Economically Disadvantaged Preschoolers: Ready to Learn but Further to Go

Cognitive competencies and motivation were assessed in 233 preschool and kindergarten children in the fall and again in the spring. Cognitive assessments were given again in the spring of the following year (kindergarten or 1st grade) to a subsample of 88 children. The results revealed much poorer performance among the economically disadvantaged children compared with advantaged children on all 8 of the cognitive tests. For most cognitive measures, gains were roughly equal and the socioeconomic status (SES) differences at the end of 1 or 2 years in school were similar to the differences at the beginning of the year. Only a few SES differences were found on the motivation measures assessing children's self-confidence, attitude toward school, expectations for success, dependency, and preference for challenge; they did not systematically favor either disadvantaged or advantaged children. Classroom observations revealed some differences in disadvantaged and advantaged children's classroom behavior.