School readiness and later achievement: Replication and extension using a nationwide Canadian survey.

In this article we replicate and extend findings from Duncan et al. (2007). The 1st study used Canada-wide data on 1,521 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to examine the influence of kindergarten literacy and math skills, mother-reported attention, and mother-reported socioemotional behaviors on 3rd-grade math and reading outcomes. Similar to Duncan et al., (a) math skills were the strongest predictor of later achievement, (b) literacy and attention skills predicted later achievement, and (c) socioemotional behaviors did not significantly predict later school achievement. As part of extending the findings, we incorporated a multiple imputation approach to handle missing predictor variable data. Results paralleled those from the original study in that kindergarten math skills and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised scores continued to predict later achievement. However, we also found that kindergarten socioemotional behaviors, specifically hyperactivity/impulsivity, prosocial behavior, and anxiety/depression, were significant predictors of 3rd-grade math and reading. In the 2nd study, we used data from the NLSCY and the Montreal Longitudinal-Experimental Preschool Study (MLEPS), which was included in Duncan et al., to extend previous findings by examining the influence of kindergarten achievement, attention, and socioemotional behaviors on 3rd-grade socioemotional outcomes. Both NLSCY and MLEPS findings indicated that kindergarten math significantly predicted socioemotional behaviors. There were also a number of significant relationships between early and later socioemotional behaviors. Findings support the importance of socioemotional behaviors both as predictors of later school success and as indicators of school success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigating early literacy and numeracy: Exploring the utility of the bifactor model.

Previous research has provided evidence for the utility of the Minneapolis Kindergarten Assessment (MKA), which is a measure of early literacy and numeracy skills. The present research was undertaken to replicate previous factorial results and evaluate the relative strength of an alternative parameterization of the measurement model, the bifactor model, which was posited to correct for anomalies found in the research literature. In addition, predictive validity evidence was ascertained to evaluate the extent to which two different factorial structures differed when making predictions about later reading and mathematics outcomes. Results suggested the bifactor model provided a useful measurement model conceptualization and also provided a strong predictive model for later reading and mathematics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fine motor skills and early comprehension of the world: Two new school readiness indicators.

Duncan et al. (2007) presented a new methodology for identifying kindergarten readiness factors and quantifying their importance by determining which of children's developing skills measured around kindergarten entrance would predict later reading and math achievement. This article extends Duncan et al.'s work to identify kindergarten readiness factors with 6 longitudinal data sets. Their results identified kindergarten math and reading readiness and attention as the primary long-term predictors but found no effects from social skills or internalizing and externalizing behavior. We incorporated motor skills measures from 3 of the data sets and found that fine motor skills are an additional strong predictor of later achievement. Using one of the data sets, we also predicted later science scores and incorporated an additional early test of general knowledge of the social and physical world as a predictor. We found that the test of general knowledge was by far the strongest predictor of science and reading and also contributed significantly to predicting later math, making the content of this test another important kindergarten readiness indicator. Together, attention, fine motor skills, and general knowledge are much stronger overall predictors of later math, reading, and science scores than early math and reading scores alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of cognitive skills and gains in academic school readiness for children from low-income families.

This study examined developmental associations between growth in domain-general cognitive processes (working memory and attention control) and growth in domain-specific skills (emergent literacy and numeracy) across the prekindergarten year and their relative contributions to kindergarten reading and math achievement. One hundred sixty-four Head Start children (44% African American or Latino; 57% female) were followed longitudinally. Path analyses revealed that working memory and attention control predicted growth in emergent literacy and numeracy skills during the prekindergarten year and that growth in these domain-general cognitive skills made unique contributions to the prediction of kindergarten math and reading achievement, controlling for growth in domain-specific skills. These findings extend research highlighting the importance of working memory and attention control for academic learning, demonstrating the effects in early childhood, prior to school entry. Implications of these findings for prekindergarten programs are discussed, particularly those designed to reduce the school readiness gaps associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: Evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study.

Although research has identified oral language, print knowledge, and phonological sensitivity as important emergent literacy skills for the development of reading, few studies have examined the relations between these aspects of emergent literacy or between these skills during preschool and during later reading. This study examined the joint and unique predictive significance of emergent literacy skills for both later emergent literacy skills and reading in two samples of preschoolers. Ninety-six children (mean age?=?41 months, SD?=?9.41) were followed from early to late preschool, and 97 children (mean age?=?60 months, SD?=?5.41) were followed from late preschool to kindergarten or first grade. Structural equation modeling revealed significant developmental continuity of these skills, particularly for letter knowledge and phonological sensitivity from late preschool to early grade school, both of which were the only unique predictors of decoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Improvement After First-Grade Reading Difficulties: The Effects of Oral Language, Emergent Literacy, and Behavior Skills.

This study investigated the role of early literacy and behavioral skills in predicting the improvement of children who have experienced reading difficulties in 1st grade. The progress of 146 low-income children whose reading scores in 1st grade were below the 30th percentile was examined to determine (a) how the poorest readers in 1st grade progressed in reading achievement through 4th grade and (b) which emergent literacy and behavioral skills measured in kindergarten predicted differential 4th grade outcomes. Results indicated that the divergence between children who improved and those who did not was established by the end of 2nd grade. Further, individual linguistic skills and behavioral attributes measured in kindergarten contributed substantively to this difference. Implications for intervention timing and educational policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and schooling effects on emergent literacy and early reading skills.

This study examined the effects of age and schooling on emergent literacy and early reading skills of 337 children from low-income backgrounds. Children were followed longitudinally from the end of Head Start to the end of 1st grade. A subset of the sample (n?=?183) was followed through the end of 2nd grade. The oldest children in preschool and kindergarten had significantly stronger emergent literacy skills than classmates who were younger by 10 months. These differences did not translate to differences in reading skill at the end of 1st or 2nd grade. Children who began school a year earlier than same-age peers outperformed these peers on measures of both emergent literacy skills and early reading skills. The impact of a year of schooling on emergent literacy skills was 1.7 times greater than the impact of other processes associated with age. The impact of a year of schooling on early reading was 4.3 times stronger than the effect of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School readiness and later achievement: A French Canadian replication and extension.

We first replicated the data analytic strategy used in Duncan et al. (2007) with a population-based data set of French-speaking children from Quebec (Canada). Prospective associations were examined between cognitive, attention, and socioemotional characteristics underlying kindergarten school readiness and second grade math, reading, and general achievement. We then extended this school readiness model by including motor skills as an additional element in the prediction equation and expanded the original strategy by including classroom engagement. The Montreal Longitudinal-Experimental Preschool Study, featured in Duncan et al., served as the Canadian reference group. In the replication model, kindergarten cognitive and attention characteristics predicted achievement by the end of 2nd grade. Although inconsistent across outcomes, behavioral problems and skills also emerged as predictors of some aspects of later achievement. Coefficients for kindergarten math skills were largest, followed by attention skills, receptive language skills, attention problems, and behavior. Most coefficients resembled those generated in the initial study. In our extension model, fine motor skills added their significant contribution to the prediction of later achievement above and beyond the original key elements of school readiness. Our extension model confirmed prospectively associations between kindergarten cognitive, attention, fine motor, and physical aggression characteristics and later achievement and classroom engagement by the end of 2nd grade. Although they comparatively showed better long-term benefits from stronger early attention skills, girls with less kindergarten cognitive skills were more vulnerable than boys with similar deficits when predicting 2nd grade math. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting reading and mathematics achievement in fourth-grade children from kindergarten readiness scores.

This study examined age and gender differences in verbal skills and visuomotor skills at kindergarten, in achievement in reading and mathematics at Grade 4, and in the link between skills at kindergarten and later achievement (n?=?281). Older children had higher verbal skills and visuomotor skills than younger children, and girls had higher visuomotor skills and reading achievement than boys. With controls for age, verbal skills uniquely predicted later reading achievement, whereas both verbal skills and visuomotor skills uniquely predicted later mathematics achievement. Readiness in the specific areas of auditory memory and verbal associations predicted later reading achievement, whereas readiness in the specific areas of auditory memory, number skills, and visual discrimination predicted later mathematics achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Home literacy activities and their influence on early literacy skills.

The relationship between the home environments of 66 children (aged 5.4–6.7 yrs) and their language and literacy development was examined. Parents (aged 28–46 yrs) of the children were interviewed regarding demographic information and home visits were conducted in which parents were observed reading with their children and interviewed about specific literacy practices. Children were assessed at approximately 9 mo intervals. After accounting for child age, parent education, and child ability as indexed by scores on a rapid automatized naming task and Block Design of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence—Revised, shared book reading at home made no contribution to the prediction of the literacy skills of letter name and letter sound knowledge in kindergarten. In contrast, home activities involving letters predicted modest and significant amounts of variance. For the areas of receptive vocabulary and phonological sensitivity, neither shared book reading nor letter activities were predictive. Follow-up to mid-Grade 2 underscored the importance of letter name/sound knowledge and phonological sensitivity in kindergarten in accounting for individual differences in later achievement in reading comprehension, phonological spelling and conventional spelling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extended early childhood intervention and school achievement: age thirteen findings from the Chicago Longitudinal Study

We evaluated the effects of participation in an extended program of compensatory education for 559 low-income, inner-city African American children up to seventh grade. The intervention is the federal and state-funded Chicago Child-Parent Center and Expansion Program, which began in 1967. Groups included 426 children who participated in the program from preschool to grades 2 or 3 and 133 children whose participation ceased in kindergarten. After taking into account initial differences in achievement at kindergarten entry and at the end of kindergarten, and after taking into account sample selection bias, program participation for 2 or 3 years after preschool and kindergarten was associated with significantly higher reading achievement up to seventh grade and with lower rates of cumulative grade retention and special education placement (4 to 5 years postprogram). Children participating in the follow-on program for 3 years had significantly higher reading achievement in seventh grade and a lower rate of grade retention than 3 year participants. Only 3 year participants had significantly higher math achievement than the comparison group. Study findings provide rare longitudinal evidence of the beneficial effects of a large-scale community-based program of extended early childhood intervention.     

Seven-year longitudinal study of the early prediction of reading achievement.

Investigated how well a broad, comprehensive battery of tests administered in kindergarten to 286 Ss (aged 5.0–7.1 yrs) predicted reading achievement in Grades 1–6. The test variables were reduced to 6 predictive factors by factor analysis that, together with the S's sex and the parent's language, had multiple correlations with reading achievement of .58 (Grade 1), .65 (Grade 2), .70 (Grade 3), .66 (Grade 6), and .71 (across all reading achievement tests). Path analysis showed that characteristics measured in kindergarten directly influenced reading in early primary grades and that early reading achievement was the primary determinant of later reading performance. It is concluded that the use of a 2-stage testing procedure, a preliminary screening device followed by the full test battery for selected Ss, substantially reduced testing time and resources, but it had almost no effect on the accuracy of predictions in the present study. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer acceptance, self-perceptions, and social skills of learning disabled students prior to identification.

This study addressed how learning disabled students prior to identification (LDPI), low-achieving (LA), average-achieving (AA), and high-achieving (HA) students compare on peer, teacher, and self assessments of social status and social skills in the fall and spring of kindergarten. Two hundred thirty-nine Black, Hispanic, and White students, 78% of a kindergarten population, participated. Controlling for age, sex, and achievement levels, four groups were identified: LDPI, LA, AA, and HA. In fall and spring of kindergarten all students were administered measures of peers' perceptions of social status, teacher's assessment of behavior problems and social skills, and self-perception. MANOVA and a stepwise discriminant function analysis revealed that as early as 8 weeks after entering kindergarten, LDPI students differed significantly from their peers on social variables and attention problems. Results suggest that later social difficulties of LD students are not solely a function of a history of low achievement and low teacher acceptance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention from Head Start through second grade.

The present investigation is a replication of an emergent literacy intervention in Head Start with a new cohort of children and includes a follow-up of both the original cohort and the replication cohort through the end of 2nd grade. Positive effects at the end of Head Start obtained in the original study were replicated, and effects on emergent literacy skills in both cohorts were maintained through the end of kindergarten. Effects of the emergent literacy intervention did not generalize to literacy outcomes at the end of 1st and 2nd grades. Growth in emergent literacy skills and literacy skills from year to year was strongly influenced by variation in the Head Start centers and school districts attended by children in the sample. Although children in the sample began formal reading instruction with relatively low levels of emergent literacy skills, they showed substantial gains with respect to national norms by the end of 2nd grade. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading achievement gaps, correlates, and moderators of early reading achievement: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) kindergarten to first grade sample.

This study estimated reading achievement gaps in different ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups of 1st graders in the U.S. compared with specific reference groups and identified statistically significant correlates and moderators of early reading achievement. A subset of 2,296 students nested in 184 schools from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) kindergarten to 1st-grade cohort were analyzed with hierarchical linear models. With child-level background differences controlled, significant 1st-grade reading differentials were found in African American children (-0.51 SD units below Whites), boys (-0.31 SD units below girls), and children from high-poverty households (-0.61 to -1.0 SD units below well-to-do children). In all 3 comparisons, the size of the reading gaps increased from kindergarten entry to 1st grade. Reading level at kindergarten entry was a significant child-level correlate, related to poverty status. At the school level, class size and elementary teacher certification rate were significant reading correlates in 1st grade. Cross-level interactions indicated reading achievement in African American children was moderated by the schools students attended, with attendance rates and reading time at home explaining the variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early prediction of reading achievement with the Sheppard School Entry Screening Test: A four-year longitudinal study.

Administered the Sheppard School Entry Screening Test (SSEST) to 320 kindergarten pupils to examine its ability to predict reading performance in Grades 1, 2, and 3. The 3 SSEST factors (i.e., Figure Drawing, Language, and Perceptual-Motor Skills) were each significantly correlated with reading achievement in all 3 grades, even after correcting for initial IQ. Prediction was much better for pupils with the lowest reading ability. Findings demonstrate the validity of the SSEST as an early indicator of later reading achievement. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic differences in reading trajectories: The contribution of family, neighborhood, and school contexts.

In the present study, the authors use the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999, to examine the extent to which family, school, and neighborhood factors account for the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on children's early reading. Through the use of hierarchical linear modeling techniques, growth curve models were estimated to depict children's reading trajectories from kindergarten to 3rd grade. Family characteristics made the largest contribution to the prediction of initial kindergarten reading disparities. This included home literacy environment, parental involvement in school, and parental role strain. However, school and neighborhood conditions contributed more than family characteristics to SES differences in learning rates in reading. The association between school characteristics and reading outcomes suggests that makeup of the student population, as indexed by poverty concentration and number of children with reading deficits in the school, is related to reading outcomes. The findings imply that multiple contexts combine and are associated with young children's reading achievement and growth and help account for the robust relation of SES to reading outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of reading disability from familial and individual differences.

Reading ability at Grade 2 was well predicted both by the incidence of reading problems in children's families and by individual differences among the children in vocabulary, phonological awareness, and early literacy skills at age 5 years. In contrast, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), age, and preschool differences in IQ, nonverbal skills, early education, and reading and television-viewing habits were unrelated to subsequent reading acquisition. Greater accuracy of prediction was obtained when test results rather than self-reports were used to determine familial reading problems, but little support was found for the utility or reliability of a distinction between low achievement in reading and specific underachievement relative to IQ in prediction analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal predictors of reading and math trajectories through middle school for African American versus Caucasian students across two samples.

This study's primary purpose was to examine the relative contribution of social-behavioral predictors to reading and math skills. The study expands on Duncan et al.'s (2007) work by using longitudinal methodology from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K) databases, and by focusing on potential differences in patterns of early predictors of later reading and math trajectories for African American versus Caucasian students. Predictor measures were selected at kindergarten, and the outcomes included standardized reading and math scores obtained from Grades 1, 3, 5, and 9 for the SECCYD sample, and Grades 3, 5, and 8 for the ECLS-K sample. Consistent with Duncan et al.'s findings, results reflect the relative contributions of early reading and math skills to later functioning in these respective academic domains for both samples, and there are indications for the importance of early expressive language skills to both reading and math in the SECCYD sample. Findings related to the power of social-behavioral predictors, however, are not consistent across samples. Although the SECCYD sample evidenced no such predictors, several interactions in the ECLS-K sample suggested the moderating effects of early ratings of aggressive behaviors and internalizing behaviors on later reading and math for African American students. The moderating effects of early teacher ratings of attention and internalizing behaviors for African American students as compared with Caucasian students in later math growth also were noted. The importance of early social-behavioral functions as related to later academic skills remains an important area of inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)