Protective Factors for School Readiness Among Children in Poverty

Matthew R. Holliday, Adriana Cimetta, Christina A. Cutshaw, David Yaden, Ronald W. Marx

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The economic status of families and their children's learning outcomes are closely related. For example, children living in poverty tend to score worse on measures of reading and math performance than their more affluent peers, and this achievement gap is present by kindergarten. In this study, we identified protective factors associated with school readiness among an Arizona sample of children living at or below the federal poverty line (N = 230). Using multiple linear regression, we examined the association between assessments of school readiness, health status, childcare hours, home language, parent engagement, and parent education. We found that increased weekly childcare hours and better health were associated with higher proficiency in math, literacy, and approaches to learning, and may serve as resilience factors for children in poverty that may contribute to closing the achievement gap.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)125-147
Number of pages23
JournalJournal of Education for Students Placed at Risk
Volume19
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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