Table 2.

Standardized school readiness outcomes by family and neighborhood poverty at kindergarten entry, in 1998 and 2010.

	All neighborhoods			Low poverty neighborhood (0–14%)			Moderate-low poverty neighborhood (14–19%)			Moderate-high poverty neighborhood (20–39%)			High poverty neighborhood (40%+)
	1998	2010	t-Stat	1998	2010	t-Stat	1998	2010	t-Stat	1998	2010	t-Stat	1998	2010	t-Stat
Reading
All	−0.03	0.04	4.44***	0.11	0.20	4.33***	−0.27	−0.05	6.50***	−0.37	−0.21	5.06***	−0.50	−0.42	1.16
≤100% FPL	−0.48	−0.38	3.53***	−0.36	−0.30	1.10	−0.52	−0.34	2.67**	−0.55	−0.42	2.96**	−0.59	−0.54	0.39
> 100% FPL	0.06	0.19	7.64***	0.16	0.28	6.72***	−0.18	0.07	6.87***	−0.25	−0.03	5.64***	−0.36	−0.20	1.98*
Math
All	0.02	0.03	3.60***	0.19	0.22	2.54	−0.22	−0.05	7.28***	−0.37	−0.29	5.55***	−0.58	−0.53	1.24
≤100% FPL	−0.47	−0.44	3.79***	−0.32	−0.33	0.46	−0.51	−0.35	3.51***	−0.57	−0.51	3.64***	−0.63	−0.64	−0.38
> 100% FPL	0.13	0.20	6.11***	0.24	0.32	5.06***	−0.13	0.07	6.78***	−0.23	−0.10	5.06***	−0.51	−0.31	2.85**
Externalizing
All	0.03	0.02	0.05	−0.04	−0.04	−0.38	0.14	0.05	−1.79	0.17	0.16	0.98	0.37	0.09	−2.78**
≤100% FPL	0.18	0.18	0.83	0.11	0.09	−0.13	0.26	0.26	0.54	0.18	0.22	1.68	0.37	0.16	−1.61
> 100% FPL	−0.01	−0.03	−1.61	−0.06	−0.07	−0.92	0.10	−0.04	−2.83**	0.17	0.12	−0.35	0.36	−0.06	−2.59**
Self-control
All	0.01	0.00	−1.11	0.10	0.07	−1.83	−0.07	−0.04	0.32	−0.21	−0.12	2.04*	−0.40	−0.15	3.07**
≤100% FPL	−0.22	−0.20	−0.33	−0.11	−0.12	−0.67	−0.22	−0.25	−1.03	−0.27	−0.23	0.27	−0.43	−0.25	1.35
> 100% FPL	0.06	0.07	0.46	0.12	0.10	−0.99	−0.02	0.04	1.26	−0.17	−0.03	2.63**	−0.36	0.05	3.54***
Approaches to learning
All	0.02	0.02	0.04	0.10	0.08	−1.73	−0.10	−0.02	2.14*	−0.18	−0.09	2.52*	−0.34	−0.12	3.18***
≤100% FPL	−0.27	−0.23	1.05	−0.20	−0.21	−0.10	−0.31	−0.27	−0.01	−0.29	−0.25	0.68	−0.39	−0.20	2.13*
> 100% FPL	0.08	0.11	1.61	0.13	0.13	−0.64	−0.04	0.09	2.87**	−0.11	0.04	3.05**	−0.26	0.05	2.51*

Note. Weighted means. The t-stat tests the difference in means across cohorts.

N = 19,200 (1998 panel), N = 15,700 (2010 panel); estimates derived from 20 multiply imputed datasets. t-Statistic derived from an OLS regression analysis with a panel indicator predicting outcome scores for (1) the full sample, (2) poor children, and (3) nonpoor children. As a reference, children learn about one standard deviation in academic skills over the course of kindergarten (Hill, Bloom, Black, & Lipsey, 2008). Thus, 0.1 SD is equivalent to about 1 month of learning. As further reference, the difference in behavioral skills between girls and boys in kindergarten is about 0.4 SD (Duncan & Magnuson, 2011).

^*p < 0.05.

^**p < 0.001.

^***p < 0.001.