Paths of Effects of Early Childhood Intervention on Educational Attainment and Delinquency: A Confirmatory Analysis of the Chicago Child-Parent Centers

  1. Arthur J. Reynolds,
  2. Suh-Ruu Ou,
  3. James W. Topitzes

Article first published online: 15 SEP 2004

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00742.x

Issue

Child Development

Child Development

Volume 75, Issue 5, pages 1299–1328, September 2004

Additional Information

How to Cite

Reynolds, A. J., Ou, S.-R. and Topitzes, J. W. (2004), Paths of Effects of Early Childhood Intervention on Educational Attainment and Delinquency: A Confirmatory Analysis of the Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Child Development, 75: 1299–1328. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00742.x

Author Information

  1. Waisman Center and School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison

* concerning this article should be addressed to Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705. Electronic mail may be sent to areynolds@waisman.wisc.edu.

  1. We are grateful for funding support provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant R01HD034294), the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education (Grant R305T990477), and the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We thank the Juvenile Justice Division in the Circuit Court of Cook County, the City Colleges of Chicago, the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services, and the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago for assistance in data collection. We also thank the Departments of Early Childhood Programs and Research, Assessment, and Analysis in the Chicago public schools for cooperation and collaboration in data collection and technical assistance. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2001 annual meeting of Society for Prevention Research and the 1999 biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 15 SEP 2004
  2. Article first published online: 15 SEP 2004

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This study investigated the contributions of 5 mechanisms to the effects of preschool participation in the Child-Parent Centers for 1,404 low-income children in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Based on a matched-group design, preschool participation was associated with significantly higher rates of educational attainment and lower rates of juvenile arrest. LISREL analysis revealed that the primary mediators of effects for both outcomes were attendance in high-quality elementary schools and lower mobility (school support hypothesis), literacy skills in kindergarten and avoidance of grade retention (cognitive advantage hypothesis), and parent involvement in school and avoidance of child maltreatment (family support hypothesis). The model accounted for 58% and 79% of the preschool links with school completion and juvenile arrest, respectively. The maintenance early intervention effects are influenced by many alterable factors.

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