title: Understanding how children's engagement and teachers' interactions combine to predict school readiness.
abstract: This study examined the quality of preschool classroom experiences through the combination of teachers' interactions at the classroom level and children's individual patterns of engagement in predicting children's gains in school readiness. A sample of 605 children and 309 teachers participated. The quality of children's engagement and teacher interactions was directly observed in the classroom setting, and direct assessments of children's school readiness skills were obtained in the fall and again in the spring. The quality of teacher interactions was associated with gains across all school readiness skills. The effect of children's individual classroom engagement on their gains in school readiness skills (specifically phonological awareness and expressive vocabulary) was moderated by classroom level teacher interactions. The results suggest that if teachers provide highly responsive interactions at the classroom level, children may develop more equitable school readiness skills regardless of their individual engagement patterns.
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia.
authors.forename: Amanda P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Williford
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia.
authors.forename: Michelle F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia.
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Downer
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Pianta
authors.affiliation: University of California Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Carolee
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Howes
keywords: child engagement; classroom observations; early childhood; latent class analysis; teacher-child interactions