Fall 2009 - Columbia University School of Social Work

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2 SpectrumRonilda Moreira said goodbye to her son Kevin Moreira, 5, beforesending him off on his first day of pre-kindergarten at PS 111 inQueens on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. Photo credit: DamonWinter/The New York Times
Spectrum 3Ready for School?Not All Children Start on an Equal Footingby Spectrum StaffWhen Dr. Jane Waldfogel speaks, policymakerslisten. Based on her research,Dr. Waldfogel has urged policymakers toconsider an expansion of early educationprograms such as Head Start and universalprekindergarten, as well as provenhome visiting programs for new parents.These recommendations come out of herstudies, which have found children borninto low-income families at a disadvantagecompared to middle- and high-incomechildren even before they start school.It was good news when the Obamaadministration announced plans touse some of the stimulus package toincrease funding for Head Start, forthe expansion of Early Head Start, andfor other prekindergarten programs.Waldfogel, a professor of social workand public affairs at the School ofSocial Work, said there is growing evidencethat policymakers in Washingtonare recognizing the importance of bothparenting and early childhood educationprograms. Besides the stimulusfunding, Congress recently expandedfunding for evidence-based home visitingprograms for new parents.Waldfogel’s study analyzed dataon 10,000 children born in the U.S.in 2001 and parallel data on about19,000 children born in the U.K.in 2000. The children in both studieswere followed from the age of 9months onward and completed testsin language, literacy and mathematicsskills at ages 3, 4 or 5. Waldfogelconducted the research with ElizabethWashbrook of the Center for Marketand Public Organization at BristolUniversity who spent a year at Columbiaas a post-doctoral fellow at the ColumbiaPopulation Research Center.Waldfogel and Washbrook foundthat children from low-income familieshad substantially lower levels ofschool readiness than their middleincomepeers. Some of this differencereflects low-income families havingfewer financial resources with whichto purchase items such as toys, books,computers and learning-related activities.Another factor is that lowerincomeparents tend to have lowerlevels of education than more affluentparents. But the study also pointed tothe importance of income-related differencesin parental sensitivity and responsivenessto children’s needs. Forlow-income families, concerns abouteconomic survival may be a majorsource of stress, and this stress in turnmay affect parenting.Indeed, the study found that differencesin parenting are the single mostimportant factor accounting for thepoorer school readiness of children inlow-income families in the U.S., accountingfor between a third and a halfof the gap in school readiness betweenlow- and middle-income children.Higher-income mothers interact morepositively with their children when thechildren are as young as 9 months old,suggesting a need for parenting programsthat begin early.The research revealed that thereare sizable gaps in children’s schoolreadiness and that the gaps are ofcomparable magni tude in the U.S.and the U.K. Four-year-olds fromcontinued on page 16
Page 1 and 2: Spectrumfall 2009Columbia Universit
Page 3: Contents2Features4p.2Ready for Scho
Page 7 and 8: Spectrum 5
Page 9 and 10: Spectrum 7Serving beyond the Front
Page 11 and 12: Spectrum 9Spectrum: What inspired y
Page 13 and 14: Spectrum 11Dr. Alfred J. Kahn: a Gi
Page 15 and 16: Spectrum 13Selected GrantsAkabas, S
Page 17 and 18: Spectrum 15Kamerman, S. B. & Gateni
Page 19 and 20: Spectrum 17Alumni Class NotesAwards
Page 21 and 22: Spectrum 19Honor RollGrand Total $3
Page 23 and 24: Spectrum 21Charlotte SeltzerGreenbe
Page 25 and 26: Spectrum 23Mary G. Ross°Barbara Wh
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Fall 2009 - Columbia University School of Social Work

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