Profiles of Low School Readiness Among At-Risk Preschoolers and their Correlates in Kindergarten and Grade 1

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Reference

*Mavungu-Blouin C, Letarte MJ, Laurent A, Lemelin JP, Garon-Carrier G. (2025). Profiles of Low School Readiness Among At-Risk Preschoolers and their Correlates in Kindergarten and Grade 1. Journal of Research in Childhood Education.

Abstract

School readiness is a key early-life factor enabling children’s well-being and school adjustment across their life course. School readiness is a multidimensional concept that includes socioemotional (e.g., social skills, behaviors) and cognitive (e.g., pre-academic, language) skills. In the past decade, school readiness has been increasingly studied with a person-centered approach. This approach identifies subgroups or profiles of children with similar patterns of strengths and weaknesses in multiple indicators of school readiness. In this study, a latent profile analysis was conducted to identify profiles of school readiness among 300 French-Canadian preschoolers who are at risk of low school readiness. We also determined how they differed on their social and academic adjustment in kindergarten and Grade 1. Four profiles of school readiness were identified: Language Strength (20%), Ready for School (20%), Generalized Difficulties (40%), and Low Cognitive (21%) skills. These profiles significantly differed in their social adjustment, cognitive learning skills, and academic achievement in mathematics and in language arts. The Low Cognitive profile generally presents more difficulties than other profiles on all outcomes. This study highlights the strengths and vulnerabilities of preschoolers that should be targeted in early interventions, depending on the child’s specific profile of school readiness.

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