Children’s Academic and Social Knowledge, Skills, and Development in the Kindergarten Year: Data From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Documenting the Diversity of Children’s Pre-Kindergarten Learning Experiences in the United States: A Portrait Drawing From Three Nationally Representative Surveys

Abstract

Drawing from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011), this paper will provide cross-sectional, national estimates on kindergartners’ knowledge, skills, and development, highlighting differences in terms of the primary care arrangement in the prior year. It will document the primary care arrangements that kindergartners attend in the year before entering kindergarten, including differences in care arrangements by the characteristics of children and their families. Using regression analysis, the paper will also examine the extent to which differences in academic skills and learning behavior by care arrangement persist after accounting for other characteristics, such as race and ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Children entering kindergarten exhibit a wide range of knowledge and skills, and those with at least one family risk factor (e.g., having a mother with less than a high school education or living in poverty) demonstrate lower proficiency in reading and mathematics and less positive approaches to learning than their peers with fewer or no risk factors (Denton Flanagan, K. and McPhee, C., 2009; Rathbun, A. and West, J., 2004). Differences also exist among children in the types and quality of early care and education (ECE) they experience, both at home and in care settings (Denton, K. and Germino-Hausken, E., 2000; Snyder, T.D. and Dillow, S.A., 2012; O’Donnell, K., 2008). This paper will inform efforts to enhance learning opportunities for all children and to address these early educational disparities among children.

In the ECLS-K:2011, kindergartners were assessed on reading, mathematics, science, and executive function skills, and were rated by teachers on learning behaviors such as attentiveness, eagerness to learn, and ability to follow classroom rules. Fall and spring results are available for each assessment, except for science (assessed only in the spring). Data on prior year care arrangement (no regular non-parental care arrangement, home-based relative and non-relative care, and center-based care) are from parent reports. Initial results indicate that 55 percent of first-time kindergartners were in center-based care before kindergarten and that these children tended to score higher than those who had not had ECE by someone other than a parent and those whose primary non-parental preschool experiences were with a relative (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2013).

The ECLS-K:2011 is the second nationally representative survey of America’s kindergartners. The base year of the study is representative of the nearly 4 million students in public and private full-day and part-day kindergartens in the United States during the 2010–11 school year. Broad in its scope and coverage of child development, early learning, and school progress, the ECLS-K:2011 draws together information from multiple sources, including children’s families, teachers, and schools to provide rich data on children's early school experiences beginning with kindergarten and following children through fifth grade. The ECLS-K:2011 was sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.

Authors

• Grace Kena, U.S. Department of Education

• Jill McCarroll, U.S. Department of Education

• Amy H. Rathbun, American Institutes for Research