- How large are general knowledge gaps occurring in kindergarten, and to what extent do these continue to occur by the end of first grade?
- As children move from third to eighth grade, what is their typical initial level (i.e., intercept) and rate of achievement growth (i.e., slope) in science?
- Are these gaps consistent with stable, cumulative (i.e., gap increasing), or compensatory (i.e., gap decreasing) achievement growth trajectories? How do these initial third-grade science achievement levels and third- to eighth-grade growth trajectories vary by children's race, ethnicity, language, and family SES status? How are a more general set of child- and family-level characteristics, including parenting quality, related to typical levels of third-grade science achievement in the United States as well as to achievement growth from third to eighth grade?
- To what extent are the third-grade science achievement gaps, as well as third- to eighth-grade science achievement growth, explained by such modifiable factors as general knowledge, reading and mathematics achievement, and behavioral self-regulation? How much of children's later science achievement can be predicted by their first-grade achievement-related knowledge, skills, and behaviors?
- With the aforementioned first-grade predictive factors accounted for, how important are the modifiable factors of children's subsequent reading and mathematics achievement, and behavioral self-regulation at each of third, fifth, and eighth grades to their science achievement during these grades?
- To what extent does a school's academic climate and racial, ethnic, and economic composition explain children's science achievement, over and above the afore- mentioned child- and family-level factors?
– Kindergarten general knowledge was the strongest predictor of first-grade general knowledge, which in turn was the strongest predictor of children’s science achievement from third to eighth grade.
– Large science achievement gaps were evident when science achievement measures first became available in third grade. These gaps persisted until at least the end of eighth grade.
– Some groups of children enter U.S. kindergarten classrooms already far less knowledgeable about the natural and social sciences than other groups of children. These preexisting general knowledge gaps in turn strongly predict general knowledge gaps in first grade, which in turn strongly predict science achievement gaps in third grade.
– However, these early-appearing gaps may be exacerbated by other modifiable factors. These include whether children also experience lower reading and mathematics achievement as they age and the racial-ethnic composition of the schools they attend, possibly due to attending lower-resourced schools.
– From third through eighth grades, experiencing lower reading and mathematics achievement is predictive of these science achievement gaps’ persistence.
– Overall, the strongest contributors to science achievement gaps in the United States are general knowledge gaps that are already present at kindergarten entry.
– Higher-quality parenting is associated with greater academic achievement, although our results suggest that the unique association of parenting with science achievement is quite modest by the elementary and middle school grades.
– These early-appearing gaps may be exacerbated by other modifiable factors. These include whether children also experience lower reading and mathematics achievement as they age and the racial-ethnic composition of the schools they attend, possibly due to attending lower-resourced schools.
– Black children often follow a cumulative trajectory in that they experience both initially lower and then somewhat slower science achievement growth. These gaps remain evident despite extensive statistical controls, although they are largely explained by the study’s many other factors (e.g., reading and mathematics achievement, behavioral self-regulation, SES, and parenting).
– Children who are Black displayed significantly lower growth rates than children who are White, but the difference is small in magnitude. By contrast, the science achievement of Hispanics, Asians, and those from non-English-speaking homes grew slightly faster than that of Whites or those from English-speaking homes
– The science achievement gaps between lower- and higher-SES children are also consistent with a cumulative achievement growth model.
– These findings suggest that science achievement gaps begin to occur early in the school career and are largely stable as children age.
– Consistent with a “threshold hypothesis,” language-minority children initially display lower science achievement, but this is followed by greater achievement growth. However, their greater achievement growth was fully explained by the study’s other modifiable factors.
– Efforts to address science achievement gaps in the United States likely require intensified early intervention efforts, particularly those delivered before the primary grades. If unaddressed, science achievement gaps emerge by kindergarten and continue until at least the end of eighth grade.