Person-centered approaches to understanding school readiness

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Kindergarten readiness represents how prepared children are to enter formal schooling, which in the United States, typically corresponds with kindergarten entry. Skills at school entry (i.e., school readiness skills) are one of the strongest predictors of children’s academic success. But school readiness itself is complex and multifaceted, as are the processes and experiences that support children’s readiness for school. In the series of papers included this proposal, we use person-centered approaches to explore complex phenomena: parenting practices, early instruction, and patterns of school readiness from pre-k through kindergarten. Study 1 explores the multidimensional nature of parenting practices and connections to school readiness (Cook et al., 2012; Lanza & Cooper, 2016). Study 2, within the context of the implementation of a preschool math curriculum, explores whether distinct teacher “profiles” can be identified in terms of the adherence and quality of math curriculum implementation and whether these profiles are associated with child outcomes. Study 3 examines the pre-K to kindergarten transition patterns for Latino boys and identifies which sociocultural contexts predict boys' optimal transition patterns. Finally, Study 4 examines patterns of children’s readiness at school entry and their association with end-of-kindergarten academic and social-emotional outcomes. It also examines whether the quality of teacher-child interactions moderates these associations. The results of these studies have implications for examining patterns of development in young children, and how parenting and classroom practices are associated with that development.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Jessica E Whittaker, University of Virginia - Charlottesville

Individual Presentations

• Parenting Practice Profiles During the Transition to Formal Schooling: Associations with School Readiness - Presenting Author: Deiby Mayaris Cubides Mateus, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-Presenting Author: Jennifer Locasale-Crouch, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Khara Lynn Pence Turnbull, University of Virginia - Charlottesville

• Patterns and Predictors of PreK Teachers’ Implementation of a Math Curriculum - Presenting Author: Michelle F. Maier, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City; Non-Presenting Author: Anne Kou; Non-Presenting Author: Shira Kolnik Mattera, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City

• Factors that support the kindergarten transition patterns of Latino boys - Presenting Author: Melissa Lucas, Yale University; Non-Presenting Author: Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Non-Presenting Author: Cristina Gillanders, University of Colorado Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Tobiloba Adejum, University of Colorado Denver

• Patterns of readiness at school entry and their association with kindergarten academic and social-emotional outcomes - Presenting Author: Jessica E Whittaker, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-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