Students’ Mathematics Achievement Growth from Kindergarten through 8th Grade: The Role of School Readiness?

Katerina Bodovski, Pennsylvania State University
Min-Jong Youn, Pennsylvania State University

We employed a large nationally representative data set, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), to investigate how school readiness, measured in the fall of kindergarten, affects students’ mathematics learning through the end of 8th grade. Main findings: All three constructs of school readiness – math and reading scores, and approaches to learning – showed a positive relationship with math scores at the end of each tested grade (1st, 3rd, 5th, and 8th). Students who entered kindergarten with higher math scores tended to show a lower rate of math growth; a positive association was found between approaches to learning and math learning growth. Findings suggest that for minority students and students from lower SES backgrounds, improved school readiness would increase the math achievement rate.