| The purpose of the study was to explore the processes that account for the link between participation in the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program and educational attainment. Four research questions were addressed: (a) Is participation in the CPC Program associated with higher educational attainment? (b) If so, do pathways associated with cognitive advantage, family support, social adjustment, motivation advantage, and school support hypotheses explain the link between preschool participation and educational attainment? (c) Do the pathways by which program participation is associated with educational attainment vary by the indicators of educational attainment? (d) Do the pathways leading to educational attainment vary by gender?;The study sample included 1,334 youth from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (869 youth in preschool group vs. 465 youth in comparison group), an on-going investigation of the school adjustment of a panel of low-income minority children growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods. The comparison group participated in an alternative kindergarten program. Probit regression was used to examine the group differences in educational attainment controlling for child and family characteristics, such as family risk status. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the pathways of the effect of preschool participation on educational attainment.;The results indicated that preschool participation was associated with significant more years of education (11.33 vs. 10.93, p = .001), a higher rate of high school completion (66.9% vs. 55.3%, p = .001), and a higher rate of college attendance (23.0% vs. 17.9%, p = .055). For the mechanisms of effects of preschool participation, findings of the good-fitting model indicated that the main mediators leading to educational attainment were early cognitive skills, family support behaviors, and school support experiences. With the five hypotheses, the model explained 68.6% of indirect effect of preschool on highest grade completed, 86% on high school completion, and 45.6% on college attendance. The pathways were similar between indicators of educational attainment except for college attendance. The gender separate models indicated the pathways vary by gender.;Findings provide insight to policymakers to address those mediators when designing early intervention programs, and to social workers to address those alterable predictors to promote higher educational attainment. |
