TY  - JOUR
AU  - Loeb,Susanna
AU  - Bridges,Margaret
AU  - Fuller,Bruce
AU  - Rumberger,Russ
AU  - Bassok,Daphna
TI  - How Much is Too Much? The Influence of Preschool Centers on Children's Social and Cognitive Development
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11812
PY  - 2005
Y2  - December 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11812
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11812.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Susanna Loeb
524 CERAS, 520 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA  94305
Tel: 650/725-4262
E-Mail: sloeb@stanford.edu

Margaret Bridges
E-Mail: mbridges@berkeley.edu

Bruce Fuller
E-Mail: b_fuller@berkeley.edu

Russell Rumberger
E-Mail: russ@education.ucsb.edu

Daphna Bassok
E-Mail: dbassok@virginia.edu
AB  - Previous research has demonstrated that attending center care is associated with cognitive benefits for young children. However, little is known about the ideal age for children to enter such care or the "right" amount of time, both weekly and yearly, for children to attend center programs. Using national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), this paper asks whether there are optimal levels of center care duration and intensity and whether these levels vary by race or income. We consider pre-reading and math skills as measured by assessments administered at the beginning of kindergarten, as well as teacher-reported social-behavioral measures. We find that on average attending center care is associated with positive gains in pre-reading and math skills, but negative social behavior. Across economic levels, children who start center care between ages two and three see greater gains than those who start centers earlier or later. Further, starting earlier than age 2 is related to more pronounced negative social effects. Results for center intensity vary by income levels and race. For instance, poor and middle-income children see academic gains from attending center intensively (more than 30 hours a week), but wealthier children do not; and while intense center negatively impacts Black and White's social development, it does not have any negative impact for Hispanic children.
ER  -