Patterns of readiness at school entry and their association with kindergarten academic and social-emotional outcomes

• In Event: Person-centered approaches to understanding school readiness

Abstract

Children enter kindergarten with an array of academic and social-emotional skills often termed “kindergarten readiness skills” (Duncan et al., 2007). Although many studies have used variable centered approaches to examine associations between individual skills (e.g., letter naming, number sense) and later outcomes (e.g., Jordan et al., 2006), identifying patterns of skills across measures of readiness can help identify whether certain sub-groups of students benefit more from specific interactions and instructional approaches.

The present study uses a person-centered approach to examine school-readiness profiles in a sample of kindergartners in a large diverse school division. We explored whether there were patterns of readiness at kindergarten entry and whether those patterns predicted growth in academic and social-emotional skills. We also examined whether the quality of teacher-child interactions moderated the associations between profile membership and kindergarten outcomes.

Participants in the study were 1,826 children and 349 kindergarten teachers. Children’s math and literacy skills were assessed in the fall and spring using the Woodcock Johnson III (Woodcock et al., 2011). Children’s executive function (EF) skills were assessed using Backwards Digit Span (Carlson, 2005), Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (McClelland et al., 2008), and Pencil Tap (Smith et al., 2007). Teachers reported on children’s task orientation and social-emotional skills using the Teacher-Child Rating Scale (Hightower, 1986). Teacher-child interactions were observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta et al., 2008).

We conducted a mutilevel latent profile analysis of children’s school readiness skills, controlling for demographic characteristics. Then we used the profiles to predict spring outcomes using two-level linear regression models. Finally, we created cross-level interaction terms between the overall CLASS score and the school readiness profiles, and conducted linear regressions to determine whether teacher-child interactions moderated associations between profile membership and outcomes.

Based on a comparison of fit indices, the 4-profile solution was determined to have the best fit (see Figure 1). Approximately 18% of children were in Profile 1, our “high risk” profile. These children exhibited the lowest academic and EF skills and high levels of conduct problems. Approximately 34% of students fell into Profile 2, the “ready” profile. They exhibited average levels of academic, EF, and social-emotional skills. Twenty percent of children were in Profile 3, the “social-emotional risk” profile. They exhibited average EF and academic skills, but low levels of social skills and high levels of conduct problems. Finally, 28% of students fell into Profile 4, the “high readiness” group, who showed high levels of EF, academic, and social skills, and low levels of conduct problems. For all outcomes, we found that profile membership predicted spring scores, controlling for fall scores of each skill (see Table 1). We also found that the quality of teacher-child interactions moderated associations between profile membership and changes in achievement and problem behavior for children within some of these groups, but not others, suggesting that that the quality of teacher-child interactions might be a particularly important factor in supporting outcomes for certain groups of children. In the presentation, we will discuss implications for interventions designed to support clusters of readiness skills.

Authors

• Jessica E Whittaker, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Tara Hofkens, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Virginia Vitiello, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert C Pianta, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author