RAND–First 5 LA Study Finds Mother’s Education, Neighborhood Poverty Determine a Child’s Readiness for Elementary School
For Release
Thursday
September 16, 2004
The key factors that determine whether a child will be adequately prepared to begin elementary school are the educational level attained by the child’s mother and the level of poverty in the child’s neighborhood, according to a RAND Corporation study of Los Angeles-area families issued today.
Researchers found that most Los Angeles-area 4- and 5-year old children have the basic skills needed to begin school. But in the report titled “Are L.A.’s Children Ready for School?” the researchers concluded that children with poorly educated mothers, along with children living in poor neighborhoods, are at a disadvantage when they start school.
“Our findings suggest that the stress of living in poor and unsafe neighborhoods may contribute to poorer parenting practices and more stress on the part of children,” said Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, lead author of the study. “Early intervention and parenting programs that encourage parents to read to their children and to expose them to books are likely to help improve school readiness—especially for children of less-educated parents.”
“While this study looked only at children in Los Angeles County, we expect that a wider study would produce comparable results in similar communities,” Lara-Cinisomo added.
The study found that:
- Children of mothers who completed high school scored better on preschool reading and math tests—strong indicators that children are more ready for school—than children whose mothers did not finish high school.
- Even when reading, library visits, and other aspects of a child’s home environment are taken into account, children of well-educated women generally do better on reading and math tests.
- Even if parents are not well educated and live in low-income neighborhoods, they can take action to improve their children’s school readiness. Parents can read to children themselves or arrange for other adults to do so; provide challenging books, games, and puzzles; help children learn to count and figure out math problems; and participate in reading and other programs at the public library. Providing warm and consistent parenting is also important for school readiness.
- A child’s behavior is affected by the type of neighborhood he or she grows up in. Young children in low-income neighborhoods have higher levels of sad behavior and aggressive behavior than do children in higher income neighborhoods. These types of behaviors have significant negative effects on children’s ability to learn. Scarce public funding for school readiness programs should be targeted toward children whose mothers are the most poorly educated and to those who live in poor neighborhoods.
- When taking socioeconomic status into account, a family’s ethnicity and immigrant status was not linked to school readiness. In addition, the findings suggest that access to early learning experiences and other advantages—regardless of ethnicity and immigrant status—can help prepare all children for school.
“RAND’s findings confirm that if we want to improve our children’s success at school, we need to address the issue at both the community and family level,” said Evelyn V. Martinez, executive director of First 5 LA, which funded the study.
First 5 LA uses tobacco tax revenue to fund education, health, child abuse prevention, child care, and other programs intended to promote early childhood development for expectant parents and children through age 5. First 5 LA was created by the voters of California in November 1998.
The report examines two key aspects of school readiness—basic skills acquisition and children’s behavior. To measure basic skills, children completed standardized tests to measure reading and math-related skills such as: recognizing pictures, letters and numbers; and counting and reasoning. Parents also answered questions about the behavior of their children.
Past research has shown that when children are ready for school they learn more quickly, are more likely to stay in school and graduate, and have a greater chance of success in life. They also save tax dollars because they need fewer special educational services and are less likely to repeat a grade.
The RAND report is part of the First 5 LA-RAND Research Partnership. Researchers interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 families throughout Los Angeles County for the 2000-2001 Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. This report used data collected during those interviews. Other authors of the study are Anne R. Pebley, Mary E. Vaiana and Elizabeth Maggio.
The report is written for the general public and is available for free at the RAND Web site: rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG145/ or at the First 5 LA Web site at: first5la.org.
