Browsing by Author "Vernon-Feagans, Lynne"

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Open 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.
Open Access
Infant and Toddler Child-Care Quality and Stability in Relation to Proximal and Distal Academic and Social Outcomes.
(Child development, 2020-11) Bratsch-Hines, Mary E; Carr, Robert; Zgourou, Eleni; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Willoughby, Michael
This study considered the quality and stability of infant and toddler nonparental child care from 6 to 36 months in relation to language, social, and academic skills measured proximally at 36 months and distally at kindergarten. Quality was measured separately as caregiver-child verbal interactions and caregiver sensitivity, and stability was measured as having fewer sequential child-care caregivers. This longitudinal examination involved a subsample (N = 1,055) from the Family Life Project, a representative sample of families living in rural counties in the United States. Structural equation modeling revealed that children who experienced more positive caregiver-child verbal interactions had higher 36-month language skills, which indirectly led to higher kindergarten academic and social skills. Children who experienced more caregiver stability had higher kindergarten social skills.
Open 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.