Abstract
This study investigated how different profiles of kindergarten readiness in terms of student intellectual ability, academic skills and classroom engagement relate to future academic performance. Participants are French-Canadian children followed in the context of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (N = 670). Trained examiners measured number knowledge, receptive vocabulary and fluid intelligence when children were in kindergarten. Teachers rated kindergarten classroom engagement. Outcomes included fourth-grade teacherrated achievement and directly assessed mathematical skills. Latent class analyses revealed three kindergarten readiness profiles: high (57%), moderate (34%) and low (9.3%) readiness. Using multiple regression, we found that a more favourable kindergarten profile predicted better fourth-grade academic performance. Identifying children at risk of academic difficulty is an important step for preventing underachievement and dropout. These results suggest the importance of promoting a variety of cognitive, academic and behavioural skills to enhance later achievement in at-risk learners.
Highlights
For every individual child, kindergarten is meant to consolidate early academic, learning and intellectual skills in order to benefit subsequent, more challenging learning experiences from first grade onwards (Zuckerman & Halfon 2003)
The first goal of this study was to examine whether children show different profiles of school readiness
We found three types of kindergarten students that differed on the basis of their academic, intellectual and classroom engagement skills
Summary
Kindergarten is meant to consolidate early academic, learning and intellectual skills in order to benefit subsequent, more challenging learning experiences from first grade onwards (Zuckerman & Halfon 2003). Children show different strengths and weaknesses at school entry. Some have a more dedicated work ethic and others are less engaged towards task completion and academic activities in the classroom (High & the Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care and Council on School Health 2008). Helping instructors identify which children are at risk of experiencing academic difficulty can help prevent later academic adjustment problems. The purpose of the present study is to describe different student profiles of readiness and to examine how these profiles forecast later achievement
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