Early Emergence of Socioeconomic Disparities in Mathematical Understanding

来自高收入家庭的儿童的数学技能比来自中等或低收入家庭的儿童增长得更快，导致了显著和持续的差距。这些差距出现在学前班，到幼儿园开始时更大。随着孩子们在学校的进步，数学技能的差距持续存在，甚至扩大。重要的是，与SES相关的数学技能差异对长期的学术成就和教育成就，以及成年后获得STEM教育和职业的机会都有影响。因此，迫切需要在儿童开始正规教育之前确定影响早期数学发展的因素。这项调查将提供有关家庭环境中的活动和互动的基础知识，这些活动和互动推动了与SES相关的数学技能差异的早期出现。从长远来看，这项工作的结果可以为家访计划和早期护理和教育课程提供信息，旨在加强生活在低资源社区的儿童的早期数学技能。这项研究所产生的知识有可能提高所有儿童获得STEM教育和职业的公平性。 这项拟议的研究对两组社会经济多元化的30个月大婴儿（N = 320）及其父母进行了纵向序贯研究，将通过解决三个目标来加强对SES数学技能差异病因的了解。首先，它将研究家庭学习环境（HLE）和早期数学技能之间的关联。其次，它将描述SES差异的HLE和他们的数学学习的影响。第三，它将测试家庭压力和家庭文化作为SES塑造HLE和早期数学技能的途径。儿童将在30个月大时完成早期数学技能和其他一般认知能力的评估，并在42-47个月左右再次完成评估。除了在30个月的孩子评估，在家里结构化的观察与家长，家长调查和时间日记将衡量孩子的数学学习机会在家里的数量和质量。为了测量家庭压力，父母将完成问卷调查，评估一般压力以及与数学表演和教学有关的压力。为了测量家庭文化，父母将完成问卷调查，评估他们的一般和数学特定的育儿信念，并观察家庭互动。本研究将检验一般领域和特定领域的家庭压力和文化是否在HLE和SES之间起中介作用。总之，本研究将有助于理解早期数学技能的经济差异的早期出现。从理论上讲，它将划定是否领域的一般或数学特定的差异，在HLE解释差异，在早期的数学技能有关的社会经济地位。它将通过同时考虑压力和文化在塑造儿童在早期家庭环境中学习数学的机会差异方面的作用来推进研究。该项目由EHR核心研究计划资助，该计划强调STEM教育研究将产生该领域的基础知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The math skills of children from high income families have grown faster than those of children from middle- or low-income families resulting in a significant and persistent gap. These disparities emerge in preschool and are larger by the start of kindergarten. As children progress through school, the gap in math skills persists or even widens. Importantly, SES-related disparities in math skills have implications for long-term academic achievement and educational attainment, as well as access to STEM education and professions in adulthood. As such, there is an urgent need to identify the factors shaping early math development before children start formal schooling. This investigation will provide foundational knowledge about the activities and interactions in the home environment that drive the early emergence of math skills disparities related to SES. In the long term, findings from this work could inform home visitation programs and early care and education curricula aimed at strengthening the early math skills of children living in low resourced communities. The knowledge generated by this study has the potential to enhance equity in access to STEM education and professions for all children. Using a longitudinal sequential study of two cohorts of socioeconomically diverse 30-month-olds (N = 320) and their parents, the proposed study will strengthen knowledge of the etiology of SES disparities in math skills by addressing three aims. First, it will examine associations between the home learning environment (HLE) and early math skills. Second, it will describe SES disparities in HLE and their implications for math learning. Third, it will test family stress and family culture as pathways through which SES shapes HLE and early math skills. Children will complete assessments of early math skills and other general cognitive abilities at age 30 months and again around 42-47 months. In addition to the child assessments at 30 months, in-home structured observations with a parent, parent surveys, and time diaries will measure the quantity and quality of children's opportunities for math learning at home. To measure family stress, parents will complete questionnaires assessing general stress as well as stress specifically related to performing and teaching math. To measure family culture, parents will complete questionnaires assessing their general and math-specific parenting beliefs and observations of family interactions will be conducted. This study will test whether domain-general and math-specific family stress and culture mediate the relation between HLE and SES. In sum, this study will make contributions to understanding the early emergence of economic disparities in early math skills. Theoretically, it will delineate whether domain-general or math-specific differences in HLE explain disparities in early math skills related to socioeconomic status. It will advance research by concurrently considering the roles of stress and culture in shaping disparities in children's opportunity to learn math in their early home environments. This project is funded by the EHR Core Research program, which emphasizes STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.