The prediction from the network-based attributes of school readiness skills to children's state-level fluctuations in academic achievement throughout grade school

Abstract

Using a subsample from the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 961), we employed a network approach to explore the complex and interrelated structures of three sets of school readiness skills and how these skills may relate to children's long-term literacy and math performance from kindergarten to 5th grade. The network analysis identified three sub-modules of school readiness skills: academic and cognitive skills module, parents' perspective of socio-emotional skills module, and children's adjustment in child care module. Notably, within the academic and cognitive skills module, early mathematics emerged as the most potent predictor of longitudinal variations in both literacy and math outcomes until the 5th grade, even after accounting for consistent academic performance across time. Furthermore, within the parents' perspective of socio-emotional skills module, inhibitory control and sustained attention were pinpointed as crucial factors for literacy development during the early educational years.