The purpose of this research was to identify the presence of different school readiness profiles and to determine whether profiles could differentially predict academic growth. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: 2010-11 (ECLS-K: 2011) public data set was used, and participants were 14,954 first-time kindergarteners. The age of entering kindergarten ranged from 44.81–87.98 months with a mean of 76.13 months. In Study 1, a six-dimensional construct of school readiness was used: health, self-regulation, social and emotional development, language development, cognitive development, and approaches to learning. Results revealed 41 profiles with the top six school readiness profiles covering 85% of the sample: (1) Positive Development (28%); (2) Comprehensive At-Risk (24%); (3) Personal and Social Strengths (20%); (4) Cognitive and Language Strengths (5%), (5) Health Strength (5%); and (6) Cognitive, Personal and Social Strengths (3%). Study 2 examined whether school readiness profiles could predict children’s reading and math achievement growth using growth curve models. Results showed that different school readiness profile membership had unique academic growth patterns and could predict academic growth above and beyond child and family background variables. Moreover, children with the Positive Development profile had higher academic achievement over time. Children with the Personal and Social Strengths profile had the largest growth rates. In sum, findings support the inclusion of self-regulation as another dimension of school readiness and the important role of personal and social skills in the development of reading and math achievement.

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School Readiness Profiles and Growth in Academic Achievement

Identification and validation of school readiness profiles among high-risk kindergartners

Previous studies found that girls have higher academic achievement than boys in most school subjects. Teachers’ grading of academic achievement seems to be based not only on students’ knowledge but...

Longitudinal relationship between social skills and academic achievement in a gender perspective

School readiness refers to the set of foundational skills, behaviors, and knowledge children display as they enter school that enable them to achieve academic success in elementary school, graduate from high school, and eventually thrive in the workforce and beyond (La Paro & Pianta, 2000; Pianta, Cox, & Snow, 2007; Zaslow, Tout, Halle, Whittaker, & Lavelle, 2010). Children prepared to adapt to the school environment when they enter kindergarten are more likely to meet academic and social demands of the classroom and succeed in school. Although there is no clear consensus on the exact definition of school readiness, it is generally agreed to include a combination of cognitive, language, executive functioning, socioemotional, behavioral, and health characteristics that cooperate to p romote children’s functioning in a school setting (Boivin & Bierman, 2013; Sabol & Pianta, 2012). In the United States, kindergarten teachers report that children on average are not fully prepared to meet the demands of the classroom environment, particularly in terms of academic skills. In 2010–2011, teachers reported that only 27% of children were proficient in reading and math at school entry based on a nationally representative sample of newly entering kindergarteners (Bernstein, West, Newsham, & Reid, 2014). Moreover, the United States has large disparities in school readiness based on children’s family backgrounds. Children from low‐income backgrounds are almost a year behind at school entry

The State of Young Children in the United States

Adverse childhood experiences and children's development in early care and education programs

Research Findings: Researchers and policymakers emphasize that early childhood is a critical developmental stage with the potential to impact academic and social-emotional outcomes (G. Conti & J. J. Heckman, 2012; J. J. Heckman, 2012; R. Murnane, I. Sawhill, & C. Snow, 2012). Although there is substantial evidence that children's early prereading skills predict later academic achievement (K. M. La Paro & R. C. Pianta, 2000), there have been mixed findings regarding the contribution of early social skills to later achievement (e.g., G. J. Duncan et al., 2007). Using data from the national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort, we found that subgroups of children with a combination of low/average reading skills and higher levels of social skills (86% of the sample) in kindergarten performed better on later academic assessments than children with similar reading skills but lower levels of social skills during kindergarten. In contrast, children who were very strong early readers (14% of the ...

C. J. Powers

Papers

Patterns of Early Reading and Social Skills Associated With Academic Success in Elementary School