Quality of early childcare and education predicts high school STEM achievement for students from low-income backgrounds.

Abstract

High-quality early childcare and education (ECE) has demonstrated long-term associations with positive educational and life outcomes and can be particularly impactful for children from low-income backgrounds. This study extends the literature on the long-term associations between high-quality caregiver sensitivity and responsiveness and cognitive stimulation (i.e., caregiving quality) in ECE settings and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in high school. Using the 1991 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1,096; 48.6% female; 76.4% White, 11.3% African American, 5.8% Latine, 6.5% other), results demonstrated that caregiving quality in ECE was associated with reduced disparities between low-and higher-income children's STEM achievement and school performance at age 15. Disparities in STEM school performance (i.e., enrollment in advanced STEM courses and STEM grade point average) and STEM achievement (i.e., Woodcock-Johnson cognitive battery) were reduced when children from lower-income families experienced more exposure to higher caregiving quality in ECE. Further, results suggested an indirect pathway for these associations from caregiving quality in ECE to age 15 STEM success through increased STEM achievement in Grades 3 through 5 (ages 8-11 years). Findings suggest that community-based ECE is linked to meaningful improvements in STEM achievement in Grades 3 through 5 which in turn relates to STEM achievement and school performance in high school, and caregiving quality in ECE is particularly important for children from lower-income backgrounds. This work has implications for policy and practice positioning caregivers' cognitive stimulation and sensitivity in ECE settings across the first 5 years of life as a promising lever for bolstering the STEM pipeline for children from lower-income backgrounds. Public Significance StatementHigh-quality caregiving, that is emotionally responsive and cognitively stimulating, in the first 5 years of life is linked to STEM achievement and school success at age 15, and this relation is facilitated through increased STEM achievement in Grades 3-5. Further, this link is particularly strong for children from low-income families who benefit uniquely from exposure to high-quality early childcare and education. This work informs policy conversation around investing in high-quality early childcare and education for children from underserved communities.

Advancing Equity and Opportunities for STEM Students from Low-Income Backgrounds: Evaluating the Impact of a Collaborative Support Program on Academic Outcomes

“…We also included whether students were currently admitted to a STEM academic major (defined by CIP code of the degree) because some non-scholars started in a STEM major and then switched majors. Finally, because financial variables are often associated with students' outcomes (Bustamante et al, 2023;Miller et al, 2019;Pearman, 2019), we included several financial variables in the matching procedures: whether students received a Pell Grant or a state grant, students' financial independence (based upon the Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] definition), and estimated family contribution (from the FAFSA).…”