Safety as a Kindergarten Readiness Priority: Exploring the Beliefs of Minoritized Parents/Caregivers

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Decolonizing Teaching and Learning in the Early Years (Table 7)

Abstract

This study examines the convergence and divergence of a state definition of kindergarten readiness in relation to the beliefs of a sample of racially and economically minoritized parents/caregivers within the same state (n = 1,664). An intercept survey was administered over five years to parents/caregivers in a federally-designated Promise Neighborhood comprised of predominantly low-income, African American families (75%). Overall, 52.5% of parents’/caregivers’ responses were consistent with the state definition of readiness, as measured by the kindergarten entry assessment (i.e., Language/ Literacy, Mathematics), while 42.5% of responses fell outside the state definition of readiness. The most frequent code which diverged from the state definition related to children’s safety. Results are interpreted through the lens of social constructivism and bioecological systems theory.

Authors

• Katie Mathew, Drexel University

• Adena Klem, The Ceres Foundation

• Cory Johnson, Drexel University