Can Pre-Academic Activities in Norway’s Early Childhood Education and Care Program Boost Later Academic Achievements in Preschoolers at Risk?

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of included variables (N = 934).

Variables	% Missing	M (%)	SD	Min	Max
Outcomes
Reading, teacher rep^a	5.69	3.48	1.04	1	5
Math, teacher report^a	6.33	3.60	0.93	1	5
Reading, screening^b	45.28	46.12	7.49	11	54
Math, screening^b	44.96	47.08	8.41	11	55
Reading, critical threshold^b	45.28	(9.2)
Math, critical threshold^b	44.96	(22.8)
Social skills^c	5.69	3.23	.41	1	5
Predictors
Pre-academic activities	0.0	0.00	0.21	−0.74	0.46
Externalizing behaviors	31.2	1.26	0.30	1	2.53
Receptive language	11.48	40.13	11.04	10	75
Effortful control	13.3	0.75	0.19	0.15	1
Low maternal education	0.9	(8.7)
Covariates (measured at 6 mo)
Boys	0.0	(51.7)
Preterm birth	1.93	(7.8)
Older siblings	0.8	(60.5)
Non-western immigrant	1.0	(5.6)
Western immigrant	1.0	(6.3)
Single parent household	0.8	(4.0)
Birth cohort 2006	0.0	(38.5)
Birth cohort 2007	0.0	(45.0)
Birth cohort 2008	0.0	(16.5)

^aAverage 1st and 2nd grade.

^b2nd grade.

^c1st grade.

Table 2. Within-school fixed effects estimates of the associations between ECEC pre-academic activities and teachers’ evaluations of child reading and math (N = 932).

Models	Reading			Math
	r	est	(CI)	r	Est	(CI)
Main effects
Pre-academic activities	.08	.43*	(0.09, 0.76)	.04	.17	(−0.13, 0.46)
Externalizing behaviors	.15	−.65***	(−0.92, −0.37)	.14	−.56***	(−0.82, −0.30)
Language	.17	.18***	(0.11, 0.25)	.18	.16***	(0.10, 0.23)
Effortful control	.09	.55**	(0.15, 0.94)	.10	.55**	(0.19, 0.92)
Low maternal education	.12	−.47***	(−0.74,−0.21)	.11	−.41**	(−0.64, −0.17)

Note: All analyses are adjusted for covariates, gender, preterm birth, number of siblings, western and non-western non-Norwegian background, maternal education, single parent household, age at testing at age 4, birth year and birth quarter.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Figure 1. Interactions of pre-academic activities and externalizing behaviors (a) and Effortful control (b) predicting teacher rated reading.