Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Volume 12 Number 1

©The Author(s) 2010

Pathways to Bilingualism: Young Children’s Home Experiences Learning English and Spanish

M. Victoria Rodríguez

Lehman College, City University of New York

Abstract

Nowadays, more and more young children in the United States have the experience of speaking a language other than English at home, and many parents choose to educate their children bilingually. This study explored the home-language experiences, in English and Spanish, of three young Latino girls ages 15 months, 16 months, and 30 months, respectively, when the study began. They were observed at home between 40 and 70 hours for 30 months. Three questions guided the study: (1) What languages are used at home and for what purposes? (2) Who addresses the participant children in English and Spanish? and (3) How do the participants express themselves in English and Spanish? The data suggest that the three participants received input in English and Spanish based on the bilingual characteristics of the families. However, as they grew older and their proficiency in English improved, the input in Spanish diminished, as well as their ability to speak Spanish. At the end of the study, the three participants understood English and Spanish, one spoke English and Spanish when prompted, one spoke only in English, and another one spoke in both languages without being prompted. This study suggests that raising children bilingually may require support of the minority language outside the home, with collaboration among the schools, the families, and the community.

Introduction

Despite being a nation made up of immigrants coming from many different countries and speaking many different languages, American society has not supported or encouraged bilingualism (Crawford, 1999). However, early childhood organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Office of Head Start have long advocated for early childhood programs and teachers that respect, value, and support young children’s native languages (NAEYC, 1995). Recently, the Office of Head Start (2008) in the Dual Language Report pointed out that educating young children whose primary language is not English requires embedding the connection among language, culture, and learning needs into all aspects of a Head Start program (p. 6). The report concludes that Head Start programs should promote the native language of the young child because “ultimately, effective program support for promoting dual language acquisition in children will result in more children eager to learn in Head Start as well as more children being prepared to begin school ready and eager to continue learning - an investment well worth making” (p. 4).

Many mainstream families, in general, and immigrant families, in particular, agree with this position and express strong interest in raising their children bilingually for a variety of reasons. Many families believe that children who are bilingual will be able to communicate with parents and other family members who do not speak English; they will benefit from the cognitive, academic, and social advantages of being bilingual; and they will also have improved employment prospects. In addition, families expect that by raising their children bilingually, they can maintain the family’s heritage language and culture (Bialystok, 2001; King & Mackey, 2007; Yoshida, 2008).

Research on bilingual development in early childhood addresses (1) the language development of children in two or more languages and its relation to their cognitive and sociocultural development (Bialystok, 2001; Yoshida, 2008) and (2) the role of the home, the community, and society in educating children bilingually. Given the importance of the social context in language development, more research is needed to uncover the diverse linguistic input that young children receive from the various social networks that they are in contact with, for example, the immediate and extended family, friends, neighbors, and caregivers (Hamers & Blanc, 1995). The purpose of this study was to explore the different ways in which three young girls learned English and Spanish during their early childhood years.

The study was guided by Vygotsky's theory of human development, which highlights the essential role of social interactions in culturally specific contexts in the development of language (Vygotsky, 1978). Language socialization research across cultures conducted by Schieffelin and Ochs (1986) confirmed long ago the importance of interactions in socializing young children into language - and through a specific language into a culture. More recently, neuroscience research using the tools of modern technology revealed the strategies that babies use to learn language(s), which include pattern perception, computational skills, and social interaction, which “plays a more significant role in early language learning than previously thought, at least in natural language-learning situations” (Kuhl & Rivera-Gaxiola, 2008, p. 518). In fact, babies learned words and phonemes in a foreign language only when exposed to the language through book reading and play with native speakers, but they did not learn the language when exposed to the same sounds and words through television or audio-only tutors.

Methodology

This study addressed the following questions: (1) What languages are used at home and for what purposes? (2) Who addresses the participant children in English and Spanish? and (3) How do the participants express themselves in English and Spanish?

Three families were recruited who expressed interest in raising their children bilingually and had children between 15 months and 3 years of age. The researcher knew one of the families from a previous study and met the other two families through a friend and in a doctor’s office.

Data Collection and Analysis Methods

Data collection involved participant observation, audiotapings, informal conversations, and interviews with all family members. For the purpose of this paper, only the fieldwork notes, audiotapings of the focus children, and informal conversation with the family members were analyzed. The home visits were scheduled after calling the family to decide on a convenient time for the family and the researcher. At the beginning of the study, two of the participants only spoke a few words each, and most observations were audiotaped and complemented by the researcher’s notes.

The data analysis was performed in three phases. The first phase involved typing the field notes and the transcripts of all recorded tapes made during participant observation. Next, data were highlighted for each participant using the research questions as the initial categories, namely: (1) input provided in English and in Spanish, (2) the source of the input, and (3) participants' expressive language in English and Spanish. Subsequent readings of the notes and transcripts led to preparing charts to record all the data related to each of the categories for each of the participants. In the third phase, the focus shifted to analyzing the data in order “to make sense of what is going on” (Wolcott, 1994, p. 10). This analysis involved identifying patterns of interactions between the family members and each participant, similarities and differences in patterns of interactions among participants (with particular attention to changes occurring over time), and “key factors and relationships among them” (p. 10) that contributed to the understanding of the data.

Participant Families and Children’s Characteristics

At the beginning of the study, the three participants - Josefina Cortés, Kayla Jiménez, and Thais Velázquez (pseudonyms chosen by the families) - were 16 months old, 15 months old, and 30 months old, respectively. Josefina lived with her mother, father, and her 11-year-old brother. Josefina’s parents were born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the United States when they were in their teens. Josefina and her brother were born in New York City. Josefina’s mother was fluent in Spanish and understood and spoke some English; her brother and father were bilingual. Mr. Cortés holds a bachelor’s degree, but his work is not connected to the degree. Mrs. Cortés has a high school diploma and works as a home attendant. Josefina was observed at home for about 40 hours over a period of 30 months. At the beginning of the study, for about 6 months, I observed Josefina in the morning, when she was at home with her mother. For the last 2 years of the study, I observed her in the afternoon or on Sunday mornings when all the family members were at home, and occasionally I observed her with other family members, like Josefina’s maternal grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Kayla’s family included her mother and father and her 4-year-old sister. Kayla’s mother was born in New York City from Dominican and Puerto Rican parents. Her father was born on a Caribbean island and immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager. Kayla’s mother and sister spoke both English and Spanish; the father spoke English. Mr. and Mrs. Jiménez hold bachelor’s degrees and worked in education. Since Kayla was 10 months old, she had spent about 8 hours a day, 4 days a week, with her great-grandmother, who talked to her in Spanish, although she understood and spoke some English. During the last 10 months of the study, the family lived with the great-grandmother. Kayla was observed in the morning and early afternoon for about 50 hours over a period of 30 months, mostly but not exclusively in her great-grandmother’s home and in her great-grandmother’s presence. Occasionally, Kayla’s mother, sister, and father were also at home, as well as cousins, grandparents, and aunts.

Thais lived with her mother and two teenage brothers. Mrs. Velázquez was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York City when she was 18. Mrs. Velázquez finished the 11th grade. She worked as part of the welfare program. Mrs. Velázquez's three children were born in New York City. Thais’s mother spoke Spanish and understood some English. Thais’s brothers were fluent in English and Spanish. Thais was observed at home once a month over several months, totaling about 70 hours. I observed Thais in the early afternoon when her mother and sometimes her brothers were home. On a few occasions, other family members, such as the maternal grandmother and cousins, and family friends were present.

Language Used at Home - with Each of the Participant Children and by Each of the Children

Each family expressed interest in educating the youngest members of the family bilingually. Also, in all families, the oldest siblings and at least one member of the family were bilingual. But the language of everyday conversation at home was dictated by the native language of the parents. In addition, attending or not attending child care before or at 3 years of age had an impact on the focus children’s language development in two languages.

Josefina Cortés’s Language Input

In the Cortés’s home, Josefina’s input at home was mostly in Spanish until she was about 3 years of age. Conversation at home between the three members of the family and the researcher was always in Spanish, and according to the parents, it reflected what was going on at home on a daily basis even when the immediate family was with other family members, who were also Spanish speakers, on weekends. Josefina watched TV in Spanish with her mother - for example, a soap opera that Mrs. Cortés watched when she had time in the evening. Also, during Josefina’s first two years, she spent time each year in the Dominican Republic (about a month) with her Spanish-speaking family. Since the age of 2 until 2½ years, she attended, for about 5 hours a day, a family child care program where she was addressed in Spanish.

During this time, Josefina also received input in English at home. At age 16 months and until she was 2 years of age, she watched approximately 3 hours of TV cartoons in English, often alone and at times with her family. English was also used at home to teach Josefina numbers, letters, greetings (hello, bye bye), and manners (thank you). Some words in English such as Pampers, yummy, yes, hi, oh man, and I love you were often used when the conversation was in Spanish. At 2½ years of age, Josefina attended a different child care program for at least 8 hours a day, and, at her mother’s request, she was addressed in English. Also, when Josefina initiated conversations in English, which started at age 3 years 4 months, the tendency was for her father, at times, and especially her brother, to respond in the same language.

Josefina Cortés’s Use of Two Languages

Josefina’s use of each language went from initiating her interactions exclusively in Spanish to using English almost exclusively, even when she was addressed in Spanish. At 16 months, Josefina spoke a few words in Spanish: papi (dad), mami (mom), pipí, (pee), Etete (name that she gave to her brother), and in English: hi and hello. She also tried to talk by saying ei, ei, and then when anybody in the room paid attention to her, she would make unintelligible noises with the intonation of asking a question or making a statement. She was also able to repeat words in English (e.g., oh man, thank you, yummy, Pampers) and Spanish (mimí for dormir (sleep), mua, mua for un beso (a kiss), and qué lindo! (how nice), but she did not use these words on her own.

At 2 years of age, she had added several words to her vocabulary in Spanish - hola (hello), jugo (juice), io for sucio (dirty), chichí (baby), pan (bread), sopa (soup), vamos (let’s go), mimí for dormir (sleep), leche (milk), and qué lindo! (how nice). She now called her brother Tete and used a sentence in Spanish - "Qué te cae!" [sic] (You are going to fall down) - and would tell her father, “Papa bye, bye.” She also used English, for some numbers, and she could say oh man, thank you, Pampers, and I love you. Until Josefina was 3 years and 4 months of age, she continued adding vocabulary in Spanish and English, but she initiated the conversation in Spanish and used some sentences in English such as “What is this?”; “Open your mouth”; “Oh my God!”; “Give me”; “I did it”; and “Let’s go”; and she sang some songs like “Happy Birthday.”

The shift to initiating interactions more often in English than in Spanish was clear when I arrived for one of my last visits. Josefina’s mother was not yet at home, and Josefina said to me at the door, “Mommy is coming soon.” Mr. Cortés noticed this change and told me with surprise, “Ella habla más inglés por el day care, porque allí todo es en inglés. Aquí su madre le habla en español y yo también pero éste (por su hijo) no.” (She speaks more English because in the day care, everything is in English. Here [at home] her mother talks to her in Spanish and me too, but her brother does not speak to her in Spanish.) Josefina's next phase was to answer in English questions asked of her in Spanish or to continue a conversation in English that was initiated in Spanish. Josefina’s father described the new situation and told me, “Su mamá y yo que le hablamos en español pero ella contesta en inglés. Josefina no quiere hablar español y yo le digo que se lo voy a decir a Victoria.” (Josefina’s mother and I talk to her in Spanish, but she answers in English. Josefina does not want to speak Spanish, and I tell her that I am going to tell Victoria [the researcher].)

When she was 3 years 8 months old, I was reading aloud a story in Spanish about a little mouse. I asked her questions about the pictures, and she spontaneously volunteered some comments. This is the conversation in Spanish:

R: ¿Dónde tiene los dientes ella? (Where are her teeth?)

J: En la mouth. (In her mouth.)

R: ¿Dónde está el rabito? (Where is her tail?)

J: Right there.

While I am reading, she says on her own “got eyes.”

R: Sí tiene ojos ahí, sí y ¿qué más tiene? (Yes, she has eyes there, and what else does she have?)

She says something that I can’t hear.

R: Sí tiene una boca y ¿qué más tiene? (Yes, she has a mouth there, and what else does she have?)

J: Mouth.

R: ¿Qué es eso? (What is that?)

J: Mouth.

R: Esa es la nariz. (That is the nose.)

I continue reading in Spanish, and Josefina volunteers “is a house.”

At the beginning of the study, Josefina, age 16 months, initiated interactions and expressed her wants and needs using one-word utterances in Spanish. She also used some words in English. At the end of the study, at age 3 years 10 months, Josefina understood English and Spanish. But she initiated interactions more often in English than in Spanish, and she would usually respond in English to questions or conversations initiated in Spanish. She also stated some letters, shapes, and most colors in English and some numbers in English and in Spanish, and she sang songs such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” the “ABC Song,” and “The Wheels on the Bus.”

Kayla Jiménez’s Language Input

For Kayla, the main linguistic input at home was in English. Kayla’s mother, father, and older sister were fluent in English, and English was the language of daily interaction and communication. However, Kayla also received daily input in Spanish. Kayla was cared for by her great-grandmother, who, especially at the beginning of the study, always addressed Kayla in Spanish. Conversation between Kayla’s great-grandmother and the researcher, by the way, was always in Spanish - the language her great-grandmother was more comfortable with. Also during the visits, the TV set in the living room was always on Spanish-language channels. When Kayla wanted to watch TV, she would ask her great-grandmother to turn on the TV in her bedroom, and she would watch cartoons in English. But she watched her favorite cartoon Dora the Explorer in Spanish every Saturday. Also Kayla’s mother and sister addressed her sometimes in Spanish. For example, Mrs. Jiménez stated that she always reprimanded and comforted her daughters in Spanish. Kayla’s sister was more reluctant to talk to her in Spanish because she did not understand why she had to talk to her sister in Spanish if Kayla spoke English. But she would address her great-grandmother in Spanish, especially if the great-grandmother did not understand her in English. In addition, at age 3, Kayla started attending child care where, at her mother’s request, one of the caregivers taught her the numbers, colors, and shapes in Spanish.

The input in Spanish provided by Kayla’s great-grandmother somewhat decreased as Kayla started using more English than Spanish. She had a tendency to use the words that she knew in English to make sure that Kayla understood her. Yet, most of the input that Kayla received in Spanish was from her great-grandmother. I made an effort to try to talk to Kayla in Spanish, but it was difficult to always answer in Spanish when Kayla expressed her wants and needs always in English.

Kayla Jiménez’s Use of Language

During the first 7 months that I observed Kayla, when she was between 15 and 22 months of age, she used words in English and Spanish - but more in Spanish than in English. Words in Spanish included ela or bela for abuela (grandmother), mama (mommy), linda (beautiful), aquí (here), nada (nothing), mimí for dormir (sleep), agua (water), más (more). In English, she said daddy, nice, jush for juice, eat, no more, and my friend. After 22 months of age, Kayla started using two-word sentences in English, and her English improved in terms of the use of new words and longer sentences. At age 22 months until age 30 months, she continued using a few words in Spanish such as bela or buela for abuela (grandmother), titi (auntie), pan (bread), de nada (you’re welcome). After 30 months of age, Kayla did not use words in Spanish while the researcher was visiting. By that time, she systematically continued a conversation in English that was initiated in Spanish. At age 3 years 4 months, Kayla understood English and Spanish but basically spoke English and a few words in Spanish. Kayla’s mom compared Kayla’s proficiency in Spanish with her sister’s and stated that, when Kayla was addressed in Spanish, she would always answer in English. Her sister, however, would answer in the language in which she was addressed, Spanish included, especially if she knew that her interlocutor did not speak English.

Thais Velázquez’s Language Input

At the onset of the study, Spanish was the language used in Thais’s home to communicate; Mrs. Velázquez spoke only Spanish, and her older children were fluent in it, too. The TV set in Mrs. Velázquez bedroom, where Thais slept and spent many hours, was always on Spanish-language channels. Thais’s siblings talked to each other more often in English than in Spanish; music and TV in their bedroom was always in English, but they always addressed their sister in Spanish until Thais turned 3½. Thais was also in contact with other family members such as uncles, aunts, and cousins, as well as friends who always addressed her in Spanish.

Thais also received input in English. From the time she was 2 until she was 3½, she was cared for by her mother. Thais watched Barney, her favorite TV show, in English every morning. She was observed watching Barney videos over and over again. She also enjoyed the cartoons Tom and Jerry, Scooby-doo, and occasionally Power Rangers and Sponge Bob Square Pants.

When Thais was about 3½ years old, her mother started working and tried to enroll her in a prekindergarten class. Thais was not admitted because no spaces were available, and she was cared for by several babysitters who addressed her in Spanish and by a family friend. The friend’s three grandchildren - a 4-year-old girl and twin 8-year-old boys - addressed her in English. Thais spoke Spanish with the babysitter but played in English with the children, especially the 4-year-old girl. She also watched cartoons, Dora the Explorer, and Franklin.

Also, Thais’s older brother told the researcher that he had started talking to her in English and Spanish to get her ready for school because, according to him, “Now most parents talk to their kids in English so if she [Thais] goes to school only speaking Spanish she is like an outcast.”

Thais Velázquez’s Use of Language

At the beginning of the study when Thais was 2 years 6 months, she always expressed her wants and needs in Spanish. She tried very hard to involve the researcher and her brothers in playing ball and in hide and seek, her favorite games. She screamed “Dame la bola” (Give me the ball) when she was not getting the ball as fast as she wanted and encouraged the player to send it back to her saying pújalo instead of empújala (push it). She showed her toys with pride - “Mira lo que yo tengo” (Look at what I have) and was eager to show that she could ride the tricycle saying “¿Tú quieres que yo monte mi bicicleta?” (Do you want me to ride my bicycle?). She watched soap operas in Spanish and asked questions about the show such as “¿Verdad que Tony Montán está muerto?” (Is it truth that Tony Montan died?) or stated, “Acabó Juan José” (Juan José is over) meaning that the soap opera was over. Thais also showed interest in shows in English and asked her brother to change the channel to Scooby-doo saying, “Yo quiero Scooby-doo” (I want Scooby-doo). She also was observed at 2 years 8 months saying thank you when she was given something.

At 3 years of age, Thais was really confident in her ability to speak Spanish to the point that she tried to correct the researcher. I asked her, “¿Tu no tienes calor así vestida?” (Aren’t you warm dressed like that?) And she told me, “Eso no se llama vestido se llama falda” (That is not called a dress, that is called skirt.) She did not know that vestida means dressed and heard vestido (dress) instead. Between 3 years and 3 years and 6 months, Thais continued speaking mostly Spanish, and according to her mother, she was not really talkative until she was 3 years of age. She spoke Spanish well except for some words like bochando for abrochando (to button up), bibirón for biberón (baby’s bottle), estógamo instead of estómago (stomach), and she made mistakes such as “Mami me poní chancletas” instead of “Mamá me puse chancletas” (Mom, I put on my slippers) and dicio instead of dijo (he/she said).

From 3 years 6 months to 4 years of age, Thais was a fluent speaker of Spanish with the typical mispronunciation of certain words, “Yo tengo una bahía” instead of “Yo tengo una herida” (I have a wound) and grammatical errors such as “Anoche tu vas a venir” (Last night you will come) instead of “Mañana tu vas a venir” (You will come tomorrow).

She was also aware that she spoke Spanish and of the phonological differences between the Spanish that the researcher spoke and the Spanish that she spoke. For example the researcher said to her that Dora, the main character in Dora the Explorer, spoke Spanish, and Thais said, “Yo también” (Me too). Thais was having lunch and said that the food had sasón (seasoning); the researcher said sazón (using a th pronunciation for the z), and Thais said no, sasón.

During this time, she added several words to her vocabulary in English. She often used please, sleep, closet, I am sorry, yellow, you're welcome, bye bye, and ice cream, which she pronounced ice quis. She also sang two songs: “Happy Birthday” and “I Love You.”

At 4 years of age, Thais used sentences such as “What are you doing?”; “You can’t see me I can’t see you”; “Stop talking to me, funny”; “What hand is the ball in?”; “Look, look I fly.” She continued playing hide and seek but in English.

It was difficult for the researcher to evaluate Thais’s proficiency in English because she always interacted in Spanish. However, by the time that Thais was 4 years 6 months old, according to her mother, “Thais ahora habla en español y en inglés” (Thais now speaks Spanish and English). Also Thais passed the English test administered by the New York City Department of Education and was placed in a monolingual English kindergarten class at age 5. Thais’s mother told me that Thais spoke English when she was enrolled in kindergarten because of her interaction with the babysitter’s grandchildren more than for what she had learned with her brothers. This experience contributed to her ability to pass the English test of the New York City Department of Education.

Discussion

This study revealed some strategies used to promote bilingualism in the homes of young children, how these strategies were implemented, and the kind of exposure to two languages that these children had when they attended school. However, the results cannot be generalized to all young Latino children being educated bilingually because of the small number of participants and how they were selected and because the participants were all female and the youngest in their families.

Each family had a different pattern of language use at home, dictated, in part, by the linguistic characteristics of each of the members of the family, especially the mother and father. During the first two years of life, Josefina and Thais were addressed in Spanish almost exclusively because that was the language that the parents spoke the most competently. In contrast, although Kayla’s mother and sister were bilingual, she received most of her input in English because her father did not speak Spanish. However, during the first two years of life, Josefina and Thais received some input in English and Kayla received some input in Spanish. Josefina and Thais were exposed to English through watching cartoons on TV and also through speaking with their siblings, who spoke English. Kayla’s exposure to Spanish came through her great-grandmother, who took care of her and spoke mostly Spanish to her.

The data, however, suggest that as the three participants grew older and their proficiency in English improved, the input provided to two of the participants in Spanish diminished and so did the opportunity to become balanced bilinguals. At the end of the study, the three participants understood English and Spanish. Josefina spoke English and Spanish only when prompted, Kayla spoke only English, and Thais was fluent in both languages.

The results of this study suggest that in order to raise bilingual children, families need to make sure that the children receive adequate exposure to each of the languages. Speaking the minority language at home may not be enough, not only because when children start going to school or to child care the time at home decreases, but also because once children learn English, they are more motivated to speak the majority language than the minority language. Therefore, in order to raise children bilingually, the minority language may have to be supported outside the home, for example, in the community and in the schools (Genesee, 2008).

The ideal learning situation would be to enroll the child in a dual-language program. The lack of early childhood bilingual programs underscores the cultural and political climate of our country regarding bilingualism and may explain, in part, the academic difficulties of school-age English language learners who are not given the support and time to learn two languages (Gándara & Rumberger, 2009; Garcίa & Scribner, 2009). Bilingualism in early childhood, however, can be supported in programs that, as recommended by the NAEYC (1995), respect and value minority languages and cultures. Early childhood programs can show that they respect and value the native language of young children by implementing a number of strategies:

Addressing the negative attitudes that personnel may have about minority languages, given society's misunderstandings regarding bilingualism.

Informing parents and teachers about the advantages of bilingualism and the challenges of becoming bilingual.

Encouraging parents, siblings, and extended family to speak the native language at home.

Providing materials such as books, music, and videos in the different languages.

Hiring personnel who speak English and the minority languages represented in the center.

Using the minority languages not only to translate when parents do not speak English but also in the classroom.

Providing parents and teachers with knowledge about first- and second-language acquisition and the time most children need to attain academic proficiency in English.

Making teachers and parents aware of what research has shown regarding how proficiency in one’s native language supports English language learning.

Parents who express interest in their children being bilingual may not be aware of the challenges that the children face in order to maintain two languages. This study suggests that parents need to be made aware of the challenges that they face if they want their children to be proficient in two languages, as well as ways of addressing the challenges at home, in school, and in the community (Rodríguez, 2008).

References

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Author Information

M.Victoria Rodríguez, Ed.D., is an associate professor in the Departments of Early Childhood and Childhood Education, as well as Counseling, Literacy, Leadership, and Special Education at Lehman College, the City University of New York (CUNY). She received her doctoral degree in education, with a specialization in early childhood special education and bilingual education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests include home language and literacy experiences of Dominican/Latino children with and without disabilities, and how to incorporate their home experiences into the school curriculum. She is also interested in the professional lives of Latino paraprofessionals as well as preservice and inservice teacher attitudes toward inclusion.

M. Victoria Rodríguez

Lehman College

City University of New York

250 Bedford Park Boulevard West

Bronx, NY 10468-1589

Email: maria.rodriguez@lehman.cuny.edu

Volume 15 Number 1

©The Author(s) 2013

Predictors of School Readiness in Literacy and Mathematics: A Selective Review of the Literature

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

M. Deanna Ramey

Serbay Zambak

Clemson University, School of Education

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a selective review of the literature related to predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. School readiness was defined as what children are expected to know and do in a variety of academic domains and processes of learning prior to entering a formal classroom setting. Seven themes emerged, based on a review of selected empirical research published over a sixteen-year period. Twenty-four predictors of success for school readiness were categorized under these themes. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Introduction

Young children are increasingly entering academically rigorous school settings where an emphasis on accountability and standards has replaced an emphasis on child development. However, many young children enter school unprepared for both academic and social expectations. Research suggests (Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, & Nurmi, 2004) that if students enter kindergarten at a disadvantage, early gaps in understandings of literacy or mathematics tend to be sustained or widened over time; this appears to be particularly true for children of poverty (McLoyd & Purtell, 2008). It is imperative for the field to identify strategies that move young children toward becoming independent and reflective learners, to increase the likelihood of their school success in later years.

In order to achieve this vision, we must first identify the specific characteristics or factors that enable certain children to enter formal schooling at an advantage while others enter at a disadvantage. Since the 1950s, researchers have investigated how external factors can influence or predict student success in school, and particularly school readiness (Milner, 1951), but a comprehensive list of factors that may affect cognitive, social, emotional, or language development in the school-age years has yet to be compiled. This literature review focuses on school readiness in the areas of literacy and mathematics. Its purposes are to provide stakeholders such as parents, caregivers, and teachers with insight into factors that research has identified as possibly contributing to children’s successful entry into formal schooling and to enable them to identify whether particular children are affected by these factors.

Many definitions of school readiness can be found in the research literature. For some, school readiness relates to students’ cognitive abilities (Nobel, Tottenham, & Casey, 2005). For others, readiness is more related to maturational, social, and emotional domains of development (Ray & Smith, 2010) or to whether or not students have the tools necessary to work effectively in a classroom setting (Carlton & Winsler, 1999). For the purposes of this study, school readiness was defined as children’s preparedness for what they are expected to know and do in academic domains and processes of learning when they enter a formal classroom setting. Rather than focusing on specific activities such as counting to ten or saying the alphabet, this definition considers such components as children’s social-emotional characteristics, cognitive processes related to conceptual understanding, and their ability to communicate about their understandings.

Methods

A systematic review of the literature was conducted over three months during the spring of 2011. The question guiding the literature review was: What predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy have been identified by empirical research in education?

Data Collection and Analysis

The research team determined parameters for conducting searches by first examining already published literature reviews or meta-analyses relating to early childhood literacy or mathematics and relating to issues of school readiness. Four criteria emerged for articles to be included: (1) publication after 1995; (2) publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal; (3) grounding in empirical research; and (4) use of rigorous research methods. These criteria are similar to those used in examples found in the preliminary review of the literature (Justice, 2003; La Paro & Pianta, 2000); however, many previous analyses were limited to large scale quantitative studies. During the preliminary review, meta-analyses of this literature published in 1995 or before were identified (Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995). Therefore, this literature review focused on research following those publications to determine if any changes have occurred.

Having established parameters, the research team searched the literature to compile articles relevant to the research question. Both criterion and snowball sampling methods were used to identify literature. For criterion sampling, the research team conducted electronic searches of a variety of databases and search engines to identify articles that met the established parameters. Snowball sampling involved examining reference sections from theoretical articles related to school readiness, school achievement, early childhood mathematics, and early childhood literacy to find empirical research relevant to the research question. Snowball sampling was also conducted on the reference sections for each empirical study identified in the review to determine if additional sources could be included.

Finally, the research team conducted preliminary readings of the articles to obtain an overall understanding of the data. Following this analysis, articles were clustered based on similarity of findings. After clustering, articles underwent a secondary analysis to establish predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy.

Results

In general, literature relating to predictors of success in early childhood literacy was more prevalent than literature relating to early childhood mathematics. Therefore, more predictors of success relating to literacy were identified in this review. It is likely then that the findings do not encompass all potential predictors of school readiness in mathematics.

Seven themes emerged from the literature review regarding factors associated with school readiness in mathematics and literacy: (1) child care experience; (2) family structure and parenting; (3) home environment; (4) learning-related skills; (5) social behavior; (6) mathematical and literacy-based tasks; and (7) health and socioeconomic status. The sections that follow describe findings relating to each of these themes.

Child care experience. Several studies reviewed noted correlations between children’s exposure to high-quality child care and their performance on measures of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. In a longitudinal study conducted by the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2002), participation in high quality, center-based child care was associated with higher language performance (NICHD, 2002). However, increased time spent in child care did not increase language performance, and a higher number of hours spent in child care was associated with increased behavior problems, as reported by caregivers (NICHD, 2002).

Ramey and Ramey (2004) reported the results of multiple randomized controlled trials investigating experiences in preschool education and their connection to school readiness. The authors identified seven types of experiences that are “essential to ensure normal brain and behavioral development and school readiness” (2004, p. 474). These experiences should: “(1) encourage exploration, (2) mentor in basic skills, (3) celebrate developmental advances, (4) rehearse and extend new skills, (5) protect from inappropriate disapproval, teasing, and punishment, (6) communicate richly and responsively, and (7) guide and limit behavior” (Ramey & Ramey, 2004, p. 474).

The authors indicate that children’s exposure to high-quality child care built around these types of experiences can better prepare children for school. Magnuson and colleagues (2004) also examined the relationship between quality of care and school readiness and, in particular, how different types of preschool experiences may affect children of economically advantaged and disadvantaged families. Child care was categorized as parental care, center-based care, Head Start, or other non-parental care. Using a sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K), the authors found that children who attended center-based programs before kindergarten performed better in math and reading than children who experienced only parental care. Having attended center-based programs was associated with greater benefits for children from “disadvantaged” families than for those with higher economic status, including enhancement of mathematics performance (Magnuson, Meyers, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2004).

High quality child care was not always defined in the literature reviewed for this study, but some of the literature did examine aspects of high-quality care. Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, and Iyer (2008) examined the effects of a preschool mathematics curriculum on children’s levels of school readiness. Their findings suggest that use of high-quality curricula implemented with fidelity can lead to higher levels of school readiness in mathematics (Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, & Iyer, 2008). Bracken and Fischel (2007) examined the impact of a supplementary literacy-based curriculum on Head Start preschoolers’ mathematics and literacy achievement and social and behavior skills. More students displayed positive behavior and social skills when engaging with the supplementary curriculum; these skills were associated with higher levels of performance on literacy tasks (Bracken & Fischel, 2007). Characteristics of instruction have also been considered in determining child care quality. Chien and colleagues (2010) investigated the types of engagement young children could encounter in child care settings (free play, group or individual instruction, and scaffolded learning). Children in settings with more free play showed smaller gains than their peers on literacy and mathematics indicators at the preschool level. Individual instruction tended to be a stronger predictor of success on preschool assessments (Chien, Howes, Burchinal, Pianta, Ritchie, Bryant, Clifford, Early, & Barbarin, 2010). However, that study focused only on the types of engagement as predictors of achievement success and did not discuss the potential positive implications of free play and group instruction on other domains of development.

Parenting Style and Family Structure. Parenting styles, parent and child relationships, and family structure were considered as factors potentially related to school readiness in some of the studies in this literature review. Hill (2001) examined the relationship between parenting styles and kindergarten children’s school readiness in African-American and Euro-American families with comparable socioeconomic status. Maternal warmth or acceptance was found to be positively related to children’s performance on a pre-reading measure, while “short temper” and lack of patience were associated with lower scores. Also positively related to children’s performance were teachers’ perception of the extent to which parents valued education, and the quality of parent involvement (high quality was characterized by primarily parent-initiated involvement; lower quality by primarily teacher-initiated parent involvement). Mothers’ expectations for grades were positively related to children’s performance on the pre-reading measure. Hill (2001) also compared parenting styles to kindergarten children’s performance on a measure of quantitative concepts. Again, maternal warmth and high expectations for good grades were associated with higher scores on the pre-mathematics measure, while lack of patience was connected to lower scores. However, no significant relationship was found between children’s performance and teacher-parent contact; the teacher-parent relationship alone did not predict better performance.

Wu and Qi (2006) examined the relationship between parenting styles and African American children’s achievement in the areas of reading, math, and science. They found that parents’ perceptions of children’s abilities and expectations for good grades were strong predictors of success for students at all grade levels. These predictors were just as strong as parents’ socioeconomic status (Wu & Qi, 2006). While parental involvement is commonly cited in the literature as a strong predictor of success, in this study, parental involvement was not shown to have a large impact on student achievement. Wu and Qi (2006) reported that their study “found limited positive effects of school-based parental involvement and, in addition, some negative effects of home-based parental involvement on achievement test scores” (p. 426). Lahaie (2008) found parental involvement to be a predictor of success for children of immigrants; that study’s analysis of data from the ECLS-K indicated a correlation between higher levels of parental involvement and young children’s higher proficiency in English and mathematics.

Family structure has also been cited as an important predictive factor relating to school readiness in mathematics and literacy. For example, Entwisle and Alexander (1996) investigated the relationship between children’s literacy and mathematics school readiness and parent configuration, or family type, in a random sample of Baltimore children. Mothers who were single parents were found to have lower expectations for their children’s grades in both reading and mathematics than mothers in two-parent families. However, regardless of family type, children in families with greater economic resources and who had a parent or parents with high expectations for success “consistently outperformed other children in reading and math” (Entwisle & Alexander, 1996, p. 341).

Home Environment. The research literature on school readiness includes several studies of the relationship between daily home activities and school readiness. Clarke and Kurtz-Costes (1997) examined the educational quality of the home environment and the influence of television-watching on readiness. They interviewed children and caregivers of low-income, African-American families and compared these data to school readiness assessments. Negative correlations were found between the amount of time spent watching television and number of books in the home, and between television viewing time and amount of parent-child instructional interactions. More television viewing time also predicted lower scores on readiness assessments (Clarke & Kurtz-Costes, 1997). Wright and colleagues (2001) investigated the relations between young children’s television viewing experiences and their performance on tests of school readiness and vocabulary. Television programming was divided into 4 categories: (1) child-audience, informative or educational; (2) child-audience, fully animated cartoons with no informative purpose; (3) child-audience, other programs (neither of the above); and (4) general-audience programs. According to the authors, “for very young children [2-3], viewing informative programming designed for children was associated with subsequent letter-word skills, number skills, receptive vocabulary and school readiness” (Wright, Huston, Murphy, St. Peters, Pinon, Scantlin, & Kotler, 2001, p. 1361). The authors found this difference to be stable across the study; young children who frequently watched educational television at ages 2 and 3 performed better on a battery of tests at age 3 than did infrequent viewers. However, children who were frequent viewers of non-educational cartoons or general-audience programs at ages 2 and 3 had lower scores than infrequent viewers.

A longitudinal study of children’s reading abilities and the literacy environment in the home (Burgess & Hecht, 2002) found that the home literacy environment (HLE) was significantly related to young children’s oral language ability, word decoding ability, and phonological sensitivity. The authors define the home literacy environment in two ways: (1) Passive HLE, or “those parental activities that expose children to models of literacy usage (e.g., seeing a parent read a newspaper)” (2002, p. 413), and (2) Active HLE, or, “those parental efforts that directly engage the child in activities designed to foster literacy or language development (e.g., rhyming games, shared readings)” (2002, p. 413). In a study in the Netherlands, Leseman and de Jong (1998) examined three issues related to home literacy: the potential influence of affective factors, such as cooperation, co-construction, or social-emotional constructs; the influence of contextuality, or cultural or social background factors; and causality, the impact of home literacy on language development. They found that home literacy environment factors determined children’s school literacy achievement when controlling for confounding factors. Their findings suggest that combining exposure to literacy in the home with co-construction opportunities increased the predictive value of home literacy in relation to early literacy achievement.

Learning-related characteristics. “Learning-related characteristics” include children’s behaviors and dispositions related to engaging in tasks as well as their strategies for completing tasks. McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes (2000) studied the relationship between work-related social skills and student performance in kindergarten classrooms and again in second grade. Examples of children’s work-related social skills included the ability to follow directions, take turns in group activities, and stay on task. When child demographic information (e.g., IQ, entrance age, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment) was controlled, findings showed that work-related skills contributed to children’s academic success in mathematics. Children with poor work-related skills performed significantly worse in mathematics upon school entry and at the end of second grade (McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000). McClelland, Acock, and Morrison (2006) later examined the influence of learning-related skills in kindergarten on academic math and reading success in elementary school. In this study, the math and reading abilities of children rated as having poor learning-related skills were compared to children rated as having high learning-related skills. Findings suggested that learning-related skills such as self-regulation and social competence predicted math and reading achievement between kindergarten and sixth grade. These effects were strongest between kindergarten and second grade but were still significant through sixth grade (McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2006).

Social behavior. Connections between school readiness and children’s temperament, or the innate aspects of their personality, have been addressed in the research literature. A child’s tendency to display characteristics such as being active or sociable may be correlated with school readiness; Chang and Burns (2005) examined the connection between temperament and attention skills for children attending Head Start. Findings from their multiple regression analysis indicate that temperament and motivational development are related to levels of attention in young children, similar to findings from research conducted with older children (Chang & Burns, 2005).

Konold and Pianta (2005) examined the predictive value of particular cognitive processes and social behaviors related to self-regulation on typically-developing children’s kindergarten and first grade achievement. The authors developed six normative profiles of patterns of school readiness: (1) attention problems; (2) low cognitive ability; (3) low-to-average social and cognitive skills; (4) social and externalizing problems; (5) high social competence; and (6) high cognitive ability and mild externalizing (Konold & Pianta, 2005). Findings suggest that cognitive ability and social skills should be considered predictors of school readiness, and that although these factors are interrelated, they can operate independently of each other in terms of their predictive value. For example, children with high cognitive abilities performed better on achievement measures, regardless of social skills, while students with average cognitive ability and higher social competence also tended to perform at higher levels than did those with average to low cognitive ability and average social competence (Konold & Pianta, 2005).

Normandeau and Guay (1998) investigated the relationship between cognitive self-control and prosocial behaviors such as collaboration and effective communication in kindergarten-age children. Cognitive self-control was correlated with increased student achievement, which was evidenced when following these children to the end of first grade. Aggressive behaviors were negatively correlated to cognitive self-control while prosocial behaviors had a positive correlation. Children who displayed more aggressive behaviors tended to have less self-control when attempting to complete school tasks, which led to poorer student achievement (Normandeau & Guay, 1998). Dobbs and colleagues (2006) examined the relationship of prosocial behaviors to mathematics skills in preschoolers. The authors found that when students participated in an early math intervention, which consisted of over 85 mathematical tasks that their teachers could select to implement, they were less likely to display negative behaviors such as aggression or a lack of attention.

Performance on mathematical and literacy-based tasks. Correlations between young children’s readiness-related literacy and mathematics skills and their experience with mathematics- and literacy-based tasks were explored in some of the literature reviewed during this study. Tasks might include such activities as examining concepts about print (literacy) and playing number games or block building (mathematics). Siegler and Ramani (2008) examined the role that playing numerical board games could play in preparing children in low-income families for school. They found that the numerical ability of children from affluent families was significantly higher than the numerical ability of children from impoverished families; however, the gap between groups in terms of their understanding of numerical magnitude was closed as a result of the intervention (Siegler & Ramani, 2008). Following this study, Ramani and Siegler (2008) sought to determine if playing linear numerical board games had an impact on a broader range of mathematical topics and whether this impact was stable over time by exploring informal board game play in the home environment (Ramani & Siegler, 2008). They reported the positive connection between informal board game play in the home environment and numerical ability. Playing card games and video games did not have the same results (Ramani & Siegler, 2008).

Building spatial sense through block play has also been considered as a potential predictor of success in terms of school achievement in the elementary years and beyond. Hanline, Milton, and Phelps (2009) examined the relationship between block play at the preschool level and later school success in math and reading. Although no significant relationships were identified in this study between block play and later math achievement, a significant relationship was identified between block play and later reading ability. Higher levels of sophistication in young children’s representations through block construction correlated with greater success in reading during the early elementary years (Hanline, Milton, & Phelps, 2009). While block play may not be a predictor of mathematics success at the early elementary level, it has been found to be a predictor of success for later school achievement in mathematics. Wolfgang, Stannard, and Jones (2001) reported the positive predictive relationship of levels of preschool block play (as determined by the Lunzer Five Point Play Scale) and mathematics achievement during middle and high school. Similar findings were reported regarding construction-type play with LEGOs and later school achievement (Wolfgang, Stannard, & Jones, 2001).

Health and socioeconomic status. Characteristics of child and parent health have long been cited in the literature as possible correlates of children’s school readiness, and are sometimes included as confounding variables when authors are attempting to identify alternative predictors (such as child care or parent-child interactions). Janus and Duku (2007) examined five constructs they identified as having a potential impact on school readiness: (1) socioeconomic status, (2) family structure, (3) parent health, (4) child health, and (5) parent involvement. Their Early Development Instrument, an assessment of school readiness, was built around these five factors in an effort to determine which of the five factors would be most relevant in predicting school readiness. Based on this assessment, health (including current health and low-birth weight) and gender of the child (boys are twice as likely to struggle with school readiness compared to girls) were the strongest predictors. In addition, children from low-income families were twice as likely to have difficulty with school readiness as children from middle- or high-income families.

Patrianakos-Hoobler and colleagues (2009) also examined risk factors related to health of premature infants in relation to the children’s eventual school readiness. They found that boys born premature were twice as likely as girls to display lower school readiness levels. Lower readiness was also identified for premature “infants born to black mothers” as compared to “infants born to nonblack mothers” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, Msall, Marks, Huo, & Schreiber, 2009, p. 4). Socioeconomic status emerged as the “strongest barrier to achieving school readiness” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, et al., 2009, p. 5).

Low socioeconomic status has been consistently negatively correlated to school readiness in the research literature. In 1997, Stipek and Ryan studied the cognitive differences and motivation of economically advantaged and disadvantaged children at school entry. Significant cognitive differences were found relative to number skills, problem solving, and memory. Economically disadvantaged children had as much motivation for learning as economically advantaged children. However, economically advantaged children showed higher levels of concern regarding performance and decreased levels of enjoyment as the study progressed (Stipek & Ryan, 1997).

Discussion and Recommendations

Definitions of school readiness have long been under contention, and it is unclear whether the view that students should be ready for school rather than schools being ready for children is developmentally appropriate. This systematic review of empirical research literature published after 1995 and before 2013 identified seven themes for which correlates of school readiness could be categorized. Table 1 describes the 24 predictors that were categorized under each of these themes.

Table 1

Predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics

While the above table describes factors that hold potential for predicting young children’s school readiness, risk factors were also identified in the literature. These factors include health risks such as low birth weight, prematurity, or general health issues, as well as demographic criteria such as gender (some studies have indicated that boys are more likely to struggle than girls), family structure (single mothers tend to have lower grade expectations for their children), maternal education level (not finishing high school) or the occupation of the head of household (due to the level of income associated with this occupation). In addition, low parental income or socioeconomic status and belonging to a minority group (including African American and Hispanic ethnicities) have often been identified as risk factors for school success.

Parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children as well as the children themselves are the primary stakeholders who would benefit from early interventions designed to enhance school readiness for young children. Initiatives focusing on building positive parent-child relationships and enhancing readiness-related aspects of the home environment have the potential to influence students’ readiness and later school achievement. Future research is needed on the roles parents play in children’s academic success. Specifically, little research can be found regarding parent involvement at the early childhood and primary levels and the influence of role models on children’s positive behavior and dispositions relative to school readiness. Research on the home environment is also necessary, including the increasing role of digital technologies and how they may influence family dynamics and, in turn, children’s future school success. Further investigations of the effects of implementing literacy- and mathematics-based tasks in the home, such as increasing math talk or encouraging children to build structures in a variety of shapes, may enhance what is currently understood about how home environments affect readiness.

Given the apparent correlation between child care quality and children’s school readiness, initiatives to improve early childhood teacher quality and the overall quality of public and private child care programs could have the potential to promote children’s school readiness in literacy and mathematics. The research identified in this review did not yield consistent definitions for high-quality child care. Future studies comparing types of child care settings could help to clarify what is high-quality care, considering such components as teacher quality and instructional practices, classroom environments, and curricula (e.g., presentation of mathematical and literacy-based tasks), and the longitudinal effects of such factors on student success.

The research included in this review was not consistent regarding types of assessments used to measure children’s school readiness. Many studies indicated that an effective tool for measuring school readiness has yet to be developed (Kilday & Kinzie, 2009). Recommendations for future research include the development and validation of a school readiness assessment that measures constructs across domains of development. Once such an assessment has been validated, it could be used for further investigation of the factors identified in this review.

Finally, initiatives specifically focused on young children could include interventions that enhance prosocial behaviors, motivation toward learning, and academic skills. Such interventions could occur in the context of the home, community, or child care setting. Some factors in school readiness and success that are specifically related to demographics (e.g., socioeconomic status, entrance age, belonging to a minority group) or health (e.g., birth weight) are difficult to isolate for the purposes of interventions that might enhance or reduce their influence on children’s school readiness and success. Often these factors occur simultaneously with additional factors within the child, parent, or teacher as described above; thus, future research on ways that some predictors may mediate the effects of demographic or health-related risk factors could be particularly helpful to the field.

Given the importance attached to children’s school readiness, any research that sheds further light on its components and processes is likely to enable adult stakeholders to better discern what constitutes the best possible environments and experiences for children. These environments and experiences can provide young children with the foundation for success on whatever paths they choose in the future.

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Author Information

Dr. Sandra M. Linder is an assistant professor of early childhood mathematics education at Clemson University. Her research centers on improving early childhood teacher quality and student understandings in mathematics.

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Mathematics Education

Coordinator of Early Childhood Education

Clemson University, School of Education

407F Tillman Hall

Clemson, SC 29634-0705

864-656-5102

sandram@clemson.edu

M. Deanna Ramey is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University, studying literacy and early childhood education. Her research interests include young children's experiences with informational text, motivation and engagement, and self-regulation.

V. Serbay Zambak is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University with an emphasis on mathematics education. He has taught mathematics in İstanbul and Amsterdam and has supported practicing teachers' instructional technology skills for mathematics education.

Volume 15 Number 1

©The Author(s) 2013

Predictors of School Readiness in Literacy and Mathematics: A Selective Review of the Literature

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

M. Deanna Ramey

Serbay Zambak

Clemson University, School of Education

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a selective review of the literature related to predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. School readiness was defined as what children are expected to know and do in a variety of academic domains and processes of learning prior to entering a formal classroom setting. Seven themes emerged, based on a review of selected empirical research published over a sixteen-year period. Twenty-four predictors of success for school readiness were categorized under these themes. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Introduction

Young children are increasingly entering academically rigorous school settings where an emphasis on accountability and standards has replaced an emphasis on child development. However, many young children enter school unprepared for both academic and social expectations. Research suggests (Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, & Nurmi, 2004) that if students enter kindergarten at a disadvantage, early gaps in understandings of literacy or mathematics tend to be sustained or widened over time; this appears to be particularly true for children of poverty (McLoyd & Purtell, 2008). It is imperative for the field to identify strategies that move young children toward becoming independent and reflective learners, to increase the likelihood of their school success in later years.

In order to achieve this vision, we must first identify the specific characteristics or factors that enable certain children to enter formal schooling at an advantage while others enter at a disadvantage. Since the 1950s, researchers have investigated how external factors can influence or predict student success in school, and particularly school readiness (Milner, 1951), but a comprehensive list of factors that may affect cognitive, social, emotional, or language development in the school-age years has yet to be compiled. This literature review focuses on school readiness in the areas of literacy and mathematics. Its purposes are to provide stakeholders such as parents, caregivers, and teachers with insight into factors that research has identified as possibly contributing to children’s successful entry into formal schooling and to enable them to identify whether particular children are affected by these factors.

Many definitions of school readiness can be found in the research literature. For some, school readiness relates to students’ cognitive abilities (Nobel, Tottenham, & Casey, 2005). For others, readiness is more related to maturational, social, and emotional domains of development (Ray & Smith, 2010) or to whether or not students have the tools necessary to work effectively in a classroom setting (Carlton & Winsler, 1999). For the purposes of this study, school readiness was defined as children’s preparedness for what they are expected to know and do in academic domains and processes of learning when they enter a formal classroom setting. Rather than focusing on specific activities such as counting to ten or saying the alphabet, this definition considers such components as children’s social-emotional characteristics, cognitive processes related to conceptual understanding, and their ability to communicate about their understandings.

Methods

A systematic review of the literature was conducted over three months during the spring of 2011. The question guiding the literature review was: What predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy have been identified by empirical research in education?

Data Collection and Analysis

The research team determined parameters for conducting searches by first examining already published literature reviews or meta-analyses relating to early childhood literacy or mathematics and relating to issues of school readiness. Four criteria emerged for articles to be included: (1) publication after 1995; (2) publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal; (3) grounding in empirical research; and (4) use of rigorous research methods. These criteria are similar to those used in examples found in the preliminary review of the literature (Justice, 2003; La Paro & Pianta, 2000); however, many previous analyses were limited to large scale quantitative studies. During the preliminary review, meta-analyses of this literature published in 1995 or before were identified (Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995). Therefore, this literature review focused on research following those publications to determine if any changes have occurred.

Having established parameters, the research team searched the literature to compile articles relevant to the research question. Both criterion and snowball sampling methods were used to identify literature. For criterion sampling, the research team conducted electronic searches of a variety of databases and search engines to identify articles that met the established parameters. Snowball sampling involved examining reference sections from theoretical articles related to school readiness, school achievement, early childhood mathematics, and early childhood literacy to find empirical research relevant to the research question. Snowball sampling was also conducted on the reference sections for each empirical study identified in the review to determine if additional sources could be included.

Finally, the research team conducted preliminary readings of the articles to obtain an overall understanding of the data. Following this analysis, articles were clustered based on similarity of findings. After clustering, articles underwent a secondary analysis to establish predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy.

Results

In general, literature relating to predictors of success in early childhood literacy was more prevalent than literature relating to early childhood mathematics. Therefore, more predictors of success relating to literacy were identified in this review. It is likely then that the findings do not encompass all potential predictors of school readiness in mathematics.

Seven themes emerged from the literature review regarding factors associated with school readiness in mathematics and literacy: (1) child care experience; (2) family structure and parenting; (3) home environment; (4) learning-related skills; (5) social behavior; (6) mathematical and literacy-based tasks; and (7) health and socioeconomic status. The sections that follow describe findings relating to each of these themes.

Child care experience. Several studies reviewed noted correlations between children’s exposure to high-quality child care and their performance on measures of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. In a longitudinal study conducted by the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2002), participation in high quality, center-based child care was associated with higher language performance (NICHD, 2002). However, increased time spent in child care did not increase language performance, and a higher number of hours spent in child care was associated with increased behavior problems, as reported by caregivers (NICHD, 2002).

Ramey and Ramey (2004) reported the results of multiple randomized controlled trials investigating experiences in preschool education and their connection to school readiness. The authors identified seven types of experiences that are “essential to ensure normal brain and behavioral development and school readiness” (2004, p. 474). These experiences should: “(1) encourage exploration, (2) mentor in basic skills, (3) celebrate developmental advances, (4) rehearse and extend new skills, (5) protect from inappropriate disapproval, teasing, and punishment, (6) communicate richly and responsively, and (7) guide and limit behavior” (Ramey & Ramey, 2004, p. 474).

The authors indicate that children’s exposure to high-quality child care built around these types of experiences can better prepare children for school. Magnuson and colleagues (2004) also examined the relationship between quality of care and school readiness and, in particular, how different types of preschool experiences may affect children of economically advantaged and disadvantaged families. Child care was categorized as parental care, center-based care, Head Start, or other non-parental care. Using a sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K), the authors found that children who attended center-based programs before kindergarten performed better in math and reading than children who experienced only parental care. Having attended center-based programs was associated with greater benefits for children from “disadvantaged” families than for those with higher economic status, including enhancement of mathematics performance (Magnuson, Meyers, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2004).

High quality child care was not always defined in the literature reviewed for this study, but some of the literature did examine aspects of high-quality care. Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, and Iyer (2008) examined the effects of a preschool mathematics curriculum on children’s levels of school readiness. Their findings suggest that use of high-quality curricula implemented with fidelity can lead to higher levels of school readiness in mathematics (Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, & Iyer, 2008). Bracken and Fischel (2007) examined the impact of a supplementary literacy-based curriculum on Head Start preschoolers’ mathematics and literacy achievement and social and behavior skills. More students displayed positive behavior and social skills when engaging with the supplementary curriculum; these skills were associated with higher levels of performance on literacy tasks (Bracken & Fischel, 2007). Characteristics of instruction have also been considered in determining child care quality. Chien and colleagues (2010) investigated the types of engagement young children could encounter in child care settings (free play, group or individual instruction, and scaffolded learning). Children in settings with more free play showed smaller gains than their peers on literacy and mathematics indicators at the preschool level. Individual instruction tended to be a stronger predictor of success on preschool assessments (Chien, Howes, Burchinal, Pianta, Ritchie, Bryant, Clifford, Early, & Barbarin, 2010). However, that study focused only on the types of engagement as predictors of achievement success and did not discuss the potential positive implications of free play and group instruction on other domains of development.

Parenting Style and Family Structure. Parenting styles, parent and child relationships, and family structure were considered as factors potentially related to school readiness in some of the studies in this literature review. Hill (2001) examined the relationship between parenting styles and kindergarten children’s school readiness in African-American and Euro-American families with comparable socioeconomic status. Maternal warmth or acceptance was found to be positively related to children’s performance on a pre-reading measure, while “short temper” and lack of patience were associated with lower scores. Also positively related to children’s performance were teachers’ perception of the extent to which parents valued education, and the quality of parent involvement (high quality was characterized by primarily parent-initiated involvement; lower quality by primarily teacher-initiated parent involvement). Mothers’ expectations for grades were positively related to children’s performance on the pre-reading measure. Hill (2001) also compared parenting styles to kindergarten children’s performance on a measure of quantitative concepts. Again, maternal warmth and high expectations for good grades were associated with higher scores on the pre-mathematics measure, while lack of patience was connected to lower scores. However, no significant relationship was found between children’s performance and teacher-parent contact; the teacher-parent relationship alone did not predict better performance.

Wu and Qi (2006) examined the relationship between parenting styles and African American children’s achievement in the areas of reading, math, and science. They found that parents’ perceptions of children’s abilities and expectations for good grades were strong predictors of success for students at all grade levels. These predictors were just as strong as parents’ socioeconomic status (Wu & Qi, 2006). While parental involvement is commonly cited in the literature as a strong predictor of success, in this study, parental involvement was not shown to have a large impact on student achievement. Wu and Qi (2006) reported that their study “found limited positive effects of school-based parental involvement and, in addition, some negative effects of home-based parental involvement on achievement test scores” (p. 426). Lahaie (2008) found parental involvement to be a predictor of success for children of immigrants; that study’s analysis of data from the ECLS-K indicated a correlation between higher levels of parental involvement and young children’s higher proficiency in English and mathematics.

Family structure has also been cited as an important predictive factor relating to school readiness in mathematics and literacy. For example, Entwisle and Alexander (1996) investigated the relationship between children’s literacy and mathematics school readiness and parent configuration, or family type, in a random sample of Baltimore children. Mothers who were single parents were found to have lower expectations for their children’s grades in both reading and mathematics than mothers in two-parent families. However, regardless of family type, children in families with greater economic resources and who had a parent or parents with high expectations for success “consistently outperformed other children in reading and math” (Entwisle & Alexander, 1996, p. 341).

Home Environment. The research literature on school readiness includes several studies of the relationship between daily home activities and school readiness. Clarke and Kurtz-Costes (1997) examined the educational quality of the home environment and the influence of television-watching on readiness. They interviewed children and caregivers of low-income, African-American families and compared these data to school readiness assessments. Negative correlations were found between the amount of time spent watching television and number of books in the home, and between television viewing time and amount of parent-child instructional interactions. More television viewing time also predicted lower scores on readiness assessments (Clarke & Kurtz-Costes, 1997). Wright and colleagues (2001) investigated the relations between young children’s television viewing experiences and their performance on tests of school readiness and vocabulary. Television programming was divided into 4 categories: (1) child-audience, informative or educational; (2) child-audience, fully animated cartoons with no informative purpose; (3) child-audience, other programs (neither of the above); and (4) general-audience programs. According to the authors, “for very young children [2-3], viewing informative programming designed for children was associated with subsequent letter-word skills, number skills, receptive vocabulary and school readiness” (Wright, Huston, Murphy, St. Peters, Pinon, Scantlin, & Kotler, 2001, p. 1361). The authors found this difference to be stable across the study; young children who frequently watched educational television at ages 2 and 3 performed better on a battery of tests at age 3 than did infrequent viewers. However, children who were frequent viewers of non-educational cartoons or general-audience programs at ages 2 and 3 had lower scores than infrequent viewers.

A longitudinal study of children’s reading abilities and the literacy environment in the home (Burgess & Hecht, 2002) found that the home literacy environment (HLE) was significantly related to young children’s oral language ability, word decoding ability, and phonological sensitivity. The authors define the home literacy environment in two ways: (1) Passive HLE, or “those parental activities that expose children to models of literacy usage (e.g., seeing a parent read a newspaper)” (2002, p. 413), and (2) Active HLE, or, “those parental efforts that directly engage the child in activities designed to foster literacy or language development (e.g., rhyming games, shared readings)” (2002, p. 413). In a study in the Netherlands, Leseman and de Jong (1998) examined three issues related to home literacy: the potential influence of affective factors, such as cooperation, co-construction, or social-emotional constructs; the influence of contextuality, or cultural or social background factors; and causality, the impact of home literacy on language development. They found that home literacy environment factors determined children’s school literacy achievement when controlling for confounding factors. Their findings suggest that combining exposure to literacy in the home with co-construction opportunities increased the predictive value of home literacy in relation to early literacy achievement.

Learning-related characteristics. “Learning-related characteristics” include children’s behaviors and dispositions related to engaging in tasks as well as their strategies for completing tasks. McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes (2000) studied the relationship between work-related social skills and student performance in kindergarten classrooms and again in second grade. Examples of children’s work-related social skills included the ability to follow directions, take turns in group activities, and stay on task. When child demographic information (e.g., IQ, entrance age, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment) was controlled, findings showed that work-related skills contributed to children’s academic success in mathematics. Children with poor work-related skills performed significantly worse in mathematics upon school entry and at the end of second grade (McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000). McClelland, Acock, and Morrison (2006) later examined the influence of learning-related skills in kindergarten on academic math and reading success in elementary school. In this study, the math and reading abilities of children rated as having poor learning-related skills were compared to children rated as having high learning-related skills. Findings suggested that learning-related skills such as self-regulation and social competence predicted math and reading achievement between kindergarten and sixth grade. These effects were strongest between kindergarten and second grade but were still significant through sixth grade (McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2006).

Social behavior. Connections between school readiness and children’s temperament, or the innate aspects of their personality, have been addressed in the research literature. A child’s tendency to display characteristics such as being active or sociable may be correlated with school readiness; Chang and Burns (2005) examined the connection between temperament and attention skills for children attending Head Start. Findings from their multiple regression analysis indicate that temperament and motivational development are related to levels of attention in young children, similar to findings from research conducted with older children (Chang & Burns, 2005).

Konold and Pianta (2005) examined the predictive value of particular cognitive processes and social behaviors related to self-regulation on typically-developing children’s kindergarten and first grade achievement. The authors developed six normative profiles of patterns of school readiness: (1) attention problems; (2) low cognitive ability; (3) low-to-average social and cognitive skills; (4) social and externalizing problems; (5) high social competence; and (6) high cognitive ability and mild externalizing (Konold & Pianta, 2005). Findings suggest that cognitive ability and social skills should be considered predictors of school readiness, and that although these factors are interrelated, they can operate independently of each other in terms of their predictive value. For example, children with high cognitive abilities performed better on achievement measures, regardless of social skills, while students with average cognitive ability and higher social competence also tended to perform at higher levels than did those with average to low cognitive ability and average social competence (Konold & Pianta, 2005).

Normandeau and Guay (1998) investigated the relationship between cognitive self-control and prosocial behaviors such as collaboration and effective communication in kindergarten-age children. Cognitive self-control was correlated with increased student achievement, which was evidenced when following these children to the end of first grade. Aggressive behaviors were negatively correlated to cognitive self-control while prosocial behaviors had a positive correlation. Children who displayed more aggressive behaviors tended to have less self-control when attempting to complete school tasks, which led to poorer student achievement (Normandeau & Guay, 1998). Dobbs and colleagues (2006) examined the relationship of prosocial behaviors to mathematics skills in preschoolers. The authors found that when students participated in an early math intervention, which consisted of over 85 mathematical tasks that their teachers could select to implement, they were less likely to display negative behaviors such as aggression or a lack of attention.

Performance on mathematical and literacy-based tasks. Correlations between young children’s readiness-related literacy and mathematics skills and their experience with mathematics- and literacy-based tasks were explored in some of the literature reviewed during this study. Tasks might include such activities as examining concepts about print (literacy) and playing number games or block building (mathematics). Siegler and Ramani (2008) examined the role that playing numerical board games could play in preparing children in low-income families for school. They found that the numerical ability of children from affluent families was significantly higher than the numerical ability of children from impoverished families; however, the gap between groups in terms of their understanding of numerical magnitude was closed as a result of the intervention (Siegler & Ramani, 2008). Following this study, Ramani and Siegler (2008) sought to determine if playing linear numerical board games had an impact on a broader range of mathematical topics and whether this impact was stable over time by exploring informal board game play in the home environment (Ramani & Siegler, 2008). They reported the positive connection between informal board game play in the home environment and numerical ability. Playing card games and video games did not have the same results (Ramani & Siegler, 2008).

Building spatial sense through block play has also been considered as a potential predictor of success in terms of school achievement in the elementary years and beyond. Hanline, Milton, and Phelps (2009) examined the relationship between block play at the preschool level and later school success in math and reading. Although no significant relationships were identified in this study between block play and later math achievement, a significant relationship was identified between block play and later reading ability. Higher levels of sophistication in young children’s representations through block construction correlated with greater success in reading during the early elementary years (Hanline, Milton, & Phelps, 2009). While block play may not be a predictor of mathematics success at the early elementary level, it has been found to be a predictor of success for later school achievement in mathematics. Wolfgang, Stannard, and Jones (2001) reported the positive predictive relationship of levels of preschool block play (as determined by the Lunzer Five Point Play Scale) and mathematics achievement during middle and high school. Similar findings were reported regarding construction-type play with LEGOs and later school achievement (Wolfgang, Stannard, & Jones, 2001).

Health and socioeconomic status. Characteristics of child and parent health have long been cited in the literature as possible correlates of children’s school readiness, and are sometimes included as confounding variables when authors are attempting to identify alternative predictors (such as child care or parent-child interactions). Janus and Duku (2007) examined five constructs they identified as having a potential impact on school readiness: (1) socioeconomic status, (2) family structure, (3) parent health, (4) child health, and (5) parent involvement. Their Early Development Instrument, an assessment of school readiness, was built around these five factors in an effort to determine which of the five factors would be most relevant in predicting school readiness. Based on this assessment, health (including current health and low-birth weight) and gender of the child (boys are twice as likely to struggle with school readiness compared to girls) were the strongest predictors. In addition, children from low-income families were twice as likely to have difficulty with school readiness as children from middle- or high-income families.

Patrianakos-Hoobler and colleagues (2009) also examined risk factors related to health of premature infants in relation to the children’s eventual school readiness. They found that boys born premature were twice as likely as girls to display lower school readiness levels. Lower readiness was also identified for premature “infants born to black mothers” as compared to “infants born to nonblack mothers” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, Msall, Marks, Huo, & Schreiber, 2009, p. 4). Socioeconomic status emerged as the “strongest barrier to achieving school readiness” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, et al., 2009, p. 5).

Low socioeconomic status has been consistently negatively correlated to school readiness in the research literature. In 1997, Stipek and Ryan studied the cognitive differences and motivation of economically advantaged and disadvantaged children at school entry. Significant cognitive differences were found relative to number skills, problem solving, and memory. Economically disadvantaged children had as much motivation for learning as economically advantaged children. However, economically advantaged children showed higher levels of concern regarding performance and decreased levels of enjoyment as the study progressed (Stipek & Ryan, 1997).

Discussion and Recommendations

Definitions of school readiness have long been under contention, and it is unclear whether the view that students should be ready for school rather than schools being ready for children is developmentally appropriate. This systematic review of empirical research literature published after 1995 and before 2013 identified seven themes for which correlates of school readiness could be categorized. Table 1 describes the 24 predictors that were categorized under each of these themes.

Table 1

Predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics

While the above table describes factors that hold potential for predicting young children’s school readiness, risk factors were also identified in the literature. These factors include health risks such as low birth weight, prematurity, or general health issues, as well as demographic criteria such as gender (some studies have indicated that boys are more likely to struggle than girls), family structure (single mothers tend to have lower grade expectations for their children), maternal education level (not finishing high school) or the occupation of the head of household (due to the level of income associated with this occupation). In addition, low parental income or socioeconomic status and belonging to a minority group (including African American and Hispanic ethnicities) have often been identified as risk factors for school success.

Parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children as well as the children themselves are the primary stakeholders who would benefit from early interventions designed to enhance school readiness for young children. Initiatives focusing on building positive parent-child relationships and enhancing readiness-related aspects of the home environment have the potential to influence students’ readiness and later school achievement. Future research is needed on the roles parents play in children’s academic success. Specifically, little research can be found regarding parent involvement at the early childhood and primary levels and the influence of role models on children’s positive behavior and dispositions relative to school readiness. Research on the home environment is also necessary, including the increasing role of digital technologies and how they may influence family dynamics and, in turn, children’s future school success. Further investigations of the effects of implementing literacy- and mathematics-based tasks in the home, such as increasing math talk or encouraging children to build structures in a variety of shapes, may enhance what is currently understood about how home environments affect readiness.

Given the apparent correlation between child care quality and children’s school readiness, initiatives to improve early childhood teacher quality and the overall quality of public and private child care programs could have the potential to promote children’s school readiness in literacy and mathematics. The research identified in this review did not yield consistent definitions for high-quality child care. Future studies comparing types of child care settings could help to clarify what is high-quality care, considering such components as teacher quality and instructional practices, classroom environments, and curricula (e.g., presentation of mathematical and literacy-based tasks), and the longitudinal effects of such factors on student success.

The research included in this review was not consistent regarding types of assessments used to measure children’s school readiness. Many studies indicated that an effective tool for measuring school readiness has yet to be developed (Kilday & Kinzie, 2009). Recommendations for future research include the development and validation of a school readiness assessment that measures constructs across domains of development. Once such an assessment has been validated, it could be used for further investigation of the factors identified in this review.

Finally, initiatives specifically focused on young children could include interventions that enhance prosocial behaviors, motivation toward learning, and academic skills. Such interventions could occur in the context of the home, community, or child care setting. Some factors in school readiness and success that are specifically related to demographics (e.g., socioeconomic status, entrance age, belonging to a minority group) or health (e.g., birth weight) are difficult to isolate for the purposes of interventions that might enhance or reduce their influence on children’s school readiness and success. Often these factors occur simultaneously with additional factors within the child, parent, or teacher as described above; thus, future research on ways that some predictors may mediate the effects of demographic or health-related risk factors could be particularly helpful to the field.

Given the importance attached to children’s school readiness, any research that sheds further light on its components and processes is likely to enable adult stakeholders to better discern what constitutes the best possible environments and experiences for children. These environments and experiences can provide young children with the foundation for success on whatever paths they choose in the future.

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Author Information

Dr. Sandra M. Linder is an assistant professor of early childhood mathematics education at Clemson University. Her research centers on improving early childhood teacher quality and student understandings in mathematics.

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Mathematics Education

Coordinator of Early Childhood Education

Clemson University, School of Education

407F Tillman Hall

Clemson, SC 29634-0705

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M. Deanna Ramey is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University, studying literacy and early childhood education. Her research interests include young children's experiences with informational text, motivation and engagement, and self-regulation.

V. Serbay Zambak is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University with an emphasis on mathematics education. He has taught mathematics in İstanbul and Amsterdam and has supported practicing teachers' instructional technology skills for mathematics education.

Volume 15 Number 1

©The Author(s) 2013

Predictors of School Readiness in Literacy and Mathematics: A Selective Review of the Literature

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

M. Deanna Ramey

Serbay Zambak

Clemson University, School of Education

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a selective review of the literature related to predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. School readiness was defined as what children are expected to know and do in a variety of academic domains and processes of learning prior to entering a formal classroom setting. Seven themes emerged, based on a review of selected empirical research published over a sixteen-year period. Twenty-four predictors of success for school readiness were categorized under these themes. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Introduction

Young children are increasingly entering academically rigorous school settings where an emphasis on accountability and standards has replaced an emphasis on child development. However, many young children enter school unprepared for both academic and social expectations. Research suggests (Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, & Nurmi, 2004) that if students enter kindergarten at a disadvantage, early gaps in understandings of literacy or mathematics tend to be sustained or widened over time; this appears to be particularly true for children of poverty (McLoyd & Purtell, 2008). It is imperative for the field to identify strategies that move young children toward becoming independent and reflective learners, to increase the likelihood of their school success in later years.

In order to achieve this vision, we must first identify the specific characteristics or factors that enable certain children to enter formal schooling at an advantage while others enter at a disadvantage. Since the 1950s, researchers have investigated how external factors can influence or predict student success in school, and particularly school readiness (Milner, 1951), but a comprehensive list of factors that may affect cognitive, social, emotional, or language development in the school-age years has yet to be compiled. This literature review focuses on school readiness in the areas of literacy and mathematics. Its purposes are to provide stakeholders such as parents, caregivers, and teachers with insight into factors that research has identified as possibly contributing to children’s successful entry into formal schooling and to enable them to identify whether particular children are affected by these factors.

Many definitions of school readiness can be found in the research literature. For some, school readiness relates to students’ cognitive abilities (Nobel, Tottenham, & Casey, 2005). For others, readiness is more related to maturational, social, and emotional domains of development (Ray & Smith, 2010) or to whether or not students have the tools necessary to work effectively in a classroom setting (Carlton & Winsler, 1999). For the purposes of this study, school readiness was defined as children’s preparedness for what they are expected to know and do in academic domains and processes of learning when they enter a formal classroom setting. Rather than focusing on specific activities such as counting to ten or saying the alphabet, this definition considers such components as children’s social-emotional characteristics, cognitive processes related to conceptual understanding, and their ability to communicate about their understandings.

Methods

A systematic review of the literature was conducted over three months during the spring of 2011. The question guiding the literature review was: What predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy have been identified by empirical research in education?

Data Collection and Analysis

The research team determined parameters for conducting searches by first examining already published literature reviews or meta-analyses relating to early childhood literacy or mathematics and relating to issues of school readiness. Four criteria emerged for articles to be included: (1) publication after 1995; (2) publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal; (3) grounding in empirical research; and (4) use of rigorous research methods. These criteria are similar to those used in examples found in the preliminary review of the literature (Justice, 2003; La Paro & Pianta, 2000); however, many previous analyses were limited to large scale quantitative studies. During the preliminary review, meta-analyses of this literature published in 1995 or before were identified (Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995). Therefore, this literature review focused on research following those publications to determine if any changes have occurred.

Having established parameters, the research team searched the literature to compile articles relevant to the research question. Both criterion and snowball sampling methods were used to identify literature. For criterion sampling, the research team conducted electronic searches of a variety of databases and search engines to identify articles that met the established parameters. Snowball sampling involved examining reference sections from theoretical articles related to school readiness, school achievement, early childhood mathematics, and early childhood literacy to find empirical research relevant to the research question. Snowball sampling was also conducted on the reference sections for each empirical study identified in the review to determine if additional sources could be included.

Finally, the research team conducted preliminary readings of the articles to obtain an overall understanding of the data. Following this analysis, articles were clustered based on similarity of findings. After clustering, articles underwent a secondary analysis to establish predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy.

Results

In general, literature relating to predictors of success in early childhood literacy was more prevalent than literature relating to early childhood mathematics. Therefore, more predictors of success relating to literacy were identified in this review. It is likely then that the findings do not encompass all potential predictors of school readiness in mathematics.

Seven themes emerged from the literature review regarding factors associated with school readiness in mathematics and literacy: (1) child care experience; (2) family structure and parenting; (3) home environment; (4) learning-related skills; (5) social behavior; (6) mathematical and literacy-based tasks; and (7) health and socioeconomic status. The sections that follow describe findings relating to each of these themes.

Child care experience. Several studies reviewed noted correlations between children’s exposure to high-quality child care and their performance on measures of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. In a longitudinal study conducted by the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2002), participation in high quality, center-based child care was associated with higher language performance (NICHD, 2002). However, increased time spent in child care did not increase language performance, and a higher number of hours spent in child care was associated with increased behavior problems, as reported by caregivers (NICHD, 2002).

Ramey and Ramey (2004) reported the results of multiple randomized controlled trials investigating experiences in preschool education and their connection to school readiness. The authors identified seven types of experiences that are “essential to ensure normal brain and behavioral development and school readiness” (2004, p. 474). These experiences should: “(1) encourage exploration, (2) mentor in basic skills, (3) celebrate developmental advances, (4) rehearse and extend new skills, (5) protect from inappropriate disapproval, teasing, and punishment, (6) communicate richly and responsively, and (7) guide and limit behavior” (Ramey & Ramey, 2004, p. 474).

The authors indicate that children’s exposure to high-quality child care built around these types of experiences can better prepare children for school. Magnuson and colleagues (2004) also examined the relationship between quality of care and school readiness and, in particular, how different types of preschool experiences may affect children of economically advantaged and disadvantaged families. Child care was categorized as parental care, center-based care, Head Start, or other non-parental care. Using a sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K), the authors found that children who attended center-based programs before kindergarten performed better in math and reading than children who experienced only parental care. Having attended center-based programs was associated with greater benefits for children from “disadvantaged” families than for those with higher economic status, including enhancement of mathematics performance (Magnuson, Meyers, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2004).

High quality child care was not always defined in the literature reviewed for this study, but some of the literature did examine aspects of high-quality care. Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, and Iyer (2008) examined the effects of a preschool mathematics curriculum on children’s levels of school readiness. Their findings suggest that use of high-quality curricula implemented with fidelity can lead to higher levels of school readiness in mathematics (Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, & Iyer, 2008). Bracken and Fischel (2007) examined the impact of a supplementary literacy-based curriculum on Head Start preschoolers’ mathematics and literacy achievement and social and behavior skills. More students displayed positive behavior and social skills when engaging with the supplementary curriculum; these skills were associated with higher levels of performance on literacy tasks (Bracken & Fischel, 2007). Characteristics of instruction have also been considered in determining child care quality. Chien and colleagues (2010) investigated the types of engagement young children could encounter in child care settings (free play, group or individual instruction, and scaffolded learning). Children in settings with more free play showed smaller gains than their peers on literacy and mathematics indicators at the preschool level. Individual instruction tended to be a stronger predictor of success on preschool assessments (Chien, Howes, Burchinal, Pianta, Ritchie, Bryant, Clifford, Early, & Barbarin, 2010). However, that study focused only on the types of engagement as predictors of achievement success and did not discuss the potential positive implications of free play and group instruction on other domains of development.

Parenting Style and Family Structure. Parenting styles, parent and child relationships, and family structure were considered as factors potentially related to school readiness in some of the studies in this literature review. Hill (2001) examined the relationship between parenting styles and kindergarten children’s school readiness in African-American and Euro-American families with comparable socioeconomic status. Maternal warmth or acceptance was found to be positively related to children’s performance on a pre-reading measure, while “short temper” and lack of patience were associated with lower scores. Also positively related to children’s performance were teachers’ perception of the extent to which parents valued education, and the quality of parent involvement (high quality was characterized by primarily parent-initiated involvement; lower quality by primarily teacher-initiated parent involvement). Mothers’ expectations for grades were positively related to children’s performance on the pre-reading measure. Hill (2001) also compared parenting styles to kindergarten children’s performance on a measure of quantitative concepts. Again, maternal warmth and high expectations for good grades were associated with higher scores on the pre-mathematics measure, while lack of patience was connected to lower scores. However, no significant relationship was found between children’s performance and teacher-parent contact; the teacher-parent relationship alone did not predict better performance.

Wu and Qi (2006) examined the relationship between parenting styles and African American children’s achievement in the areas of reading, math, and science. They found that parents’ perceptions of children’s abilities and expectations for good grades were strong predictors of success for students at all grade levels. These predictors were just as strong as parents’ socioeconomic status (Wu & Qi, 2006). While parental involvement is commonly cited in the literature as a strong predictor of success, in this study, parental involvement was not shown to have a large impact on student achievement. Wu and Qi (2006) reported that their study “found limited positive effects of school-based parental involvement and, in addition, some negative effects of home-based parental involvement on achievement test scores” (p. 426). Lahaie (2008) found parental involvement to be a predictor of success for children of immigrants; that study’s analysis of data from the ECLS-K indicated a correlation between higher levels of parental involvement and young children’s higher proficiency in English and mathematics.

Family structure has also been cited as an important predictive factor relating to school readiness in mathematics and literacy. For example, Entwisle and Alexander (1996) investigated the relationship between children’s literacy and mathematics school readiness and parent configuration, or family type, in a random sample of Baltimore children. Mothers who were single parents were found to have lower expectations for their children’s grades in both reading and mathematics than mothers in two-parent families. However, regardless of family type, children in families with greater economic resources and who had a parent or parents with high expectations for success “consistently outperformed other children in reading and math” (Entwisle & Alexander, 1996, p. 341).

Home Environment. The research literature on school readiness includes several studies of the relationship between daily home activities and school readiness. Clarke and Kurtz-Costes (1997) examined the educational quality of the home environment and the influence of television-watching on readiness. They interviewed children and caregivers of low-income, African-American families and compared these data to school readiness assessments. Negative correlations were found between the amount of time spent watching television and number of books in the home, and between television viewing time and amount of parent-child instructional interactions. More television viewing time also predicted lower scores on readiness assessments (Clarke & Kurtz-Costes, 1997). Wright and colleagues (2001) investigated the relations between young children’s television viewing experiences and their performance on tests of school readiness and vocabulary. Television programming was divided into 4 categories: (1) child-audience, informative or educational; (2) child-audience, fully animated cartoons with no informative purpose; (3) child-audience, other programs (neither of the above); and (4) general-audience programs. According to the authors, “for very young children [2-3], viewing informative programming designed for children was associated with subsequent letter-word skills, number skills, receptive vocabulary and school readiness” (Wright, Huston, Murphy, St. Peters, Pinon, Scantlin, & Kotler, 2001, p. 1361). The authors found this difference to be stable across the study; young children who frequently watched educational television at ages 2 and 3 performed better on a battery of tests at age 3 than did infrequent viewers. However, children who were frequent viewers of non-educational cartoons or general-audience programs at ages 2 and 3 had lower scores than infrequent viewers.

A longitudinal study of children’s reading abilities and the literacy environment in the home (Burgess & Hecht, 2002) found that the home literacy environment (HLE) was significantly related to young children’s oral language ability, word decoding ability, and phonological sensitivity. The authors define the home literacy environment in two ways: (1) Passive HLE, or “those parental activities that expose children to models of literacy usage (e.g., seeing a parent read a newspaper)” (2002, p. 413), and (2) Active HLE, or, “those parental efforts that directly engage the child in activities designed to foster literacy or language development (e.g., rhyming games, shared readings)” (2002, p. 413). In a study in the Netherlands, Leseman and de Jong (1998) examined three issues related to home literacy: the potential influence of affective factors, such as cooperation, co-construction, or social-emotional constructs; the influence of contextuality, or cultural or social background factors; and causality, the impact of home literacy on language development. They found that home literacy environment factors determined children’s school literacy achievement when controlling for confounding factors. Their findings suggest that combining exposure to literacy in the home with co-construction opportunities increased the predictive value of home literacy in relation to early literacy achievement.

Learning-related characteristics. “Learning-related characteristics” include children’s behaviors and dispositions related to engaging in tasks as well as their strategies for completing tasks. McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes (2000) studied the relationship between work-related social skills and student performance in kindergarten classrooms and again in second grade. Examples of children’s work-related social skills included the ability to follow directions, take turns in group activities, and stay on task. When child demographic information (e.g., IQ, entrance age, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment) was controlled, findings showed that work-related skills contributed to children’s academic success in mathematics. Children with poor work-related skills performed significantly worse in mathematics upon school entry and at the end of second grade (McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000). McClelland, Acock, and Morrison (2006) later examined the influence of learning-related skills in kindergarten on academic math and reading success in elementary school. In this study, the math and reading abilities of children rated as having poor learning-related skills were compared to children rated as having high learning-related skills. Findings suggested that learning-related skills such as self-regulation and social competence predicted math and reading achievement between kindergarten and sixth grade. These effects were strongest between kindergarten and second grade but were still significant through sixth grade (McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2006).

Social behavior. Connections between school readiness and children’s temperament, or the innate aspects of their personality, have been addressed in the research literature. A child’s tendency to display characteristics such as being active or sociable may be correlated with school readiness; Chang and Burns (2005) examined the connection between temperament and attention skills for children attending Head Start. Findings from their multiple regression analysis indicate that temperament and motivational development are related to levels of attention in young children, similar to findings from research conducted with older children (Chang & Burns, 2005).

Konold and Pianta (2005) examined the predictive value of particular cognitive processes and social behaviors related to self-regulation on typically-developing children’s kindergarten and first grade achievement. The authors developed six normative profiles of patterns of school readiness: (1) attention problems; (2) low cognitive ability; (3) low-to-average social and cognitive skills; (4) social and externalizing problems; (5) high social competence; and (6) high cognitive ability and mild externalizing (Konold & Pianta, 2005). Findings suggest that cognitive ability and social skills should be considered predictors of school readiness, and that although these factors are interrelated, they can operate independently of each other in terms of their predictive value. For example, children with high cognitive abilities performed better on achievement measures, regardless of social skills, while students with average cognitive ability and higher social competence also tended to perform at higher levels than did those with average to low cognitive ability and average social competence (Konold & Pianta, 2005).

Normandeau and Guay (1998) investigated the relationship between cognitive self-control and prosocial behaviors such as collaboration and effective communication in kindergarten-age children. Cognitive self-control was correlated with increased student achievement, which was evidenced when following these children to the end of first grade. Aggressive behaviors were negatively correlated to cognitive self-control while prosocial behaviors had a positive correlation. Children who displayed more aggressive behaviors tended to have less self-control when attempting to complete school tasks, which led to poorer student achievement (Normandeau & Guay, 1998). Dobbs and colleagues (2006) examined the relationship of prosocial behaviors to mathematics skills in preschoolers. The authors found that when students participated in an early math intervention, which consisted of over 85 mathematical tasks that their teachers could select to implement, they were less likely to display negative behaviors such as aggression or a lack of attention.

Performance on mathematical and literacy-based tasks. Correlations between young children’s readiness-related literacy and mathematics skills and their experience with mathematics- and literacy-based tasks were explored in some of the literature reviewed during this study. Tasks might include such activities as examining concepts about print (literacy) and playing number games or block building (mathematics). Siegler and Ramani (2008) examined the role that playing numerical board games could play in preparing children in low-income families for school. They found that the numerical ability of children from affluent families was significantly higher than the numerical ability of children from impoverished families; however, the gap between groups in terms of their understanding of numerical magnitude was closed as a result of the intervention (Siegler & Ramani, 2008). Following this study, Ramani and Siegler (2008) sought to determine if playing linear numerical board games had an impact on a broader range of mathematical topics and whether this impact was stable over time by exploring informal board game play in the home environment (Ramani & Siegler, 2008). They reported the positive connection between informal board game play in the home environment and numerical ability. Playing card games and video games did not have the same results (Ramani & Siegler, 2008).

Building spatial sense through block play has also been considered as a potential predictor of success in terms of school achievement in the elementary years and beyond. Hanline, Milton, and Phelps (2009) examined the relationship between block play at the preschool level and later school success in math and reading. Although no significant relationships were identified in this study between block play and later math achievement, a significant relationship was identified between block play and later reading ability. Higher levels of sophistication in young children’s representations through block construction correlated with greater success in reading during the early elementary years (Hanline, Milton, & Phelps, 2009). While block play may not be a predictor of mathematics success at the early elementary level, it has been found to be a predictor of success for later school achievement in mathematics. Wolfgang, Stannard, and Jones (2001) reported the positive predictive relationship of levels of preschool block play (as determined by the Lunzer Five Point Play Scale) and mathematics achievement during middle and high school. Similar findings were reported regarding construction-type play with LEGOs and later school achievement (Wolfgang, Stannard, & Jones, 2001).

Health and socioeconomic status. Characteristics of child and parent health have long been cited in the literature as possible correlates of children’s school readiness, and are sometimes included as confounding variables when authors are attempting to identify alternative predictors (such as child care or parent-child interactions). Janus and Duku (2007) examined five constructs they identified as having a potential impact on school readiness: (1) socioeconomic status, (2) family structure, (3) parent health, (4) child health, and (5) parent involvement. Their Early Development Instrument, an assessment of school readiness, was built around these five factors in an effort to determine which of the five factors would be most relevant in predicting school readiness. Based on this assessment, health (including current health and low-birth weight) and gender of the child (boys are twice as likely to struggle with school readiness compared to girls) were the strongest predictors. In addition, children from low-income families were twice as likely to have difficulty with school readiness as children from middle- or high-income families.

Patrianakos-Hoobler and colleagues (2009) also examined risk factors related to health of premature infants in relation to the children’s eventual school readiness. They found that boys born premature were twice as likely as girls to display lower school readiness levels. Lower readiness was also identified for premature “infants born to black mothers” as compared to “infants born to nonblack mothers” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, Msall, Marks, Huo, & Schreiber, 2009, p. 4). Socioeconomic status emerged as the “strongest barrier to achieving school readiness” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, et al., 2009, p. 5).

Low socioeconomic status has been consistently negatively correlated to school readiness in the research literature. In 1997, Stipek and Ryan studied the cognitive differences and motivation of economically advantaged and disadvantaged children at school entry. Significant cognitive differences were found relative to number skills, problem solving, and memory. Economically disadvantaged children had as much motivation for learning as economically advantaged children. However, economically advantaged children showed higher levels of concern regarding performance and decreased levels of enjoyment as the study progressed (Stipek & Ryan, 1997).

Discussion and Recommendations

Definitions of school readiness have long been under contention, and it is unclear whether the view that students should be ready for school rather than schools being ready for children is developmentally appropriate. This systematic review of empirical research literature published after 1995 and before 2013 identified seven themes for which correlates of school readiness could be categorized. Table 1 describes the 24 predictors that were categorized under each of these themes.

Table 1

Predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics

While the above table describes factors that hold potential for predicting young children’s school readiness, risk factors were also identified in the literature. These factors include health risks such as low birth weight, prematurity, or general health issues, as well as demographic criteria such as gender (some studies have indicated that boys are more likely to struggle than girls), family structure (single mothers tend to have lower grade expectations for their children), maternal education level (not finishing high school) or the occupation of the head of household (due to the level of income associated with this occupation). In addition, low parental income or socioeconomic status and belonging to a minority group (including African American and Hispanic ethnicities) have often been identified as risk factors for school success.

Parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children as well as the children themselves are the primary stakeholders who would benefit from early interventions designed to enhance school readiness for young children. Initiatives focusing on building positive parent-child relationships and enhancing readiness-related aspects of the home environment have the potential to influence students’ readiness and later school achievement. Future research is needed on the roles parents play in children’s academic success. Specifically, little research can be found regarding parent involvement at the early childhood and primary levels and the influence of role models on children’s positive behavior and dispositions relative to school readiness. Research on the home environment is also necessary, including the increasing role of digital technologies and how they may influence family dynamics and, in turn, children’s future school success. Further investigations of the effects of implementing literacy- and mathematics-based tasks in the home, such as increasing math talk or encouraging children to build structures in a variety of shapes, may enhance what is currently understood about how home environments affect readiness.

Given the apparent correlation between child care quality and children’s school readiness, initiatives to improve early childhood teacher quality and the overall quality of public and private child care programs could have the potential to promote children’s school readiness in literacy and mathematics. The research identified in this review did not yield consistent definitions for high-quality child care. Future studies comparing types of child care settings could help to clarify what is high-quality care, considering such components as teacher quality and instructional practices, classroom environments, and curricula (e.g., presentation of mathematical and literacy-based tasks), and the longitudinal effects of such factors on student success.

The research included in this review was not consistent regarding types of assessments used to measure children’s school readiness. Many studies indicated that an effective tool for measuring school readiness has yet to be developed (Kilday & Kinzie, 2009). Recommendations for future research include the development and validation of a school readiness assessment that measures constructs across domains of development. Once such an assessment has been validated, it could be used for further investigation of the factors identified in this review.

Finally, initiatives specifically focused on young children could include interventions that enhance prosocial behaviors, motivation toward learning, and academic skills. Such interventions could occur in the context of the home, community, or child care setting. Some factors in school readiness and success that are specifically related to demographics (e.g., socioeconomic status, entrance age, belonging to a minority group) or health (e.g., birth weight) are difficult to isolate for the purposes of interventions that might enhance or reduce their influence on children’s school readiness and success. Often these factors occur simultaneously with additional factors within the child, parent, or teacher as described above; thus, future research on ways that some predictors may mediate the effects of demographic or health-related risk factors could be particularly helpful to the field.

Given the importance attached to children’s school readiness, any research that sheds further light on its components and processes is likely to enable adult stakeholders to better discern what constitutes the best possible environments and experiences for children. These environments and experiences can provide young children with the foundation for success on whatever paths they choose in the future.

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Author Information

Dr. Sandra M. Linder is an assistant professor of early childhood mathematics education at Clemson University. Her research centers on improving early childhood teacher quality and student understandings in mathematics.

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Mathematics Education

Coordinator of Early Childhood Education

Clemson University, School of Education

407F Tillman Hall

Clemson, SC 29634-0705

864-656-5102

sandram@clemson.edu

M. Deanna Ramey is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University, studying literacy and early childhood education. Her research interests include young children's experiences with informational text, motivation and engagement, and self-regulation.

V. Serbay Zambak is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University with an emphasis on mathematics education. He has taught mathematics in İstanbul and Amsterdam and has supported practicing teachers' instructional technology skills for mathematics education.

Volume 15 Number 1

©The Author(s) 2013

Predictors of School Readiness in Literacy and Mathematics: A Selective Review of the Literature

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

M. Deanna Ramey

Serbay Zambak

Clemson University, School of Education

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a selective review of the literature related to predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. School readiness was defined as what children are expected to know and do in a variety of academic domains and processes of learning prior to entering a formal classroom setting. Seven themes emerged, based on a review of selected empirical research published over a sixteen-year period. Twenty-four predictors of success for school readiness were categorized under these themes. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Introduction

Young children are increasingly entering academically rigorous school settings where an emphasis on accountability and standards has replaced an emphasis on child development. However, many young children enter school unprepared for both academic and social expectations. Research suggests (Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, & Nurmi, 2004) that if students enter kindergarten at a disadvantage, early gaps in understandings of literacy or mathematics tend to be sustained or widened over time; this appears to be particularly true for children of poverty (McLoyd & Purtell, 2008). It is imperative for the field to identify strategies that move young children toward becoming independent and reflective learners, to increase the likelihood of their school success in later years.

In order to achieve this vision, we must first identify the specific characteristics or factors that enable certain children to enter formal schooling at an advantage while others enter at a disadvantage. Since the 1950s, researchers have investigated how external factors can influence or predict student success in school, and particularly school readiness (Milner, 1951), but a comprehensive list of factors that may affect cognitive, social, emotional, or language development in the school-age years has yet to be compiled. This literature review focuses on school readiness in the areas of literacy and mathematics. Its purposes are to provide stakeholders such as parents, caregivers, and teachers with insight into factors that research has identified as possibly contributing to children’s successful entry into formal schooling and to enable them to identify whether particular children are affected by these factors.

Many definitions of school readiness can be found in the research literature. For some, school readiness relates to students’ cognitive abilities (Nobel, Tottenham, & Casey, 2005). For others, readiness is more related to maturational, social, and emotional domains of development (Ray & Smith, 2010) or to whether or not students have the tools necessary to work effectively in a classroom setting (Carlton & Winsler, 1999). For the purposes of this study, school readiness was defined as children’s preparedness for what they are expected to know and do in academic domains and processes of learning when they enter a formal classroom setting. Rather than focusing on specific activities such as counting to ten or saying the alphabet, this definition considers such components as children’s social-emotional characteristics, cognitive processes related to conceptual understanding, and their ability to communicate about their understandings.

Methods

A systematic review of the literature was conducted over three months during the spring of 2011. The question guiding the literature review was: What predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy have been identified by empirical research in education?

Data Collection and Analysis

The research team determined parameters for conducting searches by first examining already published literature reviews or meta-analyses relating to early childhood literacy or mathematics and relating to issues of school readiness. Four criteria emerged for articles to be included: (1) publication after 1995; (2) publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal; (3) grounding in empirical research; and (4) use of rigorous research methods. These criteria are similar to those used in examples found in the preliminary review of the literature (Justice, 2003; La Paro & Pianta, 2000); however, many previous analyses were limited to large scale quantitative studies. During the preliminary review, meta-analyses of this literature published in 1995 or before were identified (Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995). Therefore, this literature review focused on research following those publications to determine if any changes have occurred.

Having established parameters, the research team searched the literature to compile articles relevant to the research question. Both criterion and snowball sampling methods were used to identify literature. For criterion sampling, the research team conducted electronic searches of a variety of databases and search engines to identify articles that met the established parameters. Snowball sampling involved examining reference sections from theoretical articles related to school readiness, school achievement, early childhood mathematics, and early childhood literacy to find empirical research relevant to the research question. Snowball sampling was also conducted on the reference sections for each empirical study identified in the review to determine if additional sources could be included.

Finally, the research team conducted preliminary readings of the articles to obtain an overall understanding of the data. Following this analysis, articles were clustered based on similarity of findings. After clustering, articles underwent a secondary analysis to establish predictors of school readiness in mathematics and literacy.

Results

In general, literature relating to predictors of success in early childhood literacy was more prevalent than literature relating to early childhood mathematics. Therefore, more predictors of success relating to literacy were identified in this review. It is likely then that the findings do not encompass all potential predictors of school readiness in mathematics.

Seven themes emerged from the literature review regarding factors associated with school readiness in mathematics and literacy: (1) child care experience; (2) family structure and parenting; (3) home environment; (4) learning-related skills; (5) social behavior; (6) mathematical and literacy-based tasks; and (7) health and socioeconomic status. The sections that follow describe findings relating to each of these themes.

Child care experience. Several studies reviewed noted correlations between children’s exposure to high-quality child care and their performance on measures of school readiness in literacy and mathematics. In a longitudinal study conducted by the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2002), participation in high quality, center-based child care was associated with higher language performance (NICHD, 2002). However, increased time spent in child care did not increase language performance, and a higher number of hours spent in child care was associated with increased behavior problems, as reported by caregivers (NICHD, 2002).

Ramey and Ramey (2004) reported the results of multiple randomized controlled trials investigating experiences in preschool education and their connection to school readiness. The authors identified seven types of experiences that are “essential to ensure normal brain and behavioral development and school readiness” (2004, p. 474). These experiences should: “(1) encourage exploration, (2) mentor in basic skills, (3) celebrate developmental advances, (4) rehearse and extend new skills, (5) protect from inappropriate disapproval, teasing, and punishment, (6) communicate richly and responsively, and (7) guide and limit behavior” (Ramey & Ramey, 2004, p. 474).

The authors indicate that children’s exposure to high-quality child care built around these types of experiences can better prepare children for school. Magnuson and colleagues (2004) also examined the relationship between quality of care and school readiness and, in particular, how different types of preschool experiences may affect children of economically advantaged and disadvantaged families. Child care was categorized as parental care, center-based care, Head Start, or other non-parental care. Using a sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K), the authors found that children who attended center-based programs before kindergarten performed better in math and reading than children who experienced only parental care. Having attended center-based programs was associated with greater benefits for children from “disadvantaged” families than for those with higher economic status, including enhancement of mathematics performance (Magnuson, Meyers, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2004).

High quality child care was not always defined in the literature reviewed for this study, but some of the literature did examine aspects of high-quality care. Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, and Iyer (2008) examined the effects of a preschool mathematics curriculum on children’s levels of school readiness. Their findings suggest that use of high-quality curricula implemented with fidelity can lead to higher levels of school readiness in mathematics (Klein, Starkey, Clements, Sarama, & Iyer, 2008). Bracken and Fischel (2007) examined the impact of a supplementary literacy-based curriculum on Head Start preschoolers’ mathematics and literacy achievement and social and behavior skills. More students displayed positive behavior and social skills when engaging with the supplementary curriculum; these skills were associated with higher levels of performance on literacy tasks (Bracken & Fischel, 2007). Characteristics of instruction have also been considered in determining child care quality. Chien and colleagues (2010) investigated the types of engagement young children could encounter in child care settings (free play, group or individual instruction, and scaffolded learning). Children in settings with more free play showed smaller gains than their peers on literacy and mathematics indicators at the preschool level. Individual instruction tended to be a stronger predictor of success on preschool assessments (Chien, Howes, Burchinal, Pianta, Ritchie, Bryant, Clifford, Early, & Barbarin, 2010). However, that study focused only on the types of engagement as predictors of achievement success and did not discuss the potential positive implications of free play and group instruction on other domains of development.

Parenting Style and Family Structure. Parenting styles, parent and child relationships, and family structure were considered as factors potentially related to school readiness in some of the studies in this literature review. Hill (2001) examined the relationship between parenting styles and kindergarten children’s school readiness in African-American and Euro-American families with comparable socioeconomic status. Maternal warmth or acceptance was found to be positively related to children’s performance on a pre-reading measure, while “short temper” and lack of patience were associated with lower scores. Also positively related to children’s performance were teachers’ perception of the extent to which parents valued education, and the quality of parent involvement (high quality was characterized by primarily parent-initiated involvement; lower quality by primarily teacher-initiated parent involvement). Mothers’ expectations for grades were positively related to children’s performance on the pre-reading measure. Hill (2001) also compared parenting styles to kindergarten children’s performance on a measure of quantitative concepts. Again, maternal warmth and high expectations for good grades were associated with higher scores on the pre-mathematics measure, while lack of patience was connected to lower scores. However, no significant relationship was found between children’s performance and teacher-parent contact; the teacher-parent relationship alone did not predict better performance.

Wu and Qi (2006) examined the relationship between parenting styles and African American children’s achievement in the areas of reading, math, and science. They found that parents’ perceptions of children’s abilities and expectations for good grades were strong predictors of success for students at all grade levels. These predictors were just as strong as parents’ socioeconomic status (Wu & Qi, 2006). While parental involvement is commonly cited in the literature as a strong predictor of success, in this study, parental involvement was not shown to have a large impact on student achievement. Wu and Qi (2006) reported that their study “found limited positive effects of school-based parental involvement and, in addition, some negative effects of home-based parental involvement on achievement test scores” (p. 426). Lahaie (2008) found parental involvement to be a predictor of success for children of immigrants; that study’s analysis of data from the ECLS-K indicated a correlation between higher levels of parental involvement and young children’s higher proficiency in English and mathematics.

Family structure has also been cited as an important predictive factor relating to school readiness in mathematics and literacy. For example, Entwisle and Alexander (1996) investigated the relationship between children’s literacy and mathematics school readiness and parent configuration, or family type, in a random sample of Baltimore children. Mothers who were single parents were found to have lower expectations for their children’s grades in both reading and mathematics than mothers in two-parent families. However, regardless of family type, children in families with greater economic resources and who had a parent or parents with high expectations for success “consistently outperformed other children in reading and math” (Entwisle & Alexander, 1996, p. 341).

Home Environment. The research literature on school readiness includes several studies of the relationship between daily home activities and school readiness. Clarke and Kurtz-Costes (1997) examined the educational quality of the home environment and the influence of television-watching on readiness. They interviewed children and caregivers of low-income, African-American families and compared these data to school readiness assessments. Negative correlations were found between the amount of time spent watching television and number of books in the home, and between television viewing time and amount of parent-child instructional interactions. More television viewing time also predicted lower scores on readiness assessments (Clarke & Kurtz-Costes, 1997). Wright and colleagues (2001) investigated the relations between young children’s television viewing experiences and their performance on tests of school readiness and vocabulary. Television programming was divided into 4 categories: (1) child-audience, informative or educational; (2) child-audience, fully animated cartoons with no informative purpose; (3) child-audience, other programs (neither of the above); and (4) general-audience programs. According to the authors, “for very young children [2-3], viewing informative programming designed for children was associated with subsequent letter-word skills, number skills, receptive vocabulary and school readiness” (Wright, Huston, Murphy, St. Peters, Pinon, Scantlin, & Kotler, 2001, p. 1361). The authors found this difference to be stable across the study; young children who frequently watched educational television at ages 2 and 3 performed better on a battery of tests at age 3 than did infrequent viewers. However, children who were frequent viewers of non-educational cartoons or general-audience programs at ages 2 and 3 had lower scores than infrequent viewers.

A longitudinal study of children’s reading abilities and the literacy environment in the home (Burgess & Hecht, 2002) found that the home literacy environment (HLE) was significantly related to young children’s oral language ability, word decoding ability, and phonological sensitivity. The authors define the home literacy environment in two ways: (1) Passive HLE, or “those parental activities that expose children to models of literacy usage (e.g., seeing a parent read a newspaper)” (2002, p. 413), and (2) Active HLE, or, “those parental efforts that directly engage the child in activities designed to foster literacy or language development (e.g., rhyming games, shared readings)” (2002, p. 413). In a study in the Netherlands, Leseman and de Jong (1998) examined three issues related to home literacy: the potential influence of affective factors, such as cooperation, co-construction, or social-emotional constructs; the influence of contextuality, or cultural or social background factors; and causality, the impact of home literacy on language development. They found that home literacy environment factors determined children’s school literacy achievement when controlling for confounding factors. Their findings suggest that combining exposure to literacy in the home with co-construction opportunities increased the predictive value of home literacy in relation to early literacy achievement.

Learning-related characteristics. “Learning-related characteristics” include children’s behaviors and dispositions related to engaging in tasks as well as their strategies for completing tasks. McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes (2000) studied the relationship between work-related social skills and student performance in kindergarten classrooms and again in second grade. Examples of children’s work-related social skills included the ability to follow directions, take turns in group activities, and stay on task. When child demographic information (e.g., IQ, entrance age, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment) was controlled, findings showed that work-related skills contributed to children’s academic success in mathematics. Children with poor work-related skills performed significantly worse in mathematics upon school entry and at the end of second grade (McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000). McClelland, Acock, and Morrison (2006) later examined the influence of learning-related skills in kindergarten on academic math and reading success in elementary school. In this study, the math and reading abilities of children rated as having poor learning-related skills were compared to children rated as having high learning-related skills. Findings suggested that learning-related skills such as self-regulation and social competence predicted math and reading achievement between kindergarten and sixth grade. These effects were strongest between kindergarten and second grade but were still significant through sixth grade (McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2006).

Social behavior. Connections between school readiness and children’s temperament, or the innate aspects of their personality, have been addressed in the research literature. A child’s tendency to display characteristics such as being active or sociable may be correlated with school readiness; Chang and Burns (2005) examined the connection between temperament and attention skills for children attending Head Start. Findings from their multiple regression analysis indicate that temperament and motivational development are related to levels of attention in young children, similar to findings from research conducted with older children (Chang & Burns, 2005).

Konold and Pianta (2005) examined the predictive value of particular cognitive processes and social behaviors related to self-regulation on typically-developing children’s kindergarten and first grade achievement. The authors developed six normative profiles of patterns of school readiness: (1) attention problems; (2) low cognitive ability; (3) low-to-average social and cognitive skills; (4) social and externalizing problems; (5) high social competence; and (6) high cognitive ability and mild externalizing (Konold & Pianta, 2005). Findings suggest that cognitive ability and social skills should be considered predictors of school readiness, and that although these factors are interrelated, they can operate independently of each other in terms of their predictive value. For example, children with high cognitive abilities performed better on achievement measures, regardless of social skills, while students with average cognitive ability and higher social competence also tended to perform at higher levels than did those with average to low cognitive ability and average social competence (Konold & Pianta, 2005).

Normandeau and Guay (1998) investigated the relationship between cognitive self-control and prosocial behaviors such as collaboration and effective communication in kindergarten-age children. Cognitive self-control was correlated with increased student achievement, which was evidenced when following these children to the end of first grade. Aggressive behaviors were negatively correlated to cognitive self-control while prosocial behaviors had a positive correlation. Children who displayed more aggressive behaviors tended to have less self-control when attempting to complete school tasks, which led to poorer student achievement (Normandeau & Guay, 1998). Dobbs and colleagues (2006) examined the relationship of prosocial behaviors to mathematics skills in preschoolers. The authors found that when students participated in an early math intervention, which consisted of over 85 mathematical tasks that their teachers could select to implement, they were less likely to display negative behaviors such as aggression or a lack of attention.

Performance on mathematical and literacy-based tasks. Correlations between young children’s readiness-related literacy and mathematics skills and their experience with mathematics- and literacy-based tasks were explored in some of the literature reviewed during this study. Tasks might include such activities as examining concepts about print (literacy) and playing number games or block building (mathematics). Siegler and Ramani (2008) examined the role that playing numerical board games could play in preparing children in low-income families for school. They found that the numerical ability of children from affluent families was significantly higher than the numerical ability of children from impoverished families; however, the gap between groups in terms of their understanding of numerical magnitude was closed as a result of the intervention (Siegler & Ramani, 2008). Following this study, Ramani and Siegler (2008) sought to determine if playing linear numerical board games had an impact on a broader range of mathematical topics and whether this impact was stable over time by exploring informal board game play in the home environment (Ramani & Siegler, 2008). They reported the positive connection between informal board game play in the home environment and numerical ability. Playing card games and video games did not have the same results (Ramani & Siegler, 2008).

Building spatial sense through block play has also been considered as a potential predictor of success in terms of school achievement in the elementary years and beyond. Hanline, Milton, and Phelps (2009) examined the relationship between block play at the preschool level and later school success in math and reading. Although no significant relationships were identified in this study between block play and later math achievement, a significant relationship was identified between block play and later reading ability. Higher levels of sophistication in young children’s representations through block construction correlated with greater success in reading during the early elementary years (Hanline, Milton, & Phelps, 2009). While block play may not be a predictor of mathematics success at the early elementary level, it has been found to be a predictor of success for later school achievement in mathematics. Wolfgang, Stannard, and Jones (2001) reported the positive predictive relationship of levels of preschool block play (as determined by the Lunzer Five Point Play Scale) and mathematics achievement during middle and high school. Similar findings were reported regarding construction-type play with LEGOs and later school achievement (Wolfgang, Stannard, & Jones, 2001).

Health and socioeconomic status. Characteristics of child and parent health have long been cited in the literature as possible correlates of children’s school readiness, and are sometimes included as confounding variables when authors are attempting to identify alternative predictors (such as child care or parent-child interactions). Janus and Duku (2007) examined five constructs they identified as having a potential impact on school readiness: (1) socioeconomic status, (2) family structure, (3) parent health, (4) child health, and (5) parent involvement. Their Early Development Instrument, an assessment of school readiness, was built around these five factors in an effort to determine which of the five factors would be most relevant in predicting school readiness. Based on this assessment, health (including current health and low-birth weight) and gender of the child (boys are twice as likely to struggle with school readiness compared to girls) were the strongest predictors. In addition, children from low-income families were twice as likely to have difficulty with school readiness as children from middle- or high-income families.

Patrianakos-Hoobler and colleagues (2009) also examined risk factors related to health of premature infants in relation to the children’s eventual school readiness. They found that boys born premature were twice as likely as girls to display lower school readiness levels. Lower readiness was also identified for premature “infants born to black mothers” as compared to “infants born to nonblack mothers” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, Msall, Marks, Huo, & Schreiber, 2009, p. 4). Socioeconomic status emerged as the “strongest barrier to achieving school readiness” (Patrianakos-Hoobler, et al., 2009, p. 5).

Low socioeconomic status has been consistently negatively correlated to school readiness in the research literature. In 1997, Stipek and Ryan studied the cognitive differences and motivation of economically advantaged and disadvantaged children at school entry. Significant cognitive differences were found relative to number skills, problem solving, and memory. Economically disadvantaged children had as much motivation for learning as economically advantaged children. However, economically advantaged children showed higher levels of concern regarding performance and decreased levels of enjoyment as the study progressed (Stipek & Ryan, 1997).

Discussion and Recommendations

Definitions of school readiness have long been under contention, and it is unclear whether the view that students should be ready for school rather than schools being ready for children is developmentally appropriate. This systematic review of empirical research literature published after 1995 and before 2013 identified seven themes for which correlates of school readiness could be categorized. Table 1 describes the 24 predictors that were categorized under each of these themes.

Table 1

Predictors of school readiness in literacy and mathematics

While the above table describes factors that hold potential for predicting young children’s school readiness, risk factors were also identified in the literature. These factors include health risks such as low birth weight, prematurity, or general health issues, as well as demographic criteria such as gender (some studies have indicated that boys are more likely to struggle than girls), family structure (single mothers tend to have lower grade expectations for their children), maternal education level (not finishing high school) or the occupation of the head of household (due to the level of income associated with this occupation). In addition, low parental income or socioeconomic status and belonging to a minority group (including African American and Hispanic ethnicities) have often been identified as risk factors for school success.

Parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children as well as the children themselves are the primary stakeholders who would benefit from early interventions designed to enhance school readiness for young children. Initiatives focusing on building positive parent-child relationships and enhancing readiness-related aspects of the home environment have the potential to influence students’ readiness and later school achievement. Future research is needed on the roles parents play in children’s academic success. Specifically, little research can be found regarding parent involvement at the early childhood and primary levels and the influence of role models on children’s positive behavior and dispositions relative to school readiness. Research on the home environment is also necessary, including the increasing role of digital technologies and how they may influence family dynamics and, in turn, children’s future school success. Further investigations of the effects of implementing literacy- and mathematics-based tasks in the home, such as increasing math talk or encouraging children to build structures in a variety of shapes, may enhance what is currently understood about how home environments affect readiness.

Given the apparent correlation between child care quality and children’s school readiness, initiatives to improve early childhood teacher quality and the overall quality of public and private child care programs could have the potential to promote children’s school readiness in literacy and mathematics. The research identified in this review did not yield consistent definitions for high-quality child care. Future studies comparing types of child care settings could help to clarify what is high-quality care, considering such components as teacher quality and instructional practices, classroom environments, and curricula (e.g., presentation of mathematical and literacy-based tasks), and the longitudinal effects of such factors on student success.

The research included in this review was not consistent regarding types of assessments used to measure children’s school readiness. Many studies indicated that an effective tool for measuring school readiness has yet to be developed (Kilday & Kinzie, 2009). Recommendations for future research include the development and validation of a school readiness assessment that measures constructs across domains of development. Once such an assessment has been validated, it could be used for further investigation of the factors identified in this review.

Finally, initiatives specifically focused on young children could include interventions that enhance prosocial behaviors, motivation toward learning, and academic skills. Such interventions could occur in the context of the home, community, or child care setting. Some factors in school readiness and success that are specifically related to demographics (e.g., socioeconomic status, entrance age, belonging to a minority group) or health (e.g., birth weight) are difficult to isolate for the purposes of interventions that might enhance or reduce their influence on children’s school readiness and success. Often these factors occur simultaneously with additional factors within the child, parent, or teacher as described above; thus, future research on ways that some predictors may mediate the effects of demographic or health-related risk factors could be particularly helpful to the field.

Given the importance attached to children’s school readiness, any research that sheds further light on its components and processes is likely to enable adult stakeholders to better discern what constitutes the best possible environments and experiences for children. These environments and experiences can provide young children with the foundation for success on whatever paths they choose in the future.

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Author Information

Dr. Sandra M. Linder is an assistant professor of early childhood mathematics education at Clemson University. Her research centers on improving early childhood teacher quality and student understandings in mathematics.

Sandra M. Linder, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Mathematics Education

Coordinator of Early Childhood Education

Clemson University, School of Education

407F Tillman Hall

Clemson, SC 29634-0705

864-656-5102

sandram@clemson.edu

M. Deanna Ramey is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University, studying literacy and early childhood education. Her research interests include young children's experiences with informational text, motivation and engagement, and self-regulation.

V. Serbay Zambak is a Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction at Clemson University with an emphasis on mathematics education. He has taught mathematics in İstanbul and Amsterdam and has supported practicing teachers' instructional technology skills for mathematics education.