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We analyzed a population-representative cohort (N=13,611; Mage at kindergarten, first, and second grade = 67.5, 79.5, and 91.5 months, respectively) to identify kindergarten to second grade factors predictive of being bullies or victims during third to fifth grade. We did so by estimating a block recursive structural equation model (SEM) with three sets of predictors. These were: (a) individual and school socio-demographics; (b) family distress and harsh parenting; and (c) individual behavior and achievement. Relations between each of the included variables and the bullying outcomes were simultaneously estimated within the SEM. Thus, each variable served as a control for estimating the effects of the other variables. We used robust standard errors to account for student clustering within schools. Results indicated that externalizing problem behavior strongly predicted being a bully ([ES] = .56, p

Students with disabilities (SWD) who are Black or Hispanic have been reported to be more likely to be placed primarily outside of general education classrooms while attending U.S. schools. Federal law and regulation require monitoring of special education placement based on race or ethnicity. Yet, whether and to what extent racial or ethnic disparities in placement are explained by bias or by other explanatory factors is currently unclear. We evaluated for racial and ethnic bias in special education placement by analyzing longitudinal data from two independent samples of SWD (N values range 590-1,130) attending U.S. elementary schools. We statistically controlled for plausibly exogenous sociodemographic, academic, and behavioral risk factors measured in kindergarten in analyses of the students as they attended first, third, and fifth grades between the 1999-2000 and 2015-2016 school years. Of the resulting 12 Black or Hispanic grade-year-specific tests, 11 (i.e., 92%) indicated that controls for kindergarten explanatory factors-particularly significant academic difficulties-fully explained the risk initially attributable to race or ethnicity. We observed little evidence that bias explains racial or ethnic disparities in special education placement in U.S. elementary schools.

Students who are Black or Hispanic are now reported to be less likely to be identified as having disabilities than similarly situated students who are White. Although repeatedly replicated, this finding is often characterized as in error. I use a new statistical technique, the E-value, to quantify the likelihood that unmeasured confounding explains observed associations between race or ethnicity and disability identification. Results based on calculations across three population-based studies using extensive statistical controls suggest that unmeasured confounding is an unlikely explanation for the observed associations. Unmeasured confounding that would result in levels of overidentification consistent with federal law and regulation is especially unlikely.

We examined to what extent subgroups of students identified with learning disabilities (LDs; N = 630) in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K): 1998 national longitudinal study displayed heterogeneity in longitudinal profiles of reading and mathematics achievement from first to eighth grades. Multivariate growth mixture modeling yielded four classes of combined reading and mathematics trajectories for students with LD. The largest class of students with LD (Class 2, 54.3%) showed mean T-scores for both achievement domains that averaged about 1 SD below the mean, with modest decline over time. Almost a quarter of the sample (Class 1, 22.3%) displayed mean T-scores in both achievement areas near the peer-normed average; these students were mostly White, from higher socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, and had experienced earlier identification as having an LD as well as shorter duration of LD service. Classifying heterogeneity in longitudinal trajectories of both achievement areas shows promise to better understand the educational needs of students identified with an LD.

We analyzed a population-based cohort of 11,780 U.S. kindergarten children to identify risk and protective factors predictive of frequent verbal, social, reputational, and/or physical bullying victimization during the upper elementary grades. We also stratified the analyses by biological sex. Both girls and boys displaying kindergarten externalizing problem behaviors were at consistently higher risk of frequent victimization during 3rd-5th grade (for the combined sample of boys and girls, verbal odds ratio [OR] = 1.82, social OR = 1.60, reputational OR = 1.85, physical OR = 1.67, total OR = 1.93). Hispanic children relative to non-Hispanic White children and those from higher income families were the most strongly and consistently protected from victimization. Boys were more likely to be physically bullied but less likely to be verbally, socially or reputationally bullied than girls. Other variables including disability, cognitively stimulating parenting, academic achievement, and internalizing behavior problems had statistically significant but less consistent and generally weaker relations with frequent victimization.

We analyzed a population-based cohort (N = 10,922) to investigate the onset and stability of racial and ethnic disparities in advanced (i.e., above the 90th percentile) science and mathematics achievement during elementary school as well as the antecedent, opportunity, and propensity factors that explained these disparities. About 13% to 16% of White students versus 3% to 4% of Black or Hispanic students displayed advanced science or mathematics achievement during kindergarten. The antecedent factor of family socioeconomic status and the propensity factors of student science, mathematics, and reading achievement by kindergarten consistently explained whether students displayed advanced science or mathematics achievement during first, second, third, fourth, or fifth grade. These and additional factors substantially or fully explained initially observed disparities between Black or Hispanic and White students in advanced science or mathematics achievement during elementary school. Economic and educational policies designed to increase racial and ethnic representation in STEM course taking, degree completion, and workforce participation may need to begin by elementary school.

We used time-varying effect modelling of two very large samples of fourth-grade students (N[subscript reading] = 148,240, N[subscript mathematics] = 152,220) to investigate associations between adoption and over-time implementation of a de facto cap on special education service receipt and over-time likelihoods of disability identification from 2003 to 2017 for Texas students including those from historically marginalized communities. Following the cap's adoption, Texas students who are Black or English Language Learners (ELLs) were gradually less likely to have been identified as having disabilities than students in adjoining statues who are Black or ELLs in analyses adjusting for individual academic achievement, family economic disadvantage, school fixed effects, and other explanatory factors. Findings provide additional evidence of the cap's specific associations with disability identification disparities for demographic populations especially likely to have experienced violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's Child Find and free and appropriate public education requirements.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) overdiagnosis and overtreatment unnecessarily exposes children to potential harm and contributes to provider and community skepticism toward those with moderate or severe symptoms and significant impairments, resulting in less supportive care. Yet, which sociodemographic groups of children are overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD is poorly understood. We conducted descriptive and logistic regression analyses of a population-based subsample of 1,070 U.S. elementary schoolchildren who had displayed above-average levels of independently assessed behavioral, academic, or executive functioning the year prior to their initial ADHD diagnoses and who did not have prior diagnostic histories. Among these children, (a) 27% of White children versus 19% of non-White children were later diagnosed with ADHD and (b) 20% of White children versus 14% of non-White children were later using medication. In adjusted analyses, White children are more likely to later be diagnosed (odds ratio [OR] range = 1.70-2.62) and using medication (OR range = 1.70-2.37) among those whose prior behavioral, academic, and executive functioning suggested that they were unlikely to have ADHD.

Cost analyses are used to determine overall costs of implementing evidence-based programming and may help decision makers determine how best to allocate finite resources. Child sexual abuse (CSA), regularly viewed as a human rights violation, is also a public health concern estimated to impact 27% of females and 5% of males by age 18. Universal, school-based CSA programs are one prevailing prevention strategy. However, there are no known cost analyses of school-based CSA prevention programming, thereby limiting potential scalability. Using the ingredients method, this cost analysis presents the findings of implementing "Safe Touches," an evidence-based universal prevention program, across four sites (i.e., counties) in one mid-Atlantic state. Reaching a total of 14,235 s grade students, results indicate an average cost of $43 per student, an average classroom cost of $859, an average district cost of $10,637, and an average site cost of $154,243. There was a noted decrease in costs when more students were reached, suggesting a need to focus efforts on bolstering the reach of implementation efforts. Sensitivity analyses explored variations in implementation constraints such as personnel and facilities suggesting a range of per-student costs (lower-bound per-student cost = $34; upper-bound per-student cost = $64). Findings presented herein may be used to inform future universal CSA prevention efforts by providing detailed information about the costs of large-scale implementation of an evidence-based program among elementary-aged children.

We examined the extent to which disparities in the receipt of special education services for speech or language impairments (SLIs) on the basis of race, ethnicity, or language use by kindergarten--when the delivery of these services might be expected to be most effective--have changed over a 12-year period in the United States. Logistic regression modeling of 2 nationally representative cohorts (N = 16,800 and 12,080) indicated that children who are Black (covariate-adjusted odds ratios = 0.39 and 0.54) or from non-English-speaking households (covariate-adjusted odds ratios = 0.57 and 0.50) continue to be less likely to receive services for SLIs. Hispanic children are now less likely to receive these services (covariate adjusted odds ratio = 0.54) than otherwise similar non-Hispanic White children. Disparities in special education service receipt for SLIs attributable to race, ethnicity, and language presently occur in the United States and are not explained by many potential confounds.

Whether and to what extent kindergarten childrens executive functions (EF) constitute promising targets of early intervention is currently unclear. This study examined whether kindergarten childrens EF predicted their second-grade academic achievement and behavior. This was done using (a) a longitudinal and nationally representative sample (N = 8,920, Mage  = 97.6 months), (b) multiple measures of EF, academic achievement, and behavior, and (c) extensive statistical control including for domain-specific and domain-general lagged dependent variables. All three measures of EF-working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control-positively and significantly predicted reading, mathematics, and science achievement. In addition, inhibitory control negatively predicted both externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. Childrens EF constitute promising targets of experimentally evaluated interventions for increasing academic and behavioral functioning.

Purpose: We sought to identify factors predictive of or associated with receipt of speech/language services during early childhood. We did so by analyzing data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; Andreassen & Fletcher, 2005), a nationally representative dataset maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. We addressed two research questions of particular importance to speech-language pathology practice and policy. First, do early vocabulary delays increase children's likelihood of receiving speech/language services? Second, are minority children systematically less likely to receive these services than otherwise similar White children? Method: Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed for a population-based sample of 9,600 children and families participating in the ECLS-B. Results: Expressive vocabulary delays by 24 months of age were strongly associated with and predictive of children's receipt of speech/language services at 24, 48, and 60 months of age (adjusted odds ratio range = 4.32-16.60). Black children were less likely to receive speech/language services than otherwise similar White children at 24, 48, and 60 months of age (adjusted odds ratio range = 0.42-0.55). Lower socioeconomic status children and those whose parental primary language was other than English were also less likely to receive services. Being born with very low birth weight also significantly increased children's receipt of services at 24, 48, and 60 months of age. Conclusion: Expressive vocabulary delays at 24 months of age increase children's risk for later speech/language services. Increased use of culturally and linguistically sensitive practices may help racial/ethnic minority children access needed services.

We examined the age of onset, over-time dynamics, and mechanisms underlying science achievement gaps in U.S. elementary and middle schools. To do so, we estimated multilevel growth models that included as predictors children's own general knowledge, reading and mathematics achievement, behavioral self-regulation, sociodemographics, other child- and family-level characteristics (e.g., parenting quality), and school-level characteristics (e.g., racial, ethnic, and economic composition; school academic climate). Analyses of a longitudinal sample of 7,757 children indicated large gaps in general knowledge already evident at kindergarten entry. Kindergarten general knowledge was the strongest predictor of first-grade general knowledge, which in turn was the strongest predictor of children's science achievement from third to eighth grade. Large science achievement gaps were evident when science achievement measures first became available in third grade. These gaps persisted until at least the end of eighth grade. Most or all of the observed science achievement gaps were explained by the study's many predictors. Efforts to address science achievement gaps in the United States likely require intensified early intervention efforts, particularly those delivered before the primary grades. If unaddressed, science achievement gaps emerge by kindergarten and continue until at least the end of eighth grade. [This article was published in "Educational Researcher" (EJ1091880).]

To examine whether special education racial risk ratios reported by U.S. school districts are explained by district-level confounds, particularly, racial achievement gaps, we analyzed merged data (N = 1,952 districts for Black-White comparisons; N = 2,571 districts for Hispanic-White comparisons) from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, Stanford Educational Data Archive, and Common Core data sets. Regression analysis results indicated that Black- and Hispanic-White district risk ratios were strongly related to Black- and Hispanic-White district achievement gaps. These results reconcile findings from district-level data with those from student-level data and support the finding that, when compared to otherwise similar White students by controlling for group differences in achievement, non-White students are on average underrepresented in special education. That is, non-White overrepresentation in special education in most districts is explained by racial achievement gaps in these districts. Residuals from the regressions provide a more accurate way to monitor for outlier districts than the current practice required in federal regulations of using unadjusted risk ratios.

Prior nonexperimental studies have been used to conclude that children's reading and mathematics achievement bidirectionally influence each other over time, with strong paths from (a) early reading to later mathematics and (b) early mathematics to later reading. In the most influential study on the topic, the early math-to-later-reading path was reported to be stronger than the early reading-to-later-math path (Duncan et al., 2007). Yet prior estimates may be confounded by stable environmental and personal factors influencing both reading and mathematics achievement. We reexamined the bidirectional relations between reading and mathematics achievement using both traditional models and extensions intended to account for unmeasured confounding. Results based on a large nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten to 3rd grade (N = 9,612) indicated that the estimated effects between reading and mathematics achievement differ substantially after accounting for the confounding effects of stable unmeasured factors. In these models, autoregressive and cross-lagged paths were substantially reduced. The finding that early mathematics predicts later reading more strongly than early reading predicts later math disappears and sometimes reverses, suggesting that larger paths from math to reading than from reading to math in previous related analyses are not causally informative. Stability in early mathematics and reading achievement resulted from substantially overlapping time invariant factors that correlate above 0.90.

Whether students of color are more or less likely to be identified as having disabilities than similarly situated students who are White in U.S. states with histories of de jure and de facto racial segregation is currently unknown. Unadjusted analyses of large samples of students attending elementary and middle schools in the U.S. South yielded little evidence of minority overrepresentation in special education. In analyses adjusted for strong confounds (e.g., family income, student-level achievement), students of color were "less" likely than White students to be identified as having disabilities. Underidentification was evident (a) for the U.S. South in aggregate, (b) across 11 Southern states that we separately examined, (c) in cross-sectional samples assessed in 2003 and 2015, and (d) for specific disability conditions. Black and Hispanic students attending schools in the U.S. South have been and continue to be less likely to be identified as having disabilities than otherwise similar White students.

Whether executive functioning deficits result in children experiencing learning difficulties is presently unclear. Yet evidence for these hypothesized causal relations has many implications for early intervention design and delivery. We used a multi-year panel design, multiple criterion and predictor variable measures, extensive statistical control for potential confounds including autoregressive prior histories of both reading and mathematics difficulties, and additional epidemiological methods to preliminarily examine these hypothesized relations. Results from multivariate logistic regression analyses of a nationally representative and longitudinal sample of 18,080 children (i.e., the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 2011, or ECLS-K: 2011) indicated that working memory and, separately, cognitive flexibility deficits uniquely increased kindergarten childrens risk of experiencing reading as well as mathematics difficulties in first grade. The risks associated with working memory deficits were particularly strong. Experimentally-evaluated, multi-component interventions designed to help young children with reading or mathematics difficulties may also need to remediate early deficits in executive function, particularly in working memory.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to (a) identify sociodemographic, pregnancy and birth, family health, and parenting and child care risk factors for being a late talker at 24 months of age; (b) determine whether late talkers continue to have low vocabulary at 48 months; and (c) investigate whether being a late talker plays a unique role in childrens school readiness at 60 months. METHOD: We analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a population-based sample of 9,600 children. Data were gathered when the children were 9, 24, 48, and 60 months old. RESULTS: The risk of being a late talker at 24 months was significantly associated with being a boy, lower socioeconomic status, being a nonsingleton, older maternal age at birth, moderately low birth weight, lower quality parenting, receipt of day care for less than 10 hr/week, and attention problems. Being a late talker increased childrens risk of having low vocabulary at 48 months and low school readiness at 60 months. Family socioeconomic status had the largest and most profound effect on childrens school readiness. CONCLUSIONS: Limited vocabulary knowledge at 24 and 48 months is uniquely predictive of later school readiness. Young children with low vocabularies require additional supports prior to school entry.

We examined whether U.S. schools systemically discriminate when suspending or otherwise disciplining students with disabilities (SWD). Eighteen studies met inclusion criteria. We coded 147 available risk estimates from these 18 studies. Of four studies including individual-level controls for infraction reasons, over half of the available estimates (i.e., 14 of 24, or 58%) failed to indicate that SWD were more likely to be suspended than otherwise similar students without disabilities. Of the seven available estimates adjusted for the strong confound of individual-level behavior, most (i.e., five of seven, or 71%) failed to indicate that SWD were more likely to be suspended. The other two estimates indicating SWD were more likely to be suspended were from one study. We also examined whether SWD were less likely to be suspended than otherwise similar students without disabilities. There was no strong evidence of this. Empirical evidence regarding whether U.S. schools discriminate when disciplining SWD is currently inconclusive.

Introduction: Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is the primary procedure used to collect hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Single bouts of exercise transiently enrich peripheral blood with HSPCs and cytolytic natural killer cells (CD56dim), which are important in preventing post-transplant complications. To provide a rationale to investigate the utility of exercise in a PBSC donation setting (=3 h), this study aimed to establish whether interval cycling increased peripheral blood HSPC and CD56dim concentrations to a greater degree than continuous cycling. Methods: In a randomised crossover study design, eleven males (mean ± SD: age 25 ± 7 years) undertook bouts of moderate intensity continuous exercise [MICE, 30 min, 65%-70% maximum heart rate (HRmax)], high-volume high intensity interval exercise (HV-HIIE, 4 × 4 min, 80%-85% HRmax) and low-volume HIIE (LV-HIIE, 4 × 2 min, 90%-95% HRmax). The cumulative impact of each interval on circulating HSPC (CD34+CD45dimSSClow) and CD56dim concentrations (cells/µL), and the bone marrow homing potential of HSPCs (expression of CXCR-4 and VLA-4) were determined. Results: There was an increase in HSPC concentration after two intervals of LVHIIE (Rest: 1.84 ± 1.55 vs. Interval 2: 2.94 ± 1.34, P = 0.01) and three intervals of HV-HIIE only (Rest: 2.05 ± 0.86 vs. Interval 3: 2.51 ± 1.05, P = 0.04). The concentration of all leukocyte subsets increased after each trial, with this greatest for CD56dim NK cells, and in HIIE vs. MICE (LV-HIIE: 4.77 ± 2.82, HVHIIE: 4.65 ± 2.06, MICE: 2.44 ± 0.77, P < 0.0001). These patterns were observed for concentration, not frequency of CXCR-4+ and VLA-4+ HSPCs, which was unaltered. There was a marginal decrease in VLA-4, but not CXCR-4 expression on exercise-mobilised HSPCs after all trials (P < 0.0001). Discussion: The results of the present study indicate that HIIE caused a more marked increase in HSPC and CD56dim NK cell concentrations than MICE, with mobilised HSPCs maintaining their bone marrow homing phenotype. LV-HIIE evoked an increase in HSPC concentration after just 2 × 2-minute intervals. The feasibility and clinical utility of interval cycling in a PBSC donation context should therefore be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Both transactional and common etiological models have been proposed as explanations of why externalizing behavior problems (EBP) and internalizing behavior problems (IBP) co‐occur in children. Yet little research has empirically evaluated these competing theoretical explanations. We examined whether EBP and IBP are transactionally related at the within‐child level while also identifying antecedents commonly associated with between‐child differences in underlying stability of both EBP and IBP across elementary school. Methods: We analyzed a nationally representative and longitudinal sample of US schoolchildren (N = 7,326; 51% male) using random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel modeling (RI‐CLPM). We used teacher ratings of EBP and IBP as annually assessed from the spring of kindergarten (Mage = 6.12 years) through the spring of 5th grade (Mage = 11.09 years). Early childhood antecedents included child internal (i.e. inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and language/literacy) and external factors (i.e. parental warmth, harsh parenting, parenting stress, and maternal depressive symptoms). Results: We found little evidence for within‐child, transactional relations between EBP and IBP. Both types of behavior problems instead were substantially associated at the between‐child level. Inhibitory control was the strongest common antecedent that explained this longitudinal overlap. Cognitive flexibility, working memory, language/literacy skills, and maternal depression contributed specifically to the stability of IBP. Measures of parenting were specific to the stability of EBP. Conclusions: Common etiological factors rather than transactional relations better explain the co‐occurrence of EBP and IBP during elementary school. Inhibitory control is a promising target of early intervention efforts for schoolchildren at risk of displaying both EBP and IBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]