School Readiness Profiles Among Low-Income Kindergarteners and Between-Group Differences in Peer-Rated Skills

To date, much of the school readiness literature has focused on between-individual differences in the level of children’s school readiness skills, rather than within-individual patterns of school readiness skills. Identifying common patterns of skills and linking those patterns with outcomes can shed light on how different components of school readiness interact within individual children and in combination influence their competence. The current study: (1) examined readiness profiles at the start of kindergarten among low-income children using teacher ratings of their academic abilities, learning engagement, social-emotional skills, and disruptive behavior, and (2) explored how children with different school readiness profiles differed on concurrent peer ratings of skills.

Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles that differed in their patterns of strengths and weaknesses across readiness domains: (1) Well-Adjusted, with strengths in every domain (43%), (2) Academically Competent & Disruptive, with above average academic abilities and above average disruptive behavior (18%), (3) Disengaged, with weaknesses in most domains but no disruptive behavior (22%), and (4) Multi-Risk, with severe weaknesses in every domain (17%). Between-profile differences on peer-rated skills indicated that Well-Adjusted children were well-liked and perceived by peers to be engaged and prosocial. Multi-Risk children, in contrast, were not well-liked and were perceived to be aggressive and inattentive. Children in other profiles received more mixed reviews: Academically Competent & Disruptive children received as many “liked most” nominations and were perceived to be as prosocial as Well-Adjusted children; however, these children also received more “liked least” nominations and were perceived to be more aggressive and inattentive than Well-Adjusted children. Disengaged children received fewer “liked most” nominations and more “liked least” nominations than Well-Adjusted children. In addition, although they were perceived to be less aggressive than Multi-Risk children and Academically Competent & Disruptive children, they were also perceived to be less engaged and less prosocial than Well-Adjusted children and Academically Competent & Disruptive children.

Results of the current study indicate the importance of considering within-individual patterns of school readiness. Future directions include examining between-profile differences longitudinally. School readiness screenings that reveal information about children’s patterns of specific strengths and weaknesses could facilitate the targeted delivery of prevention or intervention services that are most suited to children’s individual needs.