Early Childhood Research Quarterly 28 (2013) 234–248 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Early Childhood Research Quarterly Early academic skills and childhood experiences across the urban–rural continuum Portia Miller ∗ , Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 20 February 2012 Received in revised form 1 December 2012 Accepted 15 December 2012 Keywords: Urbanicity Early academic skills Home environment a b s t r a c t The urban–rural continuum provides unique contexts for development. Differences in access to resources and childrearing norms and practices in urban, suburban, and rural areas may be linked to disparities in early achievement. Yet, few studies examine associations between urbanicity and children’s early academic skills. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 6050) this study examined differences in academic skills at kindergarten entry across large urban, small urban, suburban and rural areas. Additionally, it considered whether home environments and child care experiences explained disparities in early achievement. Results showed that children in large urban and rural areas entered kindergarten with less advanced academic skills than children in small urban areas and suburbs. Lower achievement for rural children was partly explained by less advantageous home environments and increased use of home-based, rather than center-based, preschool. Parents living in large urban areas had less knowledge of child development, which helped explain their children’s lower achievement. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Large urban, small urban, suburban, and rural areas provide unique contexts for child development. While specific definitions vary across research, on a conceptual level, these communities differ on three key dimensions: population density, with urban areas being the most dense; proximity to an urban core, with suburbs being more proximal than rural areas; and the com- muting behavior of its residents, with increased commuting in suburbs as compared to urban and rural areas (Champion & Hugo, 2004). Practically, these characteristics lead to differences across the urban–rural continuum in resource accessibility, economic characteristics, and collective human, social, and cultural capi- tal, all of which may have significant implications for children and families (Evans, 2006; Vernon-Feagans, Gallagher, & Kainz, 2008). Yet, developmental research has rarely explored associ- ations between urbanicity and children’s development. Limited research suggests that urbanicity may be linked to the develop- ment of early academic skills, with rural children lagging behind their more urban peers in kindergarten achievement (Lee & Burkham, 2002). It remains unclear, however, how differences in ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 4017 Sennott Square, 210 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States. Tel.: +1 412 624 1216. E-mail address: plm11@pitt.edu (P. Miller). the early experiences of children living in communities spanning the urban–rural continuum help to explain these disparities in aca- demic skills. This study aims to strengthen our understanding of how urban- icity relates to academic skills development in early childhood. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Lon- gitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), it examines differences in early reading and math skills of children residing in large urban cities, small urban areas, suburbs, and rural areas. Furthermore, it advances the developmental literature by considering whether differences in home environments and early childhood educa- tion (ECE) explain disparities in academic skills at the start of kindergarten. Identifying how contexts spanning the urban–rural continuum contribute to differences in children’s early experiences and academic skills is important since children who enter kinder- garten with more advanced literacy and numeracy skills have an increased likelihood of future academic success (Duncan et al., 2007). 1.1. Urbanicity as a context for child development To understand urbanicity’s relationship with early academic skills acquisition, this study is guided by a bioecological theory of development. According to the bioecological model, variation in developmental outcomes must be understood in relation to the entire ecological system in which growth occurs (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). Children’s environmental contexts, individual 0885-2006/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.12.005