Prediction of school readiness from kindergarten temperament scores

Abstract

The relationship between temperament and school readiness scores was investigated in a sample of 152 kindergarten students. Temperament ratings on the Temperament Assessment Battery for Children (TABC) were obtained from kindergarten teachers. Level 2 of the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) was subsequently administered to the students at the end of the school year. All correlations between temperament scales and MRT scores were significant when the effects of receptive vocabulary (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised) were removed. Results from stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that once TABC persistence scores were entered, no other temperament scores significantly increased prediction of MRT prereading scores. Inclusion of teacher-rated persistence from the TABC with PPVT-R scores in the regression analyses increased the percentage of total variance accounted for in readiness scores from 32% to 50%. These findings support previous research that has demonstrated the importance of task orientation behaviors for successful kindergarten achievement and adjustment. The results suggest that a significant component of school readiness may involve temperament-related behaviors.