县域内儿童入园时机与早期发展

Timing of Kindergarten Enrollment and Early Childhood Development

基于西部N县2018年全体6~36月龄儿童及其家庭三轮跟踪调查所形成的面板数据,分析入园时机对儿童早期发展的影响。结果表明:(1)有近三分之一的样本儿童未按时入园,提前入园的比例高于推迟入园。(2)提前入园使得儿童社交情绪滞后比例提高,入园月龄与儿童的社交情绪滞后比例之间存在“U形”曲线关系,而推迟入园会降低儿童认知能力。(3)机制分析表明,养育环境是提前入园和推迟入园不利于儿童早期发展的决定因素,家校共育过程家庭养育和学校教育投资决策存在互补关系。据此建议灵活入园政策、改善农村儿童在园养育环境、加强对家庭儿童养育的支持和指导。

Based on a panel data from three-round tracking survey of all children aged 6~36 months and their families in County N in West China in 2018,this paper analyzes the impact of the timing of kindergarten enrollment on early childhood development.The results are as follows:1)Nearly one-third of the sampled children did not enroll on time,with a higher proportion of early enrollment than delayed enrollment.2)Early enrollment leads to an increase in the proportion of children with delayed social-emotional development.There is a U-shape relationship between the children’s enrollment age and the proportion of children with delayed social-emotional development,while delayed enrollment may reduce children’s cognitive abilities.3)Mechanism analyses suggest that parenting environment is a determinant in the detrimental effects of early and delayed kindergarten entry on children’s early development,and the process of family-school collaboration shows a complementary relationship between family caregiving and school educational investment decisions.Accordingly,it is recommended to implement flexible enrollment policies,improve the caregiving environment for rural children in kindergartens,and enhance support and guidance for family caregiving.