Does preschool education exposure predict children's academic and behavioural outcomes in China?

Abstract

Relationships between exposure to preschool education and children's academic and social outcomes have been documented in Western countries. There is a lack of comparable research in China, where preschool education is relatively formal, but rather flexible in arrangement. We conducted research at six public kindergartens in a large Chinese city (Beijing), involving 342 Chinese preschoolers (188 boys, 154 girls, M age = 60.45 months) and their middle-class parents and teachers. We examined the influence of preschool education exposure (assessed by age of entry and hours of attendance per week) on children's literacy, numeracy, and classroom behaviour problems. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that entering preschools at a younger age and staying there for a longer time benefited children's academic development, but longer attendance was also linked to slightly more behaviour problems. Specifically, beginning a full-day preschool education (i.e. eight to nine hours) for five days at ages two to three would likely enhance the overall development of all children. Earlier entry age and higher intensity of attendance in preschools specifically benefitted the numeracy skills of children from families with lower middle income or somewhat lower education levels in Beijing.

Keywords:

• preschool education
• age of entry
• intensity of attendance
• academic skills
• behaviour problems
• Chinese children

Funding

This work was supported by the Humanity and Social Science Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education, PR China, under Grant 11YJC190013.

Notes on contributors

Li Yanfang, Associate Professor, is a lead researcher in the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University. She has served as the director of a longitudinal study of early experience and children's development outcomes supported by the Ministry of Education in China. She has a particular interest in the development of young children in their ecological environments.

Lv Ying holds an M.A. degree in Child Developmental and Educational Psychology. She is working as a researcher in the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University. Her research focuses on early child care and young children's pre-academic and social-emotional development.

Carol Huntsinger, Ph.D. is a graduate faculty scholar in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. She has conducted two longitudinal studies involving (1) Chinese American and European American adolescents (and their parents) from middle school through college, and (2) Chinese American and European American young children (and their parents) from preschool through 4th grade. She has also researched children, adolescents and parenting in Armenia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.