Kindergarten Teachers’ Ratings of Children’s Behavioral and Learning Competencies: Predictive Impact on Children’s Third and Fourth Grade Achievement Trajectories

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Teachers’ valid observational assessments of children’s competencies in kindergarten are critical, as formal classroom testing is not prevalent. Controlling for SES and gender, hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses that kindergarten teachers’ ratings of certain learning and behavioral competencies related to literacy, mathematics, and approaches to learning were predictive of third and fourth grade reading and mathematics achievement. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (ECLS-K:2011) were used for analyses. The ECLS-K:2011 sample included 12,866 children assessed at the end of kindergarten and who completed measures of academic achievement at the end of third and fourth grade. The hypothesized models suggested that the most basic literacy and mathematics competencies measured at the end of kindergarten along with approaches to learning are the most predictive of academic performance in third and fourth grade. Implications for teaching and learning in kindergarten were examined and discussed.