Building a structural model for understanding school readiness

ABSTRACT

Factors that affect children’s school readiness potential are evident from birth. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses that certain factors related to family risk conditions, the quality of prenatal care, maternal health during pregnancy, and the health status of the child at birth mediate children’s readiness for school. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) was used to test the hypotheses. 10,700 children were included in the study sample that represented diverse socioeconomic and racial/ethnic backgrounds. The hypothesized model suggested that there were both direct and indirect influences on children’s school readiness performance, including academic achievement and social competence. Potential risk factors as well as strategies for ameliorating negative influences on school readiness performance are identified.

KEYWORDS:

• School readiness
• preschool
• achievement
• social competence
• structural equation modeling

Acknowledgements

The work represented in this manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Dr Michel Miller, without whom this study could not have been completed Portions of this paper were presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, April 2016, Washington, DC.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the Office of Research, Social Sciences Research Committee, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.