Do Smart Friends Make Me Smarter? The Evidence of Peer Effects in Kindergarten

• In Event: Exploring Children's Peer Interactions

Abstract

This study attempts to explore whether or not peer effects exist among kindergarteners and tests peer effects of 13 different domains hypothetically considered to have an impact using ECLS-K dataset. Accompanied with methodological issues on measurement of causal peer effects, this study shows that, in math score, math proficiency level, and internalizing problem behaviors, children tend to significantly affect their peers during a kindergarten year. However, there are no significant causal peer effects on reading and general knowledge scores. Implications related to possible mechanism of peer effects, assessment subjectivity, and future direction are discussed.

Author

• Hyunwoo Yang, University of Wisconsin - Madison