Table 137.

Kindergartners' reading, mathematics, science, cognitive flexibility, and approaches to learning scale scores in fall and spring of the kindergarten year, by fall 2010 kindergarten entry status: 2010-11

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Type and time of assessment	Overall mean score1		Mean score by fall 2010 kindergarten entry status2
			Early kindergarten entrants		On-time kindergarten entrants		Delayed kindergarten entrants		Kindergarten repeaters
1	2		3		4		5		6
Reading scale score3
Fall 2010	34.8	(0.28)	34.0	(1.04)	34.8	(0.30)	36.5	(0.61)	36.7	(0.67)
Spring 2011	49.4	(0.29)	47.8	(1.47)	49.6	(0.30)	50.7	(0.55)	47.9	(0.65)
Mathematics scale score4
Fall 2010	29.3	(0.27)	27.0	(0.94)	29.3	(0.29)	32.8	(0.55)	29.9	(0.57)
Spring 2011	42.0	(0.28)	40.1	(1.14)	42.0	(0.31)	44.8	(0.61)	40.9	(0.62)
Science scale score5
Spring 2011	11.3	(0.07)	10.7	(0.28)	11.4	(0.08)	12.1	(0.13)	11.0	(0.19)
Cognitive flexibility score6
Fall 2010	8.4	(0.06)	7.9	(0.34)	8.5	(0.06)	8.8	(0.17)	8.0	(0.20)
Spring 2011	9.3	(0.06)	9.0	(0.23)	9.4	(0.06)	9.6	(0.10)	9.0	(0.15)
Approaches to learning score7
Fall 2010	2.9	(0.01)	3.0	(0.07)	2.9	(0.01)	3.0	(0.02)	2.8	(0.05)
Spring 2011	3.1	(0.01)	3.1	(0.06)	3.1	(0.01)	3.1	(0.02)	2.9	(0.04)

1 Includes students with missing kindergarten entry status information.
2 A child who enrolled in kindergarten for the first time in 2010-11 is classified as an early, on-time, or delayed kindergarten entrant depending on whether the parent reported enrolling the child early, enrolling the child when he or she was old enough, or waiting until the child was older relative to school guidelines about when children can start school based on their birth date. A child is classified as a kindergarten repeater if the parent reported that 2010-11 was the child’s second (or third or more) year of kindergarten.
3 Reflects performance on questions measuring basic skills (print familiarity, letter recognition, beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, and word recognition), vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension (including locate/recall questions, integrate/interpret questions, and critique/evaluate questions about text the children were asked to read). Actual scores for all kindergartners range from 6 to 83.
4 Reflects performance on questions on number sense, properties, and operations; measurement; geometry and spatial sense; data analysis, statistics, and probability (measured with a set of simple questions assessing children’s ability to read a graph); and prealgebra skills such as identification of patterns. Actual scores for all kindergartners range from 5 to 75.
5 Science was assessed only in the spring of kindergarten. Reflects performance on questions on physical sciences, life sciences, environmental sciences, and scientific inquiry. Actual scores for all kindergartners range from 4 to 18.
6 To measure cognitive flexibility, children were administered the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) (developed by Philip Zelazo in 2006). Children were asked to sort a series of cards into one of two trays according to different rules (e.g., by color, by shape). Actual scores for all kindergartners range from 0 to 12.
7 The approaches to learning scale is based on teachers' reports on how students rate in seven areas: attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, flexibility, organization, and ability to follow classroom rules. Actual scores for all kindergartners range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibits positive learning behaviors more often.
NOTE: Estimates weighted by W1_2P0. Estimates pertain to a sample of children who were enrolled in kindergarten in the 2010-11 school year.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011), Preliminary Restricted-Use Data File. (This table was prepared May 2013.)