The association between School Readiness and Low-Income among pre-

school children: A Systematic Review

Carolina Morquio1 & Micaela Reich2

1 Universidad de la República, 2 Instituto de Educación, Universidad ORT Uruguay

.
Introduction Charts & Figures
Table 2
One of the main sources of inequality in Uruguay is based on socioeconomic and cultural Results in numbers
0%
13%

differences amongst its population. For instance, education is a fundamental factor Total articles (without duplicates) 177
39%
16%

(Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa, 2014) ; scientific literature suggests that a Articles obtained through systematic db approach 125

child's skills and knowledge by the time he/she is entering primary school, predict his/her Articles obtained from authors 52

adaptation and academic performance (Duncan et al., 2007; Le, Kirby, Barney, Setodji & Final article number 14
Articles focused on the relationship between SR and SES 9
Gershwin, 2006; Romano, Babchishin, Pagani & Kohen 2010).
32%

Citation average 43
Citation total 606
Previous international studies have shown that children from low-income backgrounds
Science direct JSTOR Psycharticles Psychinfo Scielo
Average N 605
Main article origin 92% USA
enter primary school with lower levels of general skills and academic knowledge than
Figure 2. Results per database
their higher-income peers (Foster, Lambert, Abbo-Shim, McCarty, & Franze, 2005; Hair,
Halle, Terry-Humen, Lavelle, & Calkins, 2006). This is considered a relevant risk factor Results
that predicts academic and social failure. Additionally, the latter is linked to lower
educational attainment and worse job status during adulthood, higher rates of substance The search process resulted in 14 manuscripts that were ultimately included on the
consumption, delinquency, and poorer levels of mental health (Wiesner & Win dle, 2004). review.

Recent research suggests that School Readiness is a globally relevant factor in the
context of the design and implementation of programs aimed at tackling educational
inequalities, and enhancing the developmental process of children from disadvantaged
sectors of our society. Furthermore, its impact on the transition between pre-school and
primary school, as well as the levels of School Readiness when entering kindergarten (5
years), have been extensively addressed.
Overall, regional and national research in this area is scarce.
• The association between School Readiness and socioeconomic status has been
consistently reported by the literature, despite the fact that studies are not concurrent
with regard to the mechanisms underlying this association (Hair et al., 2015).
• Family and socio-environmental factors have an impact prior to starting school.
Research indicates that these antecedent conditions have an influence at diverse
levels during the first years of age, and throughout elementary school years (Hanson
et al., 2011)

• Access to financial resources (composed by parental educational attainment,

Study Objectives
As part of a larger study, data were analyzed using bibliometric methods, which revealed
that socioeconomic status was an important aspect in the context of School Readiness
among pre-school children. In this secondary analysis, data were systematically
examined to draw answers to the research question in the present study, aimed at
describing the association between socioeconomic status and School Readiness.
Methods
Procedures comprised progressive search in 5 databases (PsycArticles, JSTOR,
Psycinfo, Scielo, ScienceDirect). Keywords were: school readiness, low income, poverty,
preschool. Quantitative studies published in peer-reviewed indexed psychology and
neuropsychology scholarly journals were considered.
household income, and awareness of financial needs) is the strongest predictor of
School Readiness (Barbarin et al., 2006).
• Children from low-income backgrounds enter pre-school with lower levels of linguistic
skills, logical reasoning, and mathematical thinking, and higher levels of behavioral
problems than their higher-income peers (Barbarin et al., 2006).
• Differences in brain development and structure in areas linked to contextual factors
and caregiving environment are apparent when comparing children from low-income
bakgrounds to their more advantaged peers (Hair et al., 2015).
Conclusions

Table 1
Keyword search groups table

search School readiness self regulation low income poverty preschool

1 x x
2 x x
search group 3
3 x x
4 x x
5 x x x Figure 3. Low income and school readiness: most salient mediating mechanisms.
6 x x x
search group 2 7 x x
8 x x x
School Readiness emerges as a key aspect to be taken into account when addressing
9 x x x barriers to adherence to the education system, and academic performance, especially
search group 1
10
11
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
among children in vulnerable contexts.

Clinical implications include the need for validated programs and tailored interventions to
promote School Readiness. This is expected to contribute to improving the children's
academic and life trajectories, enhancing the levels of education equity, benefiting the
society as a whole.

References
Barbarin, O., Bryant, D., McCandies, T., Burchinal, M., Early, D., Clifford, R., … Howes, C. (2006). Children enrolled in public pre-K: The relation of family life, neighborhood quality, and socioeconomic
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Duncan, G. J., Dorset, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., & Klebanov, P. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1428–1446
Foster, M. A., Lambert, R., Abbo-Shim, M., McCarty, F., & Franze, S. (2005). A model of home learning environment and social risk factors in relation to children’s emergent literacy and social
outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20, 13–36. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2005.01.006
Hair, E., Halle, T., Terry-Humen, E., Lavelle, B., & Calkins, J. (2006). Children’s school readiness in the ECLS-K: Predictions to academic, health, and social outcomes in 1rst grade. Early Childhood
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Hanson, M., Miller, A., Diamond, K., Odom, S., Lieber, J., Butera, G., … Fleming, K. (2011). Neighborhood Community Risk Influences on Preschool Children’s Development and School readiness. Infants &
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Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa. (2014). Informe sobre el estado de la educación en Uruguay 2014. Recuperado de
http://ieeuy2014.ineed.edu.uy/pdf/Informe_sobre_el_estado_de_la_educacion_en_Uruguay_2014.pdf
Le, V., Kirby, S. H., Barney, H., Setodji, C.M., Gershwin, D. (2006) School readiness,Full-Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement. An Empirical Investigation. RAND corporation.
Romano, E., Babchishin, L., Pagani, L. S., & Kohen, D. (2010). School readiness and later achievement: Replication and extension using a nationwide Canadian survey. Developmental Psychology, 46(5),
Figure 1. Database progressive searches workflow. 995–1007
Wiesner, M., & Windle, M. (2004). Assessing covariates of adolescent delinquency trajectories: A latent growth mixture modeling approach. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 33, 431–442.
doi:10.1023/B:JOYO.0000037635.06937.13

Poster presented at Simposio de Educación,

Cognición y Neurociencia, Montevideo, March
17th, 2017