Examining School Readiness Profiles Among Latine Mixtec and Spanish-Speaking Dual Language Learners at Kindergarten Entry

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Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to understanding school readiness among Mixtec and Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs). Teachers rated the school readiness of 1,027 DLLs during the first month of school using the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP). Latent class analysis (LCA) examined KSEP profiles across social-emotional, behavioral, and early academic skills and identified six distinct school readiness classes that described students’ strengths and areas of improvement at kindergarten entry. Among the predictors examined, sex and parents' highest education showed a significant difference between the lowest and highest readiness classes, with lower parents' education likely to be in the lowest class (OR = 47). Implications for integrating universal school readiness screeners within a comprehensive assessment model will be discussed.

Authors

• Monica Romero, University of Texas at Austin

• Xiao Liu, University of Texas at Austin

• Matthew Pierce Quirk, University of California - Santa Barbara