Kindergarten oral language skill: A key variable in the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status |
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| Authors: | Rachel E. Durham George Farkas Carol Scheffner Hammer J. Bruce Tomblin Hugh W. Catts |
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| Affiliation: | aDepartment of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, USA;bDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Pennsylvania State University, USA;cDepartment of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Iowa, USA;dDepartment of Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders, University of Kansas, USA;eCenter for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University, USA |
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| Abstract: | In this paper we test whether oral language development during the preschool years helps explain the positive relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children's elementary school performance. In particular, we test for the portion of the SES effect on 2nd to 4th grade reading, 3rd to 4th grade mathematics, and overall teacher-rated performance that is explained by oral language ability measured when kindergarten begins. We analyze a unique data set containing unusually comprehensive measures of kindergarten oral language ability. The data are for white Midwestern children and their families. Estimation via structural equation modeling shows that oral language skill at kindergarten entry explains most of the effect of SES on elementary school performance. Since other studies have shown that elementary school performance strongly determines later educational attainment, much of the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status occurs when the child is very young. |
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| Keywords: | Kindergarten oral language ability Socioeconomic status Educational achievement Socialization |
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