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Latino American Children and School Readiness: The Role of Early Care Arrangements and Caregiver Language
Bumgarner, Erin, 2011
Columbia University, Teachers College

The number of Latino children in the United States is steadily increasing. This demographic transformation presents several challenges for the United States, one of which is meeting the diverse educational needs of Latino children. This challenge is great; evidence from one national sample of kindergarten students estimates that by kindergarten the Latino-White achievement gaps are as large as 0.77 standard in math and 0.52 standard deviations in reading. Previous research indicates that high quality, center-based child care may help reduce these disparities. This dissertation aims to extend on this literature, using a nationally representative sample of Latino American children, to: (1) investigate selection processes into different care arrangements at 2- and 4-years of age; (2) estimate the impact of these different care arrangements on Latino American children's math, literacy and approaches to learning outcomes in the fall of kindergarten; and (3) examine whether these associations differ by the language spoken in the home, the language spoken by the child's care provider, or match between the two. Research questions include: (1) What factors predict Latino American children's enrollment into different care arrangements at 2-years (center-based care, parental care, or other home-based care) and 4-years (Head Start, pre-kindergarten, other center-based care, parental care, or other home-based care)?; (2) What are the associations between these care arrangements and Latino children's math, literacy, and approaches to learning scores in the fall of kindergarten?; and (3) Are there differential treatment effects depending on the language: (a) of the care provider?; (b) of the home?; (c) the match between home and care provider?

Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects