Amy Claessens
Biographic Data
| ID | 4460684 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Amy Claessens |
| GIVEN NAMES | Amy |
| FAMILY NAME | Claessens |
| SIGNATURE | CLAESSENS A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chicago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9202-9921 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 781 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
‘Piecing things together as best we can’: PreK teacher enactment of hybrid policies during Covid-19
At some point during the 2020–21 school year, the majority of U.S. school districts adopted a ‘hybrid’ instructional model that allowed families to choose whether to send their children to school or keep them at home for remote instruction. Drawing on policy enactment theory, this paper traces how PreK teachers enacted hybrid instruction in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, where PreK is voluntary, controlled by local school districts, and located in …
Family child care closures in Wisconsin: A mixed-methods study with implications for infant-toddler care
Early care and education teachers’ job search behaviors and turnover intentions during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from Wisconsin
Examining the Role of Public Pre-K Expansions in the Changing Supply of Child Care in Wisconsin
Does early childhood education help to improve high school outcomes? Results from Tulsa
Early childhood education contributes to improved school readiness but impacts on high school remain unclear. This study estimates the effects of Tulsa, Oklahoma's universal pre-K and Head Start programs through the junior year of high school (in 2018/2019; N = 2902; Mage = 16.52, SD = .39; 48% female; 28% white, 34% Black, 27% Hispanic, 8% Native American). Propensity score weighted regressions suggest students who attended pre-K, but not Head S…
Kindergarten in a Large Urban District
Using data from 82 classroom observations conducted in a large urban school district, we explore how kindergartners spend their time in general and across schools serving children from lower and higher income households. Consistent with prior research, we find that kindergartners spend the majority of instructional time on reading and mathematics, with little time devoted to other subjects. On average, 2.5 hours are spent on noninstructional acti…
Introduction to the Special Issue: Parents supporting early mathematical thinking
What Explains Short Spells on Child-Care Subsidies
Child-care assistance is a critical safety net program that directly benefits families and society. But short spells and program churning raise concerns about the effectiveness of the child-care subsidy program to support stable employment and contribute to long-term family economic stability. On the basis of data that link administrative child-care assistance records with survey data on a sample of subsidy recipients in Illinois and New York, we…
Socioeconomic inequality at school entry: A cross-cohort comparison of families and schools
Patterns of child care subsidy use and stability of subsidized care arrangements: Evidence from Illinois and New York
Mathematics Content Coverage and Student Learning in Kindergarten
Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998–1999 and 2010–2011 school years, they continued to place more emphasis on basic content. We find that time on advanc…
The effects of maternal depression on child outcomes during the first years of formal schooling
The impact of Chicago’s small high school initiative
The role of early childhood settings for 4–5 year old children in early academic skills and later achievement in Australia
Replication and robustness in developmental research
Replications and robustness checks are key elements of the scientific method and a staple in many disciplines. However, leading journals in developmental psychology rarely include explicit replications of prior research conducted by different investigators, and few require authors to establish in their articles or online appendices that their key results are robust across estimation methods, data sets, and demographic subgroups. This article make…
Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects
Little research has examined the relationship between academic content coverage in kindergarten and student achievement. Using nationally representative data, we examine the association between reading and mathematics content coverage in kindergarten and student learning, both overall and for students who attended preschool, Head Start, or participated in other child care prior to kindergarten entry. We find that all children benefit from exposur…
Teaching Students What They Already Know? The (Mis)Alignment Between Mathematics Instructional Content and Student Knowledge in Kindergarten
Kindergarten mathematics skills are important for subsequent achievement, yet mathematics is underemphasized in kindergarten classrooms. Using nationally representative data, this study explored the relationship between students’ school-entry math skills, classroom content coverage, and end-of-kindergarten math achievement. Although the vast majority of children entered kindergarten having mastered basic counting and able to recognize simple geom…
How Important is Where you Start? Early Mathematics Knowledge and Later School Success
Background Children's early skills are essential for their later success in school. Recent evidence highlights the importance of early mathematics, relative to reading and socioemotional skills, for elementary school achievement. Key advocacy groups for both early childhood and mathematics education have issued position statements on the importance of early mathematics, arguing that mathematics education for 3- to 6- year-olds is essential to pro…
Associations between family structure changes and children’s behavior problems: The moderating effects of timing and marital birth
Most children in the U.S. today will experience one or more changes in family structure. The present study explores the implications of this trend for child development by investigating the conditions under which family structure changes matter most to child well-being. Using data from the Maternal and Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,492), it estimates how changes in family structure experienced during 4 diffe…
Early Predictors of High School Mathematics Achievement
Identifying the types of mathematics content knowledge that are most predictive of students’ long-term learning is essential for improving both theories of mathematical development and mathematics education. To identify these types of knowledge, we examined long-term predictors of high school students’ knowledge of algebra and overall mathematics achievement. Analyses of large, nationally representative, longitudinal data sets from the United Sta…
Kindergarten child care experiences and child achievement and socioemotional skills
Multiple child care arrangements and child well being: Early care experiences in Australia
Kindergarten skills and fifth-grade achievement: Evidence from the ECLS-K
School readiness and later achievement
Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of…
School readiness and later achievement
Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of…
Replication and robustness in developmental research
Replications and robustness checks are key elements of the scientific method and a staple in many disciplines. However, leading journals in developmental psychology rarely include explicit replications of prior research conducted by different investigators, and few require authors to establish in their articles or online appendices that their key results are robust across estimation methods, data sets, and demographic subgroups. This article make…
Associations between family structure changes and children’s behavior problems: The moderating effects of timing and marital birth
Most children in the U.S. today will experience one or more changes in family structure. The present study explores the implications of this trend for child development by investigating the conditions under which family structure changes matter most to child well-being. Using data from the Maternal and Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,492), it estimates how changes in family structure experienced during 4 diffe…
Mathematics Content Coverage and Student Learning in Kindergarten
Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998–1999 and 2010–2011 school years, they continued to place more emphasis on basic content. We find that time on advanc…
Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects
Little research has examined the relationship between academic content coverage in kindergarten and student achievement. Using nationally representative data, we examine the association between reading and mathematics content coverage in kindergarten and student learning, both overall and for students who attended preschool, Head Start, or participated in other child care prior to kindergarten entry. We find that all children benefit from exposur…
Multiple child care arrangements and child well being: Early care experiences in Australia
What Explains Short Spells on Child-Care Subsidies
Child-care assistance is a critical safety net program that directly benefits families and society. But short spells and program churning raise concerns about the effectiveness of the child-care subsidy program to support stable employment and contribute to long-term family economic stability. On the basis of data that link administrative child-care assistance records with survey data on a sample of subsidy recipients in Illinois and New York, we…
The effects of maternal depression on child outcomes during the first years of formal schooling
The role of early childhood settings for 4–5 year old children in early academic skills and later achievement in Australia
Patterns of child care subsidy use and stability of subsidized care arrangements: Evidence from Illinois and New York
Kindergarten in a Large Urban District
Using data from 82 classroom observations conducted in a large urban school district, we explore how kindergartners spend their time in general and across schools serving children from lower and higher income households. Consistent with prior research, we find that kindergartners spend the majority of instructional time on reading and mathematics, with little time devoted to other subjects. On average, 2.5 hours are spent on noninstructional acti…
Kindergarten child care experiences and child achievement and socioemotional skills
Introduction to the Special Issue: Parents supporting early mathematical thinking
Socioeconomic inequality at school entry: A cross-cohort comparison of families and schools
The impact of Chicago’s small high school initiative
School readiness and later achievement
Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of…
Kindergarten skills and fifth-grade achievement: Evidence from the ECLS-K
Early Predictors of High School Mathematics Achievement
Identifying the types of mathematics content knowledge that are most predictive of students’ long-term learning is essential for improving both theories of mathematical development and mathematics education. To identify these types of knowledge, we examined long-term predictors of high school students’ knowledge of algebra and overall mathematics achievement. Analyses of large, nationally representative, longitudinal data sets from the United Sta…
Kindergarten child care experiences and child achievement and socioemotional skills
Multiple child care arrangements and child well being: Early care experiences in Australia
Teaching Students What They Already Know? The (Mis)Alignment Between Mathematics Instructional Content and Student Knowledge in Kindergarten
Kindergarten mathematics skills are important for subsequent achievement, yet mathematics is underemphasized in kindergarten classrooms. Using nationally representative data, this study explored the relationship between students’ school-entry math skills, classroom content coverage, and end-of-kindergarten math achievement. Although the vast majority of children entered kindergarten having mastered basic counting and able to recognize simple geom…
How Important is Where you Start? Early Mathematics Knowledge and Later School Success
Background Children's early skills are essential for their later success in school. Recent evidence highlights the importance of early mathematics, relative to reading and socioemotional skills, for elementary school achievement. Key advocacy groups for both early childhood and mathematics education have issued position statements on the importance of early mathematics, arguing that mathematics education for 3- to 6- year-olds is essential to pro…
Associations between family structure changes and children’s behavior problems: The moderating effects of timing and marital birth
Most children in the U.S. today will experience one or more changes in family structure. The present study explores the implications of this trend for child development by investigating the conditions under which family structure changes matter most to child well-being. Using data from the Maternal and Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,492), it estimates how changes in family structure experienced during 4 diffe…
The role of early childhood settings for 4–5 year old children in early academic skills and later achievement in Australia
Replication and robustness in developmental research
Replications and robustness checks are key elements of the scientific method and a staple in many disciplines. However, leading journals in developmental psychology rarely include explicit replications of prior research conducted by different investigators, and few require authors to establish in their articles or online appendices that their key results are robust across estimation methods, data sets, and demographic subgroups. This article make…
Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects
Little research has examined the relationship between academic content coverage in kindergarten and student achievement. Using nationally representative data, we examine the association between reading and mathematics content coverage in kindergarten and student learning, both overall and for students who attended preschool, Head Start, or participated in other child care prior to kindergarten entry. We find that all children benefit from exposur…
The effects of maternal depression on child outcomes during the first years of formal schooling
The impact of Chicago’s small high school initiative
Socioeconomic inequality at school entry: A cross-cohort comparison of families and schools
Patterns of child care subsidy use and stability of subsidized care arrangements: Evidence from Illinois and New York
Mathematics Content Coverage and Student Learning in Kindergarten
Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998–1999 and 2010–2011 school years, they continued to place more emphasis on basic content. We find that time on advanc…
What Explains Short Spells on Child-Care Subsidies
Child-care assistance is a critical safety net program that directly benefits families and society. But short spells and program churning raise concerns about the effectiveness of the child-care subsidy program to support stable employment and contribute to long-term family economic stability. On the basis of data that link administrative child-care assistance records with survey data on a sample of subsidy recipients in Illinois and New York, we…
Introduction to the Special Issue: Parents supporting early mathematical thinking
Kindergarten in a Large Urban District
Using data from 82 classroom observations conducted in a large urban school district, we explore how kindergartners spend their time in general and across schools serving children from lower and higher income households. Consistent with prior research, we find that kindergartners spend the majority of instructional time on reading and mathematics, with little time devoted to other subjects. On average, 2.5 hours are spent on noninstructional acti…
Does early childhood education help to improve high school outcomes? Results from Tulsa
Early childhood education contributes to improved school readiness but impacts on high school remain unclear. This study estimates the effects of Tulsa, Oklahoma's universal pre-K and Head Start programs through the junior year of high school (in 2018/2019; N = 2902; Mage = 16.52, SD = .39; 48% female; 28% white, 34% Black, 27% Hispanic, 8% Native American). Propensity score weighted regressions suggest students who attended pre-K, but not Head S…
Examining the Role of Public Pre-K Expansions in the Changing Supply of Child Care in Wisconsin
‘Piecing things together as best we can’: PreK teacher enactment of hybrid policies during Covid-19
At some point during the 2020–21 school year, the majority of U.S. school districts adopted a ‘hybrid’ instructional model that allowed families to choose whether to send their children to school or keep them at home for remote instruction. Drawing on policy enactment theory, this paper traces how PreK teachers enacted hybrid instruction in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, where PreK is voluntary, controlled by local school districts, and located in …
Family child care closures in Wisconsin: A mixed-methods study with implications for infant-toddler care
Early care and education teachers’ job search behaviors and turnover intentions during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from Wisconsin
Psychology (17 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (16 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Academic achievement (9 works) · Mathematics education (9 works) · Medicine (8 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (7 works) · Child care (6 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (5 works) · Economics (5 works)