Early Environmental Experiences and School Achievement in the Second Grade: An Israeli Study

Abstract

This study was an attempt to replicate, in an Israeli sample, findings from American studies regarding the relationship of demographic variables, the quality of the early environment, and sociocognitive growth in children. In the first part of the study, the environment of 178 2-year-old Israeli children was assessed. Families with higher social status (SES) and fewer children were significantly more likely to provide enriching environmental experiences to their 2-year-old. In the second phase of the study, 149 of the sample were located and their school achievement assessed at the end of Grade 2. Path analysis revealed that the family's SES and number of children had both a direct and an environmentally mediated effect on children's achievement in school, and that differences in the quality of the environment at 2 years accounted for a large part of the variability in achievement both between and within social classes. As in the American studies, free exploration of developmentally challenging objects, and in particular fine-coordination toys and picture-books, was an important feature of a good rearing environment. In addition, contact with peers and extrafamilial care in the 3rd year were found also to have some unique predictive power of sociocognitive performance. The results are congruent with a model that SES and family configuration have a decisive effect on child-rearing practices and the latter, in turn, determine the course of children's cognitive and social development. The possibility was entertained that class-related differences in parental concepts of age-appropriateness contribute to the SES differences in the type of environmental experiences accorded to young children.