# How Parents Support Young Children's Mathematical Thinking Across SES

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $75,694

## Abstract

Project Summary
Socioeconomic disparities in math skills have grown in recent years, as the math skills of
children at the upper end of the income distribution have grown faster than those of children
from middle- or low-income families (Reardon, 2011). SES gaps in math skills first emerge in
preschool (Klibanoff, Levine, Huttenlocher, Vasilyeva, & Hedges, 2006; Stipek & Ryan, 1997)
and are maintained as children progress through school (National Bureau of Economic
Research, 2005). SES-related disparities in math skills are concerning to policy makers and
educators alike because they have implications for long-term achievement and educational
attainment in adulthood (Duncan et al. 2007; Ritchie & Bates, 2013). Thus, there is an urgent
need to disentangle the mechanisms underlying SES disparities in math skills before children
start kindergarten. This investigation aims to delineate the proximal experiences driving
socioeconomic disparities in math skills in the home environment during early childhood. This
study will address three aims using longitudinal, multimethod data on a socioeconomically
diverse sample of 4-year-olds (N = 400) and their parents, including direct assessments, in-home observations, surveys, and time diaries. First it will examine associations between the
home learning environment (HLE) and math skills at 4 and 5 years of age. Second, it will
delineate SES disparities in HLE and their implications for math learning. Third, this study will be
the first to test general and math-specific family stress and family culture as pathways through
which SES shapes the HLE and early math skills. Results from the proposed work will offer
critical insights into the development of SES disparities in math in early childhood. By
delineating the importance of the home learning environment for SES disparities and how
variations in family stress and family culture may be linked to SES, we will test and refine a
clearly defined theoretical model derived from previous work in psychology and sociology. This
knowledge will fill critical gaps in the extant literature and identify key targets for experimentally
manipulated intervention and policy efforts which seek to improve the well-being of
socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10419571
- **Project number:** 3R01HD093689-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa Libertus
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $75,694
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10419571

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10419571, How Parents Support Young Children's Mathematical Thinking Across SES (3R01HD093689-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10419571. Licensed CC0.

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