Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

Reports | Measures (1) | NICHD SECCYD Site-Specific Research | Presentations | Report | Measures (2)

  • Funding Phase 1-4: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
  • Funding Phase 5-6: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

The Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) is a national longitudinal study conducted at 10 research sites from 1991 to 2008. The study was designed to examine early child care and its effects on children’s development, in particular five parameters of child care experience: age of entry into care, continuity of care, type of care, amount or quantity of care, and quality of care. Because it was a non-experimental study, the investigators adopted a broad ecological framework, considering multiple contexts of development. For this reason, the study was as much a study of the home, school, and out-of-school environments as it was a study of child care settings.

Across the 10 sites, 1,364 children and their families were enrolled in the study at birth. The children were followed through age 15 years in four study phases. In Phase I (birth to 36 months) and Phase II (37 months to Grade 1), the primary focus was on child care and the family. Phase III (Grade 2 to Grade 7) was conceptualized more broadly and focused on the interplay between early and concurrent experience in child care, in the family, in school, and in out-of-school settings, and the processes that account for varying developmental trajectories. Phase IV (Grade 8 to 15 years) focused on development in middle adolescence. Phase V was designed to follow up with the young adults as they transitioned from high school to college age (age 18), assessing their current academic achievements, work and living situation, and future career goals.Phase VI was an Age 26 follow-up assessment implemented to identify enduring effects of organized out-of-school activities on adult outcomes including educational attainment, earnings, occupation, family formation, physical and mental health, and civic engagement.

 

Reports:

Vandell, D. L., & Wolfe, B. (2000). Child care quality: Does it matter and does it need to be improved? Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also available as (Special Report No. 78). University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Research on Poverty. [PDF Paper]

 

Measures:

  • Phase I (PDF – 100 KB) (birth through 3 years of age)
  • Phase II (PDF – 85.3 KB) (54 months through 1st grade)
  • Phase III (PDF – 152 KB) (2nd through 6th grades)
  • Phase IV (PDF – 100 KB) (7th through 9th grades)

 

NICHD SECCYD Site-Specific Research

Deborah Lowe Vandell and Kim Pierce, now at the University of California, Irvine, led the University of Wisconsin-Madison site of the NICHD SECCYD. Each research site had opportunities to supplement the common protocol with measures of particular interest to the research team at that site. A chart of the site-specific measures collected at the University of Wisconsin-Madison site, and when they were administered, can be viewed by clicking HERE. The individual measures and associated documentation appear below.

 

Presentations

Vandell, D. L., Burchinal, M., Friedman, S., & Brownell, C. (2001, April). Overview of early child care effects at 4.5 years. In J. Belsky (Chair), Early child care and children’s development prior to school entry. Symposium conducted at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN. [Powerpoint]

Vandell, D. L., Pierce, K. M., Booth, C. L., Belsky, J., Clarke-Stewart, K. A., Owen, M. T., et al. (2003, April). Are child developmental outcomes related to before- and after-school care arrangements? In D. L. Vandell (Chair), After-school care during middle childhood: Self-care, structured activities, and formal programs. Symposium conducted at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL. [PDF Powerpoint] [PDF Notes]

Vandell, D. L. (2003, December). Early childhood education: The research evidence. A presentation to the Governor’s Task Force on Improving K-12 Education, Madison, WI. [PDF Powerpoint]

Vandell, D. L., Pierce, K. M., & Lee, D. (2005, April). Quality of relationships with after-school program staff and child developmental outcomes. In J. L. Mahoney & D. L. Vandell (Chairs), Features of after-school programs that promote development: Type, quality, and content. Symposium conducted at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA. [PDF Powerpoint] [PDF Notes]

Vandell, D. L., Burchinal, M. R., Belsky, J., Owen, M. T., Friedman, S. L., Clarke-Stewart, K. A., McCartney, K., & Weinbraub, M. (2005, April). Early child care and children’s development in the primary grades: Follow-up results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. In M. R. Burchinal (Chair), Early child care and children’s development in the primary grades: Results from three large longitudinal studies. Symposium presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA. [PDF Powerpoint] [PDF Notes]

Pierce, K. M., Lee, D., & Vandell, D. L. (2007, March-April). Extracurricular participation and academic outcomes in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. In L. M. Malone (Chair), Learning outside of elementary school: A longitudinal look at extracurricular participation and achievement. Symposium conducted at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA. [PDF Powerpoint] [PDF Notes]

 

Report

Vandell, D. L., & Wolfe, B. (2000). Child care quality: Does it matter and does it need to be improved? Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also available as (Special Report No. 78). University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Research on Poverty. [PDF Paper]

 

Measures

Each research site had opportunities to supplement the common protocol with measures of particular interest to the research team at that site. A chart of the site-specific measures collected at the University of Wisconsin-Madison site, and when they were administered, can be viewed by clicking HERE. The individual measures and associated documentation appear below.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *