School readiness and later achievement.
Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds.
Duncan
Greg J
GJ
School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.
Dowsett
Chantelle J
CJ
Department of Human Ecology, University of Texas.
Claessens
Amy
A
School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.
Magnuson
Katherine
K
Department of Social Work, University of Wisconsin.
Huston
Aletha C
AC
Department of Human Ecology, University of Texas.
Klebanov
Pamela
P
Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University.
Pagani
Linda S
LS
Department of Psychoeducation, Universite de Montreal.
Feinstein
Leon
L
Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London.
Engel
Mimi
M
School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.
Brooks-Gunn
Jeanne
J
Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University.
Sexton
Holly
H
Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan.
Duckworth
Kathryn
K
Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London.
Japel
Crista
C
Departement d'education et formation specialisees, Universite de Quebec a Montreal.
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008433:Mathematics; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011932:Reading; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States