This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the kindergarten (or base year) data of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). It begins with an overview of the ECLS-K:2011. Subsequent chapters provide details on the study data collection instruments and methods; the direct and indirect…

This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the longitudinal kindergarten-first grade (K-1) data file of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). It mainly provides information specific to the first-grade rounds of data collection. Data for the ECLS-K:2011 are released in both a…

Often it is infeasible or unethical to use random assignment in educational settings to study important constructs and questions. Hence, educational research often uses observational data, such as large-scale secondary data sets and state and school district data, and quasi-experimental designs. One method of reducing selection bias in estimations…

This paper extends single-level missing data methods to efficient estimation of a "Q"-level nested hierarchical general linear model given ignorable missing data with a general missing pattern at any of the "Q" levels. The key idea is to reexpress a desired hierarchical model as the joint distribution of all variables including…

Research Findings: This study provides the first independent investigation of the second most widely used multidimensional assessment in Head Start--the Preschool Child Observation Record, Second Edition (COR-2). We conducted a comprehensive investigation into the validity of the COR-2 using data from all children in an urban school district's…

Valuable methods have been developed for incorporating ordinal variables into structural equation models using a latent response variable formulation. However, some model parameters, such as the means and variances of latent factors, can be quite difficult to interpret because the latent response variables have an arbitrary metric. This limitation…

This Guide is an annotated bibliography of existing large scale data sets that provide useful information to policymakers, researchers, state administrators, and others in the field of child care and early education. The Guide follows an ecological approach to research and policy in the field: it brings attention not only to children themselves,…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, selected a nationally representative sample of approximately 22,000 kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of the fifth grade. Baseline data about these children, their families, and their kindergarten programs were collected…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, selected a nationally representative sample of approximately 22,000 kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of the fifth grade. Baseline data about these children, their families, and their kindergarten programs were collected…