Relationship Between Persistent Poverty, School Readiness, Grade Readiness, and Children’s Academic Trajectories K-8

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: Division L Section 7 Poster Session

Abstract

Using the ECLS-K dataset, this paper investigated the reading and mathematics
achievement gap faced by children in persistent poverty compared to the non-poor. The study
also investigated the association of two school-related factors – school readiness and secondgrade
readiness – with the poverty achievement gap. The study found that the achievement gaps
of children in persistent poverty widened over time. While school readiness at kindergarten-entry
was associated with the achievement gap, this association diminished when second-grade
readiness was taken into account. Second-grade readiness explained most of the variation in the
poverty achievement gap for reading skills, and some of the variation in the mathematics skills
gap. Implications for the academic development of children are discussed.

Author

• Yi Xe Thng, Harvard University