Browsing by Author "Carr, Robert C"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Effects of North Carolina's pre-kindergarten program at the end of kindergarten: Contributions of school-wide quality
    (Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2021-07) Carr, Robert C; Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen S; Kaplan, Rachel; Mokrova, Irina L
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Examining the Effects of Changes in Classroom Quality on Within-Child Changes in Achievement and Behavioral Outcomes.
    (Child development, 2021-07) Watts, Tyler W; Nguyen, Tutrang; Carr, Robert C; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Blair, Clancy
    This study examines whether changes in classroom quality predict within-child changes in achievement and behavioral problems in elementary school (ages spanning approximately 6-11 years old). Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of children in predominantly low-income, nonurban communities (n = 1,078), we relied on child fixed effects modeling, which controlled for stable factors that could bias the effects of classroom quality. In general, we found that changes in classroom quality had small and statistically nonsignificant effects on achievement and behavior. However, we found that moving into a high-quality classroom, particularly those rated as high in Classroom Organization, had positive effects on achievement and behavior for children with significant exposure to poverty in early life.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Latent Class Growth Trajectories of Letter Name Knowledge During Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten.
    (Journal of applied developmental psychology, 2020-07) Carr, Robert C; Bratsch-Hines, Mary; Varghese, Cheryl; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne
    A major developmental task for young children in the United States involves the acquisition of knowledge about the letters in the English alphabet. In the current study, we examined the growth trajectories of children's letter name knowledge (LNK) during pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. A diverse sample of 1,015 children was drawn from the National Center for Early Development and Learning Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten. Latent class growth analyses were used to identify three heterogeneous classes of children based on their LNK growth trajectories. Children's fall-of-pre-kindergarten language skills were associated with trajectory class membership, which in turn was associated with children's spring-of-kindergarten literacy skills. We also found that the association between children's fall-of-pre-kindergarten language skills and spring-of-kindergarten literacy skills was partially mediated by trajectory class membership. These findings point to the importance of LNK skill development as a marker variable to monitor and support children's emergent literacy development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Understanding Heterogeneity in the Impact of Public Preschool Programs.
    (Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 2023-06) Watts, Tyler W; Jenkins, Jade M; Dodge, Kenneth A; Carr, Robert C; Sauval, Maria; Bai, Yu; Escueta, Maya; Duer, Jennifer; Ladd, Helen; Muschkin, Clara; Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen; Ananat, Elizabeth
    We examine the North Carolina Pre-K (NC Pre-K) program to test the hypothesis that observed variation in effects resulting from exposure to the program can be attributed to interactions with other environmental factors that occur before, during, or after the pre-k year. We examine student outcomes in 5th grade and test interaction effects between NC's level of investment in public pre-k and moderating factors. Our main sample includes the population of children born in North Carolina between 1987 and 2005 who later attended a public school in that state, had valid achievement data in 5th grade, and could be matched by administrative record review (n = 1,207,576; 58% White non-Hispanic, 29% Black non-Hispanic, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial and Other race/ethnicity). Analyses were based on a natural experiment leveraging variation in county-level funding for NC Pre-K across NC counties during each of the years the state scaled up the program. Exposure to NC Pre-K funding was defined as the per-4-year-old-child state allocation of funds to a county in a year. Regression models included child-level and county-level covariates and county and year fixed effects. Estimates indicate that a child's exposure to higher NC Pre-K funding was positively associated with that child's academic achievement 6 years later. We found no effect on special education placement or grade retention. NC Pre-K funding effects on achievement were positive for all subgroups tested, and statistically significant for most. However, they were larger for children exposed to more disadvantaged environments either before or after the pre-k experience, consistent with a compensatory model where pre-k provides a buffer against the adverse effects of prior negative environmental experiences and protection against the effects of future adverse experiences. In addition, the effect of NC Pre-K funding on achievement remained positive across most environments, supporting an additive effects model. In contrast, few findings supported a dynamic complementarity model. Instrumental variables analyses incorporating a child's NC Pre-K enrollment status indicate that program attendance increased average 5th grade achievement by approximately 20% of a standard deviation, and impacts were largest for children who were Hispanic or whose mothers had less than a high school education. Implications for the future of pre-k scale-up and developmental theory are discussed.