Classroom Age Composition and the School Readiness of 3- and 4-Year-Olds in the Head Start Program. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ansari, Arya; Purtell, Kelly; Gershoff, Elizabeth
• Is Part Of: Psychological science. Volume 27:Number 1(2016:Jan.)
• Page Start: 53
• Page End: 63
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: classroom age composition -- FACES 2009 -- Head Start -- peer effects -- school readiness; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797615610882
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0956-7976

Abstract

The federal Head Start program, designed to improve the school readiness of children from low-income families, often serves 3- and 4-year-olds in the same classrooms. Given the developmental differences between 3- and 4-year-olds, it is unknown whether educating them together in the same classrooms benefits one group, both, or neither. Using data from the Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 cohort, this study used a peer-effects framework to examine the associations between mixed-age classrooms and the school readiness of a nationally representative sample of newly enrolled 3-year-olds ( n = 1, 644) and 4-year-olds ( n = 1, 185) in the Head Start program. Results revealed that 4-year-olds displayed fewer gains in academic skills during the preschool year when they were enrolled in classrooms with more 3-year-olds; effect sizes corresponded to 4 to 5 months of academic development. In contrast, classroom age composition was not consistently associated with 3-year-olds' school readiness.