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A Long Term Study Of Children's Cognitive DevelopmentVirginia C. ShipmanPublished online: 09 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Virginia C. Shipman (1978) A Long Term Study Of Children's Cognitive Development, Equity & Excellence inEducation, 16:1, 13-20, DOI: 10.1080/0020486780160103

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a long term study of children's cognitive development

Virginia c. shipman

„»•„

The families of 1212 children of predominantly lowincome urban and rural nine-year-old children wereinterviewed in their homes for this project, a part ofour continuing effort to understand the developmentof children in interaction with their environment. Theproject is part of an ongoing program of theEducational Testing Service (ETS).

We paid particular attention to assessing therelationship of status and situational characteristics toattitudinal and behavioral indicators of familyinteractions. For the 863 families who were alsointerviewed six years earlier, the data from theseinterviews provide an index of the stability and changein levels and patterns of relationship among the variousfactors assessed at both time periods. We also examined,the relationship of family variables to the children'sacademic achievement as shown by results on theCooperative Primary Math and Reading Tests and therelationship to their less school related problem-solvingability as shown on the Raven's Coloured ProgressiveMatrices Test. We collected information both onconcurrent relationships and on the extent to whichearly measures of the child's home environment werepredictive of the child's later cognitive-perceptualperformance.

sample characteristics

In the fall of 1968 four regionally distinct communitieswere selected which (1) had sufficient numbers ofchildren in grade school and in the Head Start programfor adequate follow-up, (2) appeared feasible forlongitudinal study given expressed community andschool cooperation and expected mobility rates, and(3) offered variation in preschool and primary gradeexperiences. The study sites chosen were Lee County,Alabama; Portland, Oregon; St. Louis, Missouri; andTrenton, New Jersey. Within these communities,elementary school districts with a substantialProportion of the population eligible for Head StartWere selected. In each school district we made anattempt to test all non physically-handicapped, English-speaking children who were expected to enroll infirst grade in the fall of 1971 (that is, children whowere approximately 3Vi to AVi years old).

In 1969 mothers were interviewed and children tested

prior to their enrollment in Head Start or any otherpreschool program. For this initial four-site sample atleast partial data were obtained on a total of 1875children, with Lee County and Portland constituting60 percent of the sample. Sixty-two percent of thesample was black, and boys comprised 53 percent ofthe overall group. Although children who moved intotarget districts were added to the study each year, byYear 6 (1974) the initial figure of 1875 had'droppedto 1017 because of mobility and other factors. Oneof these was the elimination of the St. Louis site in thethird year of the study due to situations beyond thecontrol of ETS and Head Start administrators. Thus,except for the loss of St. Louis, attrition over six yearswas limited to about one-third of the original sample,with losses distributed equally across sexes and sites,but relatively greater for whites in each site. Thesix-year longitudinal sample went from 62 to 72percent black.

Year 6 Interview Sample

In Year 6 those children who had been individuallytested in a previous study year were again individuallytested and their mothers interviewed; group testscontinued to be administered in classrooms with 50percent or more study children. The mothers of 1212study children were interviewed in Year 6. Themajority (65 percent) of this sample of children(hereafter called the total sample for this article) wereblack and there were slightly more males (53 percent)than females. Fifty-two percent had attended HeadStart and most of these were black (88 percent); about55 percent of the children who attended Head Startwere boys. Twenty-three percent (62 percent of themwhite) went to other preschools with boys stilloutnumbering girls (54 percent). The remainingquarter, who had not been enrolled in any preschoolprogram, consisted of slightly more white (57 percent)and female (53 percent) children.

The sites studied were similar, but there are somevariations from the overall description: Lee County,the largest site with a total of 572 children, had asignificantly larger percentage of white children (48percent vs. 35 percent in the total three-site sample),and slightly more males (54 percent vs. 53 percent).Trenton's sample of 268, which was the smallest, was

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tiie most racially unbalanced (89 percent were black).It also had the smallest percentage of children whoattended other preschools (15 percent) andconsequently the largest "percentage with no preschoolexperience (33 percent). Since most of the children inthis sample who were in Head Start programs wereblack, variation in racial composition across sites isprimarily reflected in the different distribution by racefor those children who did or did not attend otherpreschool programs.

Longitudinal Interview Sample

Two smaller groups drawn from this total interviewsample comprised the longitudinal interview sample.The larger of the two groups (852) included thosechildren who were administered Raven's ColouredProgressive Matrices in Year 6 and whose motherswere interviewed in Year 1 and reinterviewed in Year6. Children in target third-grade classrooms, (thosewith 50 percent or more children who had beenpreviously tested) who were administered theCooperative Primary Tests and whose mothers wereinterviewed in both Years 1 and 6 made up the second,smaller subsample (523). Almost all these childrenwere also given the Raven. A considerable number oflongitudinal children, though located for individualtesting, were excluded from this sample. Some were nolonger in target classrooms and thus were not giventhe group achievement tests. In addition to simplymoving out of the district, the most common reasonssome children were no longer in a target classroomwere failing or skipping a grade, enrollment in aprivate/parochial school, and, in Portland, exercisingthe option available to be bused to a differentelementary school. Others were excluded because aparent interview was missing in Year 1 and/or Year 6.The most frequent reasons for not obtaining aninterview were difficulties in scheduling because of themother's prolonged absence from the home, illness, andmultiple jobs. But with flexible scheduling andrescheduling, refusals were extremely rare.

The majority of the longitudinal sample were black(71 percent); boys comprised 53 percent of the sample.Fifty-seven percent had enrolled in Head Start, 24percent had attended other preschool programs, andthe remaining 19 percent had no preschool attendanceon record. The Head Start group was essentially black(92 percent) and contained more males (56 percent).More white than black children had been enrolled inother preschool programs (about 64 percent), withmales again present to a somewhat greater degree.Children not known to have been enrolled in anypreschool program were divided about equally by bothsex and race. Thus in comparison with the total Year 6interview sample, the longitudinal sample comprisedmore blacks, more children who had attended HeadStart, and fewer who had not enrolled in any preschoolprogram. Except for a few differences in Portland,it was again true that the characteristics for the Ravenand Cooperative Primary subgroups within theindividual sites were generally so close as to makeany further comparison unnecessary.

Attrition

A detailed examination of attrition revealed a generallyhigh percentage of families who were followed overthe six-year period. As was true in the separate racewithin site analyses, attrition primarily occurred forthose white families temporarily residing in Lee County

while connected with Auburn University or one of thenearby military bases. There were few if any differencesobtained when Year 1 interview responses werecompared for longitudinal families who were notreinterviewed in Year 6 or whose child was notadministered a reading or math achievement test in atarget classroom. The relatively slight attrition in thethree remaining study sites is in large part due to theextraordinary tracking efforts of. project field staff.The value of committed, knowledgeable localcoordinators who have remained with the study andmaintained warm trusting relationships with schoolpersonnel and community residents is inestimable.Such smooth working relationships become especiallycritical given the frequent gaps in school records andthe delays in transferring records when children move,effects which are compounded when the rate of schooltransfers is high, as it is in many urban areas.

data collection

Year 1 Procedures

Community support and participation were essential ifmeaningful, useful data were to be obtained.Community leaders and administrators were consulted,and written intents (not merely consents) to participatein the study were sent to ETS by both communityagencies and local school boards. Field operations wereorganized around local staff who served ascoordinators, interviewers, testers, and observers. Forthe first phase of data collection, household canvassingand parent interviews, ETS subcontracted with theNew York City firm of Audits and Surveys (A&S) tolocate eligible children and then complete a 90-minuteETS-prepared interview with each eligible child'smother or mother surrogate. The interviewers, allfemale and matched by race with respondents, wererecruited from the local communities, with A&S staffresponsible for both training and supervision. Insubsequent years of the study, parent interviews werehandled in a similar manner, except that ETS assumedthe training and supervision responsibilities that hadbeen subcontracted to A&S.

During the first study year tests of individual childrenand mother-child interaction tasks were administeredby local women, most of whom were black housewiveswith limited work experience. While the usualeducational credentials were not required, experiencein working with young children was considered highlydesirable, as was the ability to read well and speak withease. After four to five weeks of training, finalselection of testers was made by the project directorand a senior member of the research team. Testing wasmonitored by the local coordinator and by ETSregional and Princeton office staffs.

Year 6 Procedures

Training procedures were essentially identical in lateryears except that with increased experience the trainingperiod could be reduced to three weeks. Differencesbetween Year 1 and Year 6 data collection proceduresprimarily reflected the fact that study children wereWi in Year 6 as compared to 3Vi in Year 1. In theearly years of the study, test centers were located inchurches or community recreation facilities; in lateryears testing was done in rooms available in theindividual schools or in mobile vans parked outsideof the school. We were fortunate to be able to continueto work with the same local coordinators and wecannot overemphasize their commitment, loyalty and

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skill. The continuity of the warm and smoothfunctioning relationships that they had established withschool personnel in the various sites contributedsignificantly to the success of the study.

Training of Interviewers and Testers. As in Year 1, alltraining sessions in Year 6 were conducted byPrinceton staff and comprised the following sequence:instruction on general testing procedures, specific taskdemonstrations, practice with trainers and othertrainees, practice with children and adults of theiracquaintance, and practice with unfamiliar childrenand adults similar to those in the study. The principalinvestigator made all final evaluations during the lastweek, following which additional practice andinstruction on general management procedures wereprovided. For Trenton, training sessions took place atthe ETS Princeton offices; for Lee County andPortland, in rented, vacant classroom space and atthe local coordinator's office. As in Years 2 through 4,the training period for testers was reduced to threeweeks; training of interviewers usually comprisedeight days. Training of parent interviewers and of childtesters proceeded simultaneously at each site withstaggered start dates.

Parent Interview. The Year 6 Parent Interview wasapproximately 1V2 hours in length and took place withthe mother or maternal surrogate; a small honorariumwas provided. Items were organized in five parts —those referring specifically to the child, to his/herschool experiences, to neighborhood schools andeducation in general, to the community, and to personaland family information. The order of items wasdeliberate since it has been found that most mothersare willing to talk about their children. As rapport isestablished during the process of the interview, theybecome more willing to discuss more personalinformation, such as age or employment. Ninety-threeto 95 percent of the respondents were rated ascooperative or very cooperative on the five parts of theinterview. At least three appointments were made (ondifferent days and at different times) before considering,the respondent a refusal. As in Year 1, all Year 6interviews were conducted in the child's home becausewe felt that a description of the child's physicalsurroundings at this time would provide valuablesupplemental information. Also, as in Year 1,interviews were administered by local women andmonitored by the site coordinators. Princeton staffchecked all interviews for missing or ambiguousinformation requiring followup, and provided feedbackto the local coordinators.

Data collection, however, is rarely a smooth operation.As anyone familiar with home interviewing willunderstand, conditions varied from a relaxedtwo-person chat on the living room sofa, to sitting atthe kitchen table with several interruptions fromneighbors and children, to standing in a crowdedone-room apartment. Thus, though the interview wasadministered on the average in eighty minutes,interview time ranged from fifty-five minutes to twohours. For 8 percent of the interviews, the noise levelwas high enough to be rated distracting. Recruitinginterviewers proved to be difficult. Due to the criticalgas shortage that developed that winter many personswere reluctant to assume a job which could involveconsiderable traveling. Several trained interviewers hadunexpected serious illnesses requiring hospitalizationand extended convalescence, and new staff had to betrained. Difficulties were encountered in schedulinginterviews, too. Locating and contacting mothers for

interviews often was a complicated matter involvingtracking several changes of address. Interviewingproceeded very slowly and had to be extended past theschool year because of the increased number ofworking mothers in the study, whose availability forinterviews was limited to evenings and weekends.Consequently, some interviewers had to reduce theirtime working away from home and this furtherprolonged completion of this phase of data collection.The data thus reflect to an unknown extent anyvariation in response due to the time of year obtainedand the interval between home and child assessment.

Individual testing. We made an attempt to locate andtest all study children who had been individuallytested in at least one previous year. The cooperation oflocal public and parochial school administrative andteaching staffs in tracking study children and facilitatingdata-gathering activities was a primary factor in therelatively low attrition in the study sample. Individualtests were grouped into two 1%-hour batteries, andeach battery was usually administered in a singlesession with a child. Testing proceeded from Februarythrough May and was monitored by the localcoordinator. As noted earlier, all testing was done inthe child's school or in a van parked in the schoolyard. Data were shipped weekly to the Princetonoffice where they were checked by tester trainers whoprovided feedback and monitoring of testingprocedures.

Group testing. The classroom teacher administeredgroup achievement tests in the spring in targetclassrooms (those with 50 percent or more childrenwho had been previously tested). The local coordinatorexplained the procedures for group testing and wasavailable to assist the teacher when necessary.

The major findings from the responses to theapproximately 300 interview items can be summarizedas follows:

(1) On the average, parents in study families hadapproximately eleven years of formal schooling andworked in blue-collar jobs; more than half themothers were employed. In 36 percent of the familiesfathers were absent, and public assistance was themain source of support for 18 percent.

(2) Within this relatively narrow socioeconomicrange, there was considerable variation in familyattitudes and interaction. Thus, families within thesame occupational and educational levels and withsimilar material resources varied in their (a)interactive patterns with study children, (b) attitudestoward local schools and education, (c) use andknowledge of community resources, (d)participation in extra-family activities, (e) feelingsof efficacy and optimism, (f) support of school-related activities, and (g) perceptions of the studychild. In examining correlations between status/situational characteristics and the mother's reportedinteractions with her child, at best less than 13percent of the variance in any of these behaviorscould be explained by any one of the status orsituational factors.

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(3) Various indices of socioeconomic status (SES)showed only moderate intercorrelation, suggestingthat no single index should be used as a generalproxy for SES and indicating the complex dimensionsof social stratification.

(4) As other researchers have found, few factorscorrelated with father absence and residentialmobility per se. Each family apparently developsa unique way of coping with these stresses, and nosingle set of processes can be used to characterizeall father-absent or mobile families.

Examination of the stability of family characteristicsrevealed:

(1) There was considerable individual changealthough status characteristics showed moderate tohigh stability over the six-year period. Thus, eventhough family status remains relatively constantover a number of years, the way in which the familyoperates within the environment may changeconsiderably.

(2) Significantly more mothers in the study samplewere employed in Year 6, a result of increases insingle-parent homes and in male unemployment intwo-parent families.

(3) Despite these statistics, for those families whoremained in the study,1 there was evidence of ageneral increase in material well-being, greaterfeelings of optimism, more favorable attitudes towardschool, more child-oriented attitudes and behaviors,and more active involvement in school-relatedactivities. Families were not uniform or consistentin the direction or degree of change, however.

The major finding from the several analyses of therelationships of family status, structure, andinteractional factors to children's cognitiveperformance can be summarized as follows:

• Concurrent and longitudinal patterns ofcorrelations between family factors and third-gradecognitive-perceptual scores were similar, althoughthe function of certain individual items (forexample, amount of maternal reading to thechild) apparently shifted across years. In the caseof maternal reading, the results suggest that thechange was in the way the factor was expressedrather than in the factor itself since the mother'sreading to her child at age four was significantlycorrelated with the child's possession of a librarycard at age nine.

• Status and situational factors generally hadmoderately high positive correlations with the .child's performace; the amount of parents' formalschooling had the strongest relationship,respectively, to the child scores.

• Those family factors which were found to berelated to the child's cognitive-perceptualperformance at age four tended to continue to beassociated with the child's academic skills andmore general problem-solving ability at age nine.The various indices of physical and psychologicalresources in the home: extent of maternalencouragement and involvement with the child inschool-related tasks and achievement expectationsfor him/her, use of alternatives to physicalpunishment in response to the child's misbehavior,

and knowledge and use of community resourceswere positively associated with the child'sperformance on a variety of cognitive andperceptual tasks. In accord with Slaughter'sfindings, certain factors with low stability appearedto be determined more by situations2 (attitudestoward school and feelings of efficacy in resolvingschool and community difficulties) and were notcorrelated with the child's cognitive performance.

• Results from the First Day of School Questionand structured mother-child interaction situationsin Year 1 revealed that the following factorsencouraged the child's cognitive development: useof more specific language, greater reliance onverbal feedback from the child, encouragement ofverbalization, use of positive versus negativecontrolling techniques, the provision of rationalesbased on feelings and logical consequences ratherthan on power and normative expectancies, andextent of supportive statements about earlyschool experiences.

• Changes over time in a few factors (e.g., mother'sexpectations for the child's educational attainment,use of informative-interactive responses to thechild's difficult questions, mother's participationand involvement in community activities,frequency of newspaper and magazine reading,and material resources in the home) contributedsignificantly to the child's achievement.

• There were few significant correlations betweenearly measures of the child's home environmentand the child's third-grade reading, math, andRaven performance after controlling for his orher level of preacademic skills at age four. Thisdoes not imply that continuation of such activitiesis unimportant (or that later family behaviors werenot influential), but only that their influence didnot differ from that measured earlier. Thesefindings also indicate the influence of the child'searly orientation and readiness for school on hisor her subsequent school performance. The factthat significant correlations were obtained forparental education and the mother's membershipin groups probably reflected the additionalresources for facilitating the child's educationalprogress that these experiences provided.

how various factors affect the child

Status/situational and interactional factors weresimilar in predicting the child's subsequent reading,math, and Raven Performance. The interactionalfactors, however, help provide important explanatoryinformation and clues that are not obvious from status .characteristics alone. Meaningful SES relationshipsmay more easily be determined as static groupcategories are replaced and those behavioral andattitudinal factors which link social and culturalenvironments to the emerging capabilities of youngchildren are defined.

The association between status/situational andinteractional factors might be best understood asreflecting differences in opportunities provided forparticular interactional factors to emerge. Thus, ahigher level of parental education is associated withgreater academic knowledge, increased awareness ofpublic affairs and popular culture, more informedperceptions of school, and continued seeking of newknowledge as in reading books and magazines,3 all of

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which may have impact on the child's knowledge andmotivation for learning. Parental attitudes andchild-rearing behaviors acquired through suchexperiences may have indirect effects upon the child.Another example of the interrelatedness of status,situational and interactional factors is that onefrequently finds an assocaition between low economicstatus, high household density, and parental use ofphysical punishment with their children. These negativeeffects of crowding have been shown to be exacerbatedby additional stresses in the home.4 Interactional factorswithin the family variables are thus considered as theunderlying mechanisms by which child outcomedifferences associated with family status characteristicsare created and maintained.

Our analyses clearly show not only the interrelated, butthe cumulative, effects of these family factors on thechild's academic achievement and cognitive-perceptualperformance. For example, the child reared in a homewith stresses associated with poverty, with littleeducational enrichment or encouragement, and limitedstimulation outside the home either directly orindirectly via the mother's involvement, would be'expected to show greater impairment in functioningthan the child reared under equally impoverishedconditions, but whose parent is actively engaged in thecommunity. In the first case, the mother's alienationmay reflect a general depression which accentuates thedebilitating life circumstances for the child; in thesecond, the mother's participation may reflect a beliefin her ability to determine consequences, thus providinga motivational model for the child, in addition toincreasing the child's exposure to stimulatingexperiences in a more varied environment.

Findings were generally replicated across site, race,sex, and preschool enrollment categories. As would beexpected, except for a few items pertaining to the child'sinterests and activities (with girls perceived as moremature, responsible, and more interested andcompetent in academic skills, particularly reading), wefound no significant differences in family characteristicsfor parents of boys and girls in the study. There were,however, several significant differences in the region,race, and preschool attendance categories.

Racial Differences

Those families who were black, enrolled the studychild in Head Start, or lived in Trenton's crowdedurban environs, were most economically impoverished,Despite the general increase in material well-being,race/SES gaps remained, and for the limited numberof inner-city black families in the sample, economicconditions generally had deteriorated. Consistent withrecent census figures father absence was significantlyhigher in black families (46 percent vs. 14 percent)and increased significantly in the six-year period.Unemployment rates also were significantly higher forblack fathers and heads-of-household, although ratesof change were not different for black and white studyfamilies. As we found in our earlier study, and inagreement with Strieker's more recent findings, therewas a significantly smaller correlation in black familiesbetween parents' educational and occupational levelsand between occupational level and children'sperformance.5 Thus, occupational status appears tohave a different meaning for black and white families.Race differences in the correlations between familyfactors and the child's cognitive-perceptual performancesuggested that black children's performance wasaffected to a greater extent by other child and

extra-family influences (e.g., differences in childmotivation, teacher expectancies, and schoolresources). Slightly lower reliabilities in the criterionscores for the black sample may have accounted forsome of the race differences. Slaughter suggests thatsuch differences in the predictability of the child'scognitive performance in school may indicate thediscontinuity of the low-income black child's home andschool experiences.6 And Portes and Wilson havedescribed the relatively greater role that self-esteem andachievement aspirations play in black students'educational attainment as a function of their"outsider" status.7

As many recent writers have pointed put,8 the existingliterature has emphasized the adverse influences ofblack low-income parents' childrearing practices onachievement motivation and cognitive processes intheir young children.9 We need to examine further theextent to which family socialization practices derivefrom existing social conditions, that is, from extra-familyvariables rather than from intra-family traits. Thus,greater attention should be paid to how economicpolicies and conditions affect family structure andconsequent interactions and many observers believesuch examination of black low-income families in theUnited States is imperative.10 Similarly, the greateremphasis by black mothers on their child's obediencemay be viewed as an adaptive response to theirperception of what a black child must do to succeedin a white middle-class-dominant society.11.

Head Start Effects

Although there was no apparent general effect of HeadStart (or other preschool) experience on the child'sthird-grade test performance, comparative findings forlow-SES families who did and did not send theirchildren to Head Start suggested benefits to Head Startmothers that have potential long-term impact. MoreHead Start mothers had taken courses to further theireducation and they had higher aspirations for theirchild's educational achievement in contrast to blackHead Start-eligible mothers whose child had notattended any preschool program. In addition, theirfeelings of effectiveness and attitudes towards educationin general and to the child's school in particular wereat least as high as those for the "no preschool" samplewhich was of higher socioeconomic status. Head Startparticipation may have acted to reduce the influenceof status variables.

Black Head Start families whose children were enrolledin Follow Through programs in Year 6 (third grade)significantly differed in reported participation andinvolvement in both school and other communityactivities and in obtaining medical and dental servicesfor their children from black Head Start families whosechildren were not in Follow Through. These datasuggest the value of such continued broad-rangeservices in the schools for families similar to those inthe study. The fact that predictive correlations fromfamily status and process to third-grade outcomefactors tend to be weaker for those who attendpreschool suggests that the preschool experience, byeffecting changes in the family and/or the children,may be influential in disrupting the dismal cycle ofdeterminism that has been the lot of many childrenof poverty-stricken families.

The fact that families in this predominantly low-SESsample showed a significant increase in feelings ofoptimism and confidence, participation in school

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activities, knowledge and use of community resources,and aspirations and expectations for their children'seducational achievement may reflect in part diffusioneffects of community-action programs such as HeadStart. And as the Kirschner Associates report indicated,agencies such as hospitals and schools in thosecommunities in which Head Start was located showedsignificant positive changes in attitudes and behaviorsaffecting low-income families.12 Thus, group effectsmay be evident growing out of the fact that all familiesresided in communities where Head Start was available.Moreover, the increased emphasis in the seventies onparent involvement in the education of their childrenwhich may be reflected in these findings, may beviewed as an outgrowth of family-centered childdevelopment programs such as Head Start.

In describing these group differences, however, thereader should be cautioned that a number of factorsused to describe groups are confounded. For example,preschool program is confounded with site, race, andsocioeconomic status. Differences between sites areconfounded with region of the country, degree ofurbanness, socioeconomic status, and perhaps manyother unknown factors. When the groups beingcompared differ on several characteristics we cannotbe sure which of them is most explanatory of anydifferences that are observed or whether perhaps animportant explanatory factor was not measured.Moreover, these sites are not a random sample of apopulation of communities nor are the children in thesites a random sample of the children in these areasor of any definable population of disadvantagedchildren. Thus, these data do not allow us toextrapolate to proportions of Head Start children ingeneral. Consequently, any interpretation of groupdifferences presented in this article should be regardedas tentative. But the power of overwhelming evidenceshould not be overlooked such as a major effectoccurring in all three sites (e.g., the strong associationof expected educational attainment with the child'sachievement) or large differences found among sites(e.g., significantly higher unemployment rates in theurban sites). Such findings need to be replicated.

implications for social and educational policy

During the past fifteen years the influence of the family,especially the mother, on the cognitive development ofthe young child has become increasingly recognized andresearched.13 This recognition has given impetus tothe development of programs and materials to facilitateparent involvement during these early years.14 Thepresent findings support the importance of earlyparent-child interactions as well as of the child's earlyacquisition of school-relevant skills and motivationand of programs such as Head Start which emphasizeparent involvement in the child's educationalexperience. The importance of developmental guidelinesfor day-care programs also is evident.

The results indicate that changes in family interactionsthat have significance for the child's cognitivedevelopment and educational progress can and dooccur. In discussing early influences on the child's lateracquisition of school skills and the stability of familycharacteristics, we have emphasized therefore, theflexibility of the organism and the complex developinginteractions that occur between the child, the familysetting in which his/her development is embedded,and the larger society. Neither the child nor his or herenvironment is static. Prediction is not determinism.Our responsibility is to discover how to promote those

changes that will facilitate the development of allmembers of society. In this study a salient variable forunderstanding the child's school success was themother's level of educational aspirations andexpectations for her child. We need to delineate thefactors affecting such levels, for example, provisionof positive feedback for achievement efforts,availability of family support systems, experienceswhich enhance each family member's self-esteem,potency, and resources. Increased educational andjob opportunities could be one source of change.

Mother-Child Interactions

The present findings also suggest that the mother'slevel of aspiration is directly tied to the child's early •signs of intellectual alertness. If so, the implication isthat early cognitive stimulation from within or outsidethe home is important for the mother subsequently toprovide a continuously stimulating climate. Thisreciprocity and interdependence in behaviors wasevident in recent findings reported by Falender andHeber in which changes induced in the child byextrafamilial stimulation had the additional result ofinducing changes in the mother's interactions withthe child.15 Consistent with previous research, thepresent findings suggest that as the mother interactsmore, she feels less powerless, more optimistic, and isless likely to resort to status and authoritarian appealsfor controlling her child.16 Thus, programs reducingalienation may in turn increase the child's educability.We would also expect that as a result of the parents'participation in early intervention programs the familywould become less alienated from the educationalsystem and would come to define school not only in amore positive way, but also in a more differentiatedfashion. This, in turn, should provide the child withmore adequate and useful images of the school, of theteacher, and of the role of active student.

Importance of Economic Support

The study also indicates that economic support toimpoverished families has widespread ameliorativeeffects. For families with extremely limited resources,not only do such changes in material resourcesobviously affect the immediate well-being of familymembers but in some direct or indirect mannerapparently influence the child's school success and theprobability of his or her future growth andachievement. The findings also suggested particularareas of need for improved delivery of social servicesto poor families. Despite the low representation in thestudy sample of those in the most impoverishedcircumstances, a fair-sized minority of mothersreported: 1) their child had not been to a doctor sinceentering grade school; 2) they had no friends; and 3)their child had a problem which was of serious concern.

Attitudes Towards the Schools

Most study families feel positively towards the schoolsand value their child's educational attainment highly.Given their children's early interest and enjoyment inschool, there is powerful potential support for creativeinstructional approaches that meet the diversity ofchildren's needs and enhance their development.17

But for many economically disadvantaged familiesthere was considerable discrepancy between aspirationsand expectations for their child's educationalattainment. The data provide suggestions for areasneeding improvement if there is to be closer liaisonbetween home and school and pooling of resources to

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enhance the child's development. The majority ofparents felt that most teachers in their child's schooldo not understand community needs. And, although anumber of parents visited their child's school andassisted with extracurricular activities, very few hadbeen involved in discussions of the curriculum theirchild received. A substantial number of families wouldappear to require concerted outreach efforts from theschools; 19 percent of the mothers did not know thename of their child's teacher. The lower correlationswithin black families between family variables andchild achievement also suggest further examinationof differential educational treatment according to race.There was some indication in the findings that themore impoverished study families experienced moreimpoverished educational conditions for their children.

A major policy implication of the present study is thatalthough SES, ethnicity, sex, region of residence, maybe important as group indicators for political purposes,they may be irrelevant as functional indicators forpurposes of educational design and planning. Usualclassifications by family structure, ethnicity and incomeare less useful than assessing the attitudes andchild-rearing values of the families involved.Low-income parents are not a homogeneous group.

implications for future research

Many of the results reported here are only suggestiveof potential avenues for future research. For example,the current data suggest that future evaluations ofHead Start should more carefully investigate potentialimpacts on mothers, particularly in the areas of themothers' furthering their own educations and activelyparticipating in their children's schooling. Theseimpacts on mothers might not have any immediatemeasurable effects on their children, but might influenceattitudes and achievement years after graduation fromHead Start. Effects on subsequent children might bestronger and appear earlier. Young children from largefamilies in which the mothers were active participantsin Head Start programs for a number of years couldbe compared to similar families in which mothers hadnot been involved with Head Start or any similarprograms. Also, in the present study only broadpreschool attendance categories were used; futureanalyses should investigate possible differential effectsdue to particular programs and participantcharacteristics. Of particular importance would be theextent to which parents were involved in learningactivities they could carry out with their children.^

The predictive power of educational expectancy, andof changes in expectancy over time, suggests theimportance of exploring this factor more fully.Although the mother's expectancies for her child'seducational attainment were clearly related to theamount of schooling she received, the correlationbetween these two relatively reliable variables is lowenough to indicate the importance of other factors.Eventually it may be possible to identify methods ofmodifying mothers' expectancies with positiveconsequences for their children, although such attemptsat manipulation may simply destroy the correlationbetween expectancies and achievement.

The present article focused on those findings generallycharacteristic of the study sample and major participantcategories: geographical region, race, and child's sexand preschool experience. Further analysis of thoselongitudinal families who did and did not change onstatus, situational, and interactional factors, focusing

on comparisons of those who showed positive andnegative change should provide more understandingof the relationships investigated here. (For example,comparisons might be made of parents and childrenin families who showed upward or downward mobilityduring the five-year period). The differential predictivefindings obtained by sex (within race) of child andnature of the cognitive task (i.e., achievement testsvs. Raven) should be carefully examined. The Ravenmay be viewed as relatively more "culture free" thanthe academic achievement measures and thusmotivational and cognitive style differences may bemore easily identified. Possible differential effects onchild behaviors of certain combinations of factors assuggested by Emmerich's recent findings, need to beexplored further.10

The current report clearly demonstrates the importanceof a variety of family influences on children's cognitivedevelopment. Yet it is also clear that the factorsassessed account for only a fraction of the variabilityin third-grade performance. We are now focusing onother potentially important determinants of schoolsuccess, in particular the influence of early classroomexperiences and the interaction between home andschool experiences. There is considerable need forfurther investigation of the complementary rolesvarious socializing agents (such as home, school,peers) play in affecting the child's school performance.To attempt to assess priorities among family, schooland child factors, however, is to oversimplify a systemin which reciprocal causation is possible and evenprobable. We regard the present study as one step ina continuing effort to understand how varioussocializing agents interact to enhance or interfere withthe child's development. We see such interactions as acontinual and progressive interplay between theorganism and its environment.20 Some of thesedynamic interdependencies were seen in the mother'schanging responses as a function of her child'sdevelopmental level and in the effects of changes insituational factors on interactional factors and therebyon child outcomes. Future research efforts will beincreasingly focused on further examination of suchdynamic interactions.

conclusion

The present study has focused largely on cognitivecorrelates of family status and interactional factors.But cognitive functioning is only one aspect of thechild's adaptation in the classroom which includes hisor her feelings and behaviors toward self, peers, andthe school. In addition, the interactions of suchattitudes and behaviors with the child's cognitivecompetencies and with school task demands arecritical components of adaptation to the school setting.In order to enhance such adaptation, we need tounderstand better the nature of such attitudes andbehaviors and those home and school factors whichinfluence their development. But our understandingof children's affective and social development and thosefactors influencing such development is meager incontrast to our understanding of children's cognitivedevelopment. To a large extent, this is due to lesswell-articulated theories of such developments and apaucity of adequate instruments for assessing it.Future reports will attempt to provide data to help fillin these gaps through a longitudinal analysis of theeffects of family style and classroom climate on thesocial adaptation of low-SES children during theprimary grades.

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This is an expanded version of the paper presented at thebiennial meeting of the Society for Research in ChildDevelopment in New Orleans, March 1977. Detailedprocedures and findings are described in Project Report 75-28authored by Shipman, V., McKee, D., and Bridgeman, B.

The research described in this paper was supported by Officeof Child Development, Department of Health, Education,and Welfare Grant H-8256.

1. Comparison of Year 1 interview responses by race withinsite for those families who were and were not includedin these analyses revealed significant attrition in the higherSES white sample only. There were no significantdifferences between groups in initial parental attitudesor behaviors reported.

2. D. T. Slaughter, Relation of Early Parent-TeacherSocialization Influences to Achievement Orientation andSelf-Esteem in Middle Childhood among Low-IncomeBlack Children (Paper presented at the biennial meetingof the Society for Research in Child Development,Denver, April 1975).

3. H. H. Hyman, C. R. Wright, and J. S. Reed, TheEnduring Effect of Education (Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1975).

4. A. Booth and J. N. Edwards, "Crowding and FamilyRelations," American Sociological Review, 41 (1976):308-21.

5. V. C. Shipman, Disadvantaged Children and Their FirstSchool Experiences: Demographic Indexes ofSocioeconomic Status and Maternal Behaviors andAttitudes (PR 72-13) Prepared under Grant H-8256,Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,(Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service, 1972)[ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 068522]; L. Strieker, Dimensions of Social Stratification forWhites and Blacks: The Toledo Study (RB 76-30)(Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service,November 1976).

6. Slaughter.7. A. Portes and K. L. Wilson. "Black-White Differences in

Educational Attainment," American Sociological Review,41, (1976): 414-31.

8. L. E. Pettigrew, Economic Theory and Practice: ItsEffects on Black Family Stability (Paper presented at themeeting of the American Psychological Association,Washington, D.C., 1976); and Slaughter.R. M. Edwards, "Race and Class in Early ChildhoodEducation," Young Children, 30, (1975): 401-11; andPettigrew.

9. N. E. Freeberg and D. T. Payne. "Dimensions ofParental Practice Concerned with Cognitive Developmentin the Preschool Child," Journal of Genetic Psychology,3, (1967): 245-61.R. D. Hess, "Social Class and Ethnic Influences onSocialization," in Carmichael's Manual of ChildPsychology, P. Mussen, ed., Vol. II (New York: Wileyand Sons, 1970): 457-58.

10. J. P. Comer and A. F. Poussaint, Black Child Care.

How to Bring Up a Healthy Black Child in America: AGuide to Emotional and Psychological Development(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975).K. Keniston, Do Americans Really Like Children?(Paper presented at the meeting of the AmericanOrthopsychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., 1976);and Pettigrew.

11. Comer and Poussaint.12. Kirschner Associates, Inc. A National Survey of the

Impacts of Head Start Centers on Community Institutions.(Contract No. B89-4638, prepared for the Office of ChildDevelopment, U.S. Department of Health, Education,and Welfare, 1970).

13. R. D. Hess, V. C. Shipman, J. E. Brophy and R.M. Bear, The Cognitive Environments of UrbanPreschool Children (Chicago: University of ChicagoPress, 1968); The Cognitive Environments of UrbanPreschool Children: Follow-up Phase (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1969; and H. Lytton,"Observation Studies of Parent-Child Interaction: AMethodological Review," Child Development, 42 (1971):651-81; E. S. Schaefer. "Parents As Educators: Evidencefrom Cross-sectional, Longitudinal and InterventionResearch," Young Children, 27 (1972): 227-39; B. L.White. "Critical Influences in the Origins of Competence,"Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 21, (1975): 243-65; S. H.White, M. C. Day, P. K. Freeman, S. A. Hantman andK. P. Messenger. Federal Programs for Young Children:Review and Recommendations, Vol. Ill: Recommendationsfor Federal Program Planning (Department of Health,Education, and Welfare Publication No. OS 74-103.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,1973).

14. I. J. Gordon. "Parenting, Teaching, and ChildDevelopment," Young Children, 31, (1976): 173-83;A. Honig. Parent Involvement in Early ChildhoodEducation (Washington, D.C.: National Association forthe Education of Young Children, 1975).

15. C. A. Falender and R. Heber. "Mother-child Interactionand Participation in a Longitudinal Intervention Program,"Developmental Psychology, 11 (1975) 830-36.

16. Hess, et al., "Social Class and Ethnic Influences onSocialization," and "The Cognitive Environments ofUrban Preschool Children."

17. Brent Bridgeman and Virginia C. Shipman with others,Disadvantaged Children and Their First SchoolExperiences. ETS-Head Start Longitudinal Study.Predictive Value of Measures of Self-Esteem andAchievement Motivation in Four-to-Nine-Year-OldLow-Income Children (Princeton, N.J.: EducationalTesting Service, November 1975).

18. Arie Bronfenbrenner, "Is Early Intervention Effective?"Teachers College Record, 76 (December 1974): 274-303.

19. W. Emmerich. "Structure and Development of Personal-Social Behaviors in Economically DisadvantagedPreschool Children," Genetic Psychology Monographs,in press.

20. A. J. Sameroff. "Early Influences on Development: Factor Fancy?" Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 21 (1975): 267-94.

/ am from Brunswick, Ga., -where I spent all of myearly years. In fact, I did not leave the South untilI was 35 years old. In my neighborhood we had ahouse on the corner next door to us which was awhite family. Across the street from us were eightwhite families and one black family, and to the leftof us was a black family, and .across from that blackfamily there was a public housing project forwhites. We just did not live in these ghettorizedkind of situations. Of course, there were someghettos. What it did was more than make integrationbecause of physical proximity easier, it madeintegration easier because black and white people,of all income levels, knew each other. They were

used to each other and it did not make that muchdifference. There was a kind of understanding.And once the South got over its sort of figment ofits corporate imagination that white supremacy wasthe order of the day, things began to work. And itseems to me that unless we create a situation in thiscountry in which individuals of all races, of allincome groups begin to know, to appreciate andunderstand each other, we just are not going to havethe kind of peace and tranquility that I thinkwe are all looking for.

—John Buggs, Staff Director, U.S.Commission on Civil Rights, September 19, 1974.

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