferior to that of professional facilities. In later years, conflict between economically stressed parents increases anxiety and weakens self-esteem in their teenaged children.

Smith, Judith R.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Klebanov, Pamela Kato
Lee, Kyunghee
Welfare and Work: Complementary Strategies for Low-Income Women?
Journal of Marriage and Family 62,3 (August 2000): 808-821.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1566798
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: National Council on Family Relations
Keyword(s): Behavioral Problems; Children; Cognitive Development; Home Environment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Income; Maternal Employment; Mothers; Welfare; Women;

We examine the effects of mothers' strategies of combining employment and welfare receipt during the first 3 years of their child's life on the child's cognitive development, behavior problems, and home learning environment at ages 5 to 6. We compare the child outcomes of those mothers who were continuously employed and received no welfare with (a) those who worked some or all of the 3 years and also received public assistance and (b) those who were totally dependent on public assistance. We studied children in single-parent families (N=1271) living below 200% of the poverty threshold using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement. No negative association was found on most child outcomes with a mother's employment whether or not it was combined with public assistance. However, mothers' not working at all and receiving financial support solely from AFDC was associated with negative child outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the possible effects of the new welfare laws on families and young children.