Unpacking Longitudinal Outcomes of School Readiness Among Low-Income and Ethnic-Minority Students: Findings From Four Projects

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

School readiness has long-term implications for learning, achievement, and social adjustment, and children in low-income contexts are at risk for low readiness and difficulties adjusting to school. Previous studies have documented longitudinal associations between early readiness and later outcomes, and trials of several school readiness programs have documented positive intervention effects. However, further research is needed to more deeply understand the nature of these longitudinal associations and intervention impacts. This symposium includes presentations from four longitudinal projects that advance our understanding of school readiness among low-income and ethnic-minority children by exploring growth trajectories of academic and behavioral functioning in the early school years as well as mechanisms and moderators of the effects of readiness and readiness interventions.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Early Education and Child Development

Chair

• Rachel M Abenavoli, The Pennsylvania State University

Papers

• The Contribution of Social-Emotional Readiness to Children's Social-Emotional Growth Trajectories in Low-Income, Rural Communities - Rachel M Abenavoli, The Pennsylvania State University; Mark T. Greenberg, The Pennsylvania State University; the Family Life Project Key Investigators

• Links From Preschoolers' Academic and Social Skills to Later School Success Among Low-Income Children - Christine P. Li-Grining, Loyola University Chicago; Emily Pressler, New York University; C. Cybele Raver, New York University

• School Readiness Intervention: Pre-Intervention Characteristics as Moderators of Intervention Effect on Literacy and Parent Support - Erin T. Mathis, The Pennsylvania State University; Karen L. Bierman, The Pennsylvania State University

• Do Early Education Policies Moderate Generational Differences in School Readiness and Achievement of Latino Students? - Erin Powell Baumgartner, Rice University - Kinder Institute