This study used a nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of a Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K:
2011) to examine the relationship between participation in early education and care in the year before children enter
kindergarten and the children’s cognitive and social emotional skills from the end of kindergarten to the end of first
grade. Early education and care includes home-based care, center-based care and parental care. For the cognitive
domain on science scores, results revealed that children in center-based care or in home-based care by a relative or
nonrelative, scored higher than children in parental care at the end of kindergarten. They displayed lower levels of
behavioral problems. Yet, the pattern did not sustain by the end of first grade. When using the propensity score
matching, differences between children in center-based care and their counterparts in home based care or parental care
emerged at the end of kindergarten to first grade. In addition, children who attended center-based care displayed
behavioral problems at the end of kindergarten, but the patterns were not evident by the end of first grade. Gender
differences and disparities in family income were found in the effects of early education and care on children’s cognitive
and social emotional measures. Future research and limitations were discussed.