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

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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Reinventing the public square and early educational settings through culturally informed, community co-design: Playful Learning Landscapes.

What if the environment could be transformed in culturally-responsive and inclusive ways to foster high-quality interactions and spark conversations that drive learning? In this article, we describe a new initiative accomplishing this, called Playful Learning Landscapes (PLL). PLL is an evidence-based initiative that blends findings from the science of learning with community-based participatory research to transform physical public spaces and educational settings into playful learning hubs. Here, we describe our model for conducting this research, which is mindful of three key components: community input, how children learn best, and what children need to learn to be successful in the 21st century economy. We describe how this model was implemented in two PLL case studies: one in a predominantly Latine community and the second in early childhood education classrooms. Furthermore, we describe how research employing our model can be rigorously and reliably evaluated using observational and methodological tools that respond to diverse cultural settings and learning outcomes. For example, our work evaluates how PLL impacts adult-child interaction quality and language use, attitudes about play and learning, and community civic engagement. Taken together, this article highlights new ways to involve community voices in developmental and educational research and provides a model of how science can be translated into practice and evaluated in culturally responsive ways. This synthesis of our process and evaluation can be used by researchers, policymakers, and educators to reimagine early educational experiences with an eye toward the built environment that children inhabit in everyday life, creating opportunities that foster lifelong learning.

Sleep disparities in the first month of college: implications for academic achievement.

Study Objective: We investigated sleep disparities and academic achievement in college. Methods: Participants were 6,002 first-year college students attending a midsize private university in the southern United States [62.0% female, 18.8% first-generation, 37.4% Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) students]. During the first 3-5 weeks of college, students reported their typical weekday sleep duration, which we classified as short sleep (<7 hours), normal sleep (7-9 hours), or long sleep (>9 hours). Results: The odds for short sleep were significantly greater in BIPOC students (95% CI: 1.34-1.66) and female students (95% CI: 1.09-1.35), and the odds for long sleep were greater in BIPOC students (95% CI: 1.38-3.08) and first-generation students (95% CI: 1.04-2.53). In adjusted models, financial burden, employment, stress, STEM academic major, student athlete status, and younger age explained unique variance in sleep duration, fully mediating disparities for females and first-generation students (but only partially mediating disparities for BIPOC students). Short and long sleep predicted worse GPA across students' first year in college, even after controlling for high school academic index, demographics, and psychosocial variables. Conclusions: Higher education should address sleep health early in college to help remove barriers to success and reduce disparities.

Off to a good start: Early Spanish-language processing efficiency supports Spanish- and English-language outcomes at 4½ years in sequential bilinguals.

Many Latino children in the U.S. speak primarily Spanish at home with few opportunities for exposure to English before entering school. For monolingual children, the strongest early predictor of later school success is oral language skill developed before kindergarten. Less is known about how early oral language skills support later learning in sequential bilingual children. A question with wide-reaching significance is whether skill in a child's first language (L1) supports later learning in a second language (L2). In this longitudinal study of sequential Spanish-English bilinguals, we assessed oral language skills in Spanish at 2 years through parent reports of vocabulary size and children's real-time language processing efficiency (Accuracy, RT) in the 'looking-while-listening' (LWL) task. At 4½ years, we assessed language outcomes in both Spanish and English using standardized tests. Reported relative exposure to each language was significantly correlated with language outcomes in Spanish and English. Within-language relations were observed between Spanish vocabulary size and processing efficiency at 2 years and later Spanish-language outcomes. Critically, across-language relations were also observed: Children with stronger Spanish-language processing efficiency at 2 years had stronger English-language skills at 4½ years, controlling for socioeconomic status and exposure to English. Children's early language processing efficiency in Spanish is associated with stronger real-time information processing skills that support maintenance of Spanish and learning in English when these children enter school. These results support the recommendation that primarily Spanish-speaking families should engage in activities that promote children's Spanish-language skills while also seeking opportunities for children to be exposed to English.

Lesiones graves y moderadas por accidentes de tránsito en mayores de 60 años. Medellín, Colombia / Severe and moderate injuries in people over 60 years of age caused by road traffic accidents in Medellín, Colombia

Resumen Introducción. Cada día, 3 400 personas mueren en el mundo por un accidente de tránsito (AT); miles sufren lesiones o adquieren una discapacidad cada año por la misma causa. En Colombia, en 2016 se registró una tasa de 92.8 heridos y 14.9 muertes por cada 100 000 habitantes. Objetivo. Describir las características de los AT y el entorno de su atención en mayores de 60 años con lesiones moderadas o graves en Medellín, Colombia, durante el periodo 2015-2016. Materiales y métodos. Estudio descriptivo de las características de personas mayores de 60 años con lesiones moderadas y graves después de un AT. Resultados. Se evaluaron247 personas, 93.1% con lesiones moderadas; el 94.1% de las lesiones graves ocurrieron cuando se atropelló un peatón. En 60.7% de los AT una moto estuvo involucrada. El puntaje global del WHODAS-II fue de 40.6 y los dominios de funcionamiento más afectados fueron actividades domésticas, actividades fuera de la casa y movilidad; en cuanto a la calidad de vida, se afectó la función física, el desempeño físico y el cambio en salud. Conclusión. Los mayores de 60 años con lesiones por AT fueron, en su mayoría, peatones atropellados por motocicletas. El AT afectó la calidad de vida y el funcionamiento de los pacientes.

Abstract Introduction: Every day, 3 400 people are killed in road traffic accidents (RTA) in the world; thousands are injured or disabled each year from the same cause. In Colombia, a rate of 92.8 injured and 14.9 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants was reported in 2016. Objective: To describe the characteristics of RTA, clinical care and quality of life of people over 60 years of age with moderate or severe injuries in Medellín, Colombia, during the period 2015-2016. Materials and methods: Descriptive study of the characteristics of people over 60 years of age with moderate and severe injuries after a a RTA. Results: 247 people were included in the study, of which 93.1% had moderate injuries; 94.1% of the severe injuries occurred when a pedestrian was hit. In 60.7% of the RTA, a motorcycle was involved. The overall WHODAS-II Score was 40.6 and the most affected operational domains were domestic activities, activities outside the home and mobility. In terms of quality of life, physical function, physical performance and change in health were affected. Conclusion: People over 60 years of age with RTA injuries were mostly pedestrians and motorcycles were the most frequent vehicle involved. RTA affected patients' quality of life and functioning.

Non-symbolic approximate arithmetic training improves math performance in preschoolers.

Math proficiency at early school age is an important predictor of later academic achievement. Thus, an important goal for society should be to improve math readiness in preschool-age children, especially in low-income children who typically arrive in kindergarten with less mathematical competency than their higher income peers. The majority of existing research-based math intervention programs target symbolic verbal number concepts in young children. However, very little attention has been paid to the preverbal intuitive ability to approximately represent numerical quantity, which is hypothesized to be an important foundation for full-fledged mathematical thinking. Here, we tested the hypothesis that repeated engagement of non-symbolic approximate addition and subtraction of large arrays of items results in improved math skills in very young children, an idea that stems from our previous studies in adults. In the current study, 3- to 5-year-olds showed selective improvements in math skills after multiple days of playing a tablet-based non-symbolic approximate arithmetic game compared with children who played a memory game. These findings, collectively with our previous reports, suggest that mental manipulation of approximate numerosities provides an important tool for improving math readiness, even in preschoolers who have yet to master the meaning of number words.