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| 2017 Tables and Figures | All Years of Tables and Figures | Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest |
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| Table 220.42. | Fall 2010 first-time kindergartners' science scale scores through spring of fourth grade, by selected child, family, and school characteristics during the kindergarten year: Spring 2011 through spring 2015 |
| [Standard errors appear in parentheses] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected child, family, or school characteristic during the kindergarten year | Mean science score1 | |||||||||
| Kindergarten, spring 2011 | First grade, spring 2012 | Second grade, spring 2013 | Third grade, spring 2014 | Fourth grade, spring 2015 | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||||
| Total | 34.3 | (0.21) | 43.8 | (0.32) | 52.7 | (0.33) | 60.6 | (0.29) | 66.6 | (0.37) |
| Sex of child | ||||||||||
| Male | 34.6 | (0.22) | 44.3 | (0.32) | 53.5 | (0.34) | 61.3 | (0.29) | 67.3 | (0.39) |
| Female | 34.1 | (0.25) | 43.3 | (0.39) | 51.9 | (0.38) | 59.9 | (0.37) | 65.9 | (0.44) |
| Age of child at kindergarten entry, fall 2010 | ||||||||||
| Less than 5 years old | 31.6 | (0.65) | 40.3 | (1.00) | 49.2 | (0.90) | 57.6 | (0.98) | 63.9 | (0.94) |
| 5 years old to 5 1/2 years old | 33.1 | (0.27) | 41.8 | (0.36) | 51.1 | (0.38) | 59.4 | (0.40) | 65.6 | (0.43) |
| More than 5 1/2 years old to 6 years old | 35.3 | (0.25) | 45.2 | (0.41) | 54.1 | (0.40) | 61.7 | (0.35) | 67.4 | (0.44) |
| More than 6 years old | 36.3 | (0.43) | 47.3 | (0.59) | 54.8 | (0.63) | 62.0 | (0.64) | 68.1 | (0.71) |
| Race/ethnicity of child | ||||||||||
| White | 37.2 | (0.18) | 47.5 | (0.25) | 56.2 | (0.24) | 63.8 | (0.23) | 70.0 | (0.25) |
| Black | 30.8 | (0.60) | 38.5 | (0.86) | 47.2 | (0.95) | 54.4 | (0.91) | 59.5 | (1.20) |
| Hispanic | 29.9 | (0.34) | 38.1 | (0.53) | 47.5 | (0.67) | 56.1 | (0.52) | 62.1 | (0.69) |
| Asian | 32.5 | (0.53) | 43.2 | (0.98) | 54.5 | (0.98) | 62.8 | (1.09) | 68.4 | (1.16) |
| Pacific Islander | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 35.5 | (0.72) | 44.9 | (1.30) | 51.6 | (1.11) | 60.0 | (1.06) | 69.5 | (1.05) |
| Two or more races | 37.0 | (0.49) | 47.9 | (0.69) | 56.1 | (0.74) | 64.1 | (0.64) | 69.7 | (0.72) |
| How often child exhibited positive learning behaviors, fall 20102 |
||||||||||
| Never | 27.8 | (1.10) | 33.2 | (1.36) | 39.7 | (1.79) | 47.3 | (1.73) | 54.2 | (1.73) |
| Sometimes | 31.8 | (0.31) | 39.6 | (0.43) | 48.5 | (0.51) | 56.4 | (0.41) | 62.5 | (0.53) |
| Often | 34.6 | (0.26) | 44.3 | (0.34) | 53.3 | (0.37) | 61.4 | (0.34) | 67.2 | (0.43) |
| Very often | 36.5 | (0.25) | 47.3 | (0.48) | 56.3 | (0.42) | 63.7 | (0.36) | 70.0 | (0.39) |
| Primary type of nonparental care arrangement prior to kindergarten entry3 |
||||||||||
| No regular nonparental arrangement | 32.6 | (0.39) | 42.0 | (0.57) | 50.6 | (0.62) | 59.0 | (0.52) | 64.7 | (0.66) |
| Home-based care | ||||||||||
| Relative care | 33.5 | (0.36) | 42.9 | (0.53) | 51.3 | (0.54) | 58.9 | (0.56) | 65.0 | (0.65) |
| Nonrelative care | 36.4 | (0.43) | 45.5 | (0.64) | 54.6 | (0.49) | 62.1 | (0.62) | 68.8 | (0.52) |
| Center-based care | 35.0 | (0.24) | 44.5 | (0.36) | 53.6 | (0.35) | 61.5 | (0.31) | 67.5 | (0.39) |
| Multiple arrangements | 36.3 | (0.63) | 46.8 | (0.99) | 55.5 | (0.92) | 62.8 | (0.93) | 68.8 | (1.19) |
| Household type, fall 20104 | ||||||||||
| Two-parent household | 35.2 | (0.21) | 45.0 | (0.32) | 53.9 | (0.30) | 61.8 | (0.24) | 68.0 | (0.30) |
| Mother-only household | 32.0 | (0.46) | 40.6 | (0.66) | 48.8 | (0.74) | 56.6 | (0.71) | 62.4 | (0.91) |
| Father-only household | 34.2 | (0.80) | 41.3 | (1.24) | 50.0 | (1.21) | 58.3 | (1.31) | 63.9 | (1.43) |
| Other household type | 32.5 | (1.02) | 40.5 | (1.22) | 48.5 | (1.13) | 55.7 | (1.01) | 60.0 | (1.39) |
| Primary home language | ||||||||||
| English | 35.6 | (0.22) | 45.4 | (0.31) | 54.0 | (0.32) | 61.6 | (0.30) | 67.7 | (0.37) |
| Non-English | 27.5 | (0.39) | 35.3 | (0.63) | 45.9 | (0.81) | 55.2 | (0.69) | 61.0 | (0.83) |
| Primary language not identified5 | 29.3 | (1.00) | 37.9 | (1.57) | 46.8 | (1.84) | 56.6 | (1.81) | 62.7 | (1.69) |
| Parents' highest level of education6 | ||||||||||
| Less than high school | 27.1 | (0.33) | 34.2 | (0.46) | 43.6 | (0.67) | 52.1 | (0.69) | 57.7 | (1.01) |
| High school completion | 30.9 | (0.31) | 38.9 | (0.39) | 47.8 | (0.46) | 55.8 | (0.40) | 61.6 | (0.53) |
| Some college/vocational | 34.4 | (0.27) | 43.6 | (0.36) | 52.5 | (0.35) | 60.3 | (0.34) | 66.4 | (0.42) |
| Bachelor's degree | 36.7 | (0.22) | 46.9 | (0.37) | 56.0 | (0.36) | 63.8 | (0.30) | 69.9 | (0.38) |
| Any graduate education | 38.5 | (0.25) | 50.3 | (0.41) | 59.0 | (0.30) | 66.8 | (0.29) | 72.9 | (0.31) |
| Poverty status, spring 20117 | ||||||||||
| Below poverty threshold | 30.1 | (0.34) | 38.0 | (0.56) | 46.8 | (0.64) | 55.1 | (0.49) | 61.1 | (0.75) |
| 100 to 199 percent of poverty threshold | 33.4 | (0.34) | 42.5 | (0.44) | 51.9 | (0.44) | 59.4 | (0.44) | 65.3 | (0.50) |
| 200 percent or more of poverty threshold | 36.9 | (0.17) | 47.4 | (0.31) | 56.2 | (0.27) | 64.0 | (0.24) | 70.1 | (0.27) |
| Two risk factors8 | ||||||||||
| Both risk factors: No parent completed high school9 and family below poverty threshold7 |
27.0 | (0.41) | 33.8 | (0.54) | 42.7 | (0.83) | 51.3 | (0.77) | 57.1 | (1.08) |
| One risk factor: No parent completed high school |
27.1 | (0.51) | 34.8 | (0.85) | 45.6 | (1.06) | 54.6 | (0.99) | 60.1 | (1.48) |
| One risk factor: Family below poverty threshold |
31.1 | (0.34) | 39.3 | (0.58) | 48.1 | (0.62) | 56.4 | (0.47) | 62.4 | (0.68) |
| Neither risk factor | 36.1 | (0.20) | 46.2 | (0.30) | 55.1 | (0.27) | 62.8 | (0.26) | 68.9 | (0.29) |
| Socioeconomic status10 | ||||||||||
| Lowest 20 percent | 29.2 | (0.36) | 36.8 | (0.51) | 45.7 | (0.61) | 53.9 | (0.55) | 59.7 | (0.81) |
| Middle 60 percent | 34.6 | (0.21) | 43.9 | (0.30) | 52.8 | (0.30) | 60.7 | (0.27) | 66.8 | (0.33) |
| Highest 20 percent | 38.4 | (0.22) | 50.1 | (0.41) | 59.1 | (0.33) | 66.7 | (0.27) | 72.7 | (0.28) |
| School control, fall 2010 | ||||||||||
| Public | 34.1 | (0.24) | 43.5 | (0.35) | 52.4 | (0.36) | 60.3 | (0.32) | 66.3 | (0.40) |
| Private | 36.7 | (0.51) | 46.7 | (0.76) | 55.2 | (0.76) | 63.4 | (0.66) | 69.4 | (0.71) |
| † Not applicable. | ||||||||||
| ‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate). | ||||||||||
| 1 Reflects performance on questions on physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and scientific inquiry. Possible scores for the science assessment range from 0 to 96. Science was not assessed in the fall of kindergarten. | ||||||||||
| 2 Derived from child’s approaches to learning scale score in fall of the kindergarten year. This score is based on teachers' reports on how often students exhibit positive learning behaviors in seven areas: attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, ability to adapt easily to changes in routine, organization, and ability to follow classroom rules. Possible scores range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibits positive learning behaviors more often. Fall 2010 scores were categorized into the four anchor points on the original scale--1 (never), 2 (sometimes), 3 (often), and 4 (very often)--by rounding the mean score to the nearest whole number. | ||||||||||
| 3 The type of nonparental care in which the child spent the most hours. "Multiple arrangements" refers to children who spent an equal amount of time in each of two or more arrangements. | ||||||||||
| 4 A two-parent household may have two biological parents, two adoptive parents, or one biological/adoptive parent and one other parent/partner. A mother-only or father-only household has one biological or adoptive parent only, without another parent/partner. In other household types, which do not include biological or adoptive parents, the guardian or guardians may be related or unrelated to the child. | ||||||||||
| 5 Two or more languages (which could include English) were spoken in the child's home, and the parent respondent was unable to specify which language was the primary one (the one spoken most of the time). | ||||||||||
| 6 Parents' highest level of education is the highest level of education achieved by either of the parents or guardians in a two-parent household, by the only parent in a single-parent household, or by any guardian in a household with no parents. | ||||||||||
| 7 Poverty status is based on preliminary U.S. Census income thresholds for 2010, which identify incomes determined to meet household needs, given family size and composition. For example, a family of three with one child was below the poverty threshold if its income was less than $17,552 in 2010. | ||||||||||
| 8 Includes only children for whom information about both risk factors is available. Excludes children with missing information about parental education or poverty status. | ||||||||||
| 9 High school not completed by any parent or guardian living with the child. | ||||||||||
| 10 Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by a composite score based on parental education and occupations and household income during the child's kindergarten year. | ||||||||||
| NOTE: Estimates weighted by W8C8P_20. Estimates pertain to a sample of children who were enrolled in kindergarten for the first time in the 2010-11 school year. The same children were assessed in spring 2012 (when the majority were in first grade), spring 2013 (when the majority were in second grade), spring 2014 (when the majority were in third grade), and spring 2015 (when the majority were in fourth grade). Estimates differ from previously published figures because science scale scores were recalculated to represent the kindergarten through fourth-grade assessment item pools and because weights were adjusted to account for survey nonresponse at each data collection wave, including the latest round of data collection (spring 2015). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. | ||||||||||
| SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011), Kindergarten–Fourth Grade Restricted-Use Data File. (This table was prepared April 2018.) |
