Reading achievement gaps, correlates, and moderators of early reading achievement: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) kindergarten to first grade sample.

Abstract

This study estimated reading achievement gaps in different ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups of 1st graders in the U.S. compared with specific reference groups and identified statistically significant correlates and moderators of early reading achievement. A subset of 2,296 students nested in 184 schools from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) kindergarten to 1st-grade cohort were analyzed with hierarchical linear models. With child-level background differences controlled, significant 1st-grade reading differentials were found in African American children (Ϫ0.51 SD units below Whites), boys (Ϫ0.31 SD units below girls), and children from high-poverty households (Ϫ0.61 to Ϫ1.0 SD units below well-to-do children). In all 3 comparisons, the size of the reading gaps increased from kindergarten entry to 1st grade. Reading level at kindergarten entry was a significant child-level correlate, related to poverty status. At the school level, class size and elementary teacher certification rate were significant reading correlates in 1st grade. Cross-level interactions indicated reading achievement in African American children was moderated by the schools students attended, with attendance rates and reading time at home explaining the variance.

Social and behavioral skills and the gender gap in early educational achievement

“…Entwisle et al (2007) find that the gender gap emerges relatively late in the elementary school experience. Other research, however, shows that girls have better reading skills than boys in kindergarten (Chatterji, 2006;Tach and Farkas, 2006;West, Denton, and Reaney, 2000), and that this advantage persists throughout elementary school (Trzesniewski et al, 2006;U.S. Department of Education, 2006).…”

Teacher Outreach Efforts and Reading Achievement in Kindergarten

“…For instance, Meyer and colleagues (1994) revealed a negative relationship between the amounts of time kindergarten teachers spent reading and their students' reading achievement, which corroborates many previous studies reporting lowto-moderate negative correlations between teachers' reading to children and children's reading achievement. Chatterji (2006) also reported that more at-home reading time was associated with greater reading achievement among African American students. Clearly, merely reading aloud to a child is not enough, and children in kindergarten need to actively participate in reading texts themselves.…”

Elementary Schoolers’ Attitudes toward Reading in English: How Boys Feel Relative to Girls

“…library visits) compared to boys, who tend to read less often, and think less positively about reading. Research conducted by Chatterji (2006) also shows that boys have consistently lagged behind girls in reading; from when they were enrolled in kindergarten until the end of first grade where the gap is the widest. In a broad cross-sectional study of 14,315 students, McQuillan (2013) found that the girls had more positive attitudes toward reading than the boys.…”