title: School readiness and later achievement.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Greg J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Ecology, University of Texas.
authors.forename: Chantelle J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Dowsett
authors.affiliation: School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Claessens
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Magnuson
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Ecology, University of Texas.
authors.forename: Aletha C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Huston
authors.affiliation: Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klebanov
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychoeducation, Universite de Montreal.
authors.forename: Linda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Pagani
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feinstein
authors.affiliation: School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Mimi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brooks-Gunn
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sexton
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Duckworth
authors.affiliation: Departement d'education et formation specialisees, Universite de Quebec a Montreal.
authors.forename: Crista
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Japel
mesh_terms: 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