School Readiness Among Children With Varying Histories of Language Difficulties

Developmental Psychology © 2009 American Psychological Association
2009, Vol. 45, No. 2, 460 – 476 0012-1649/09/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0014324
School Readiness Among Children With Varying Histories of

Language Difficulties
Laura M. Justice Ryan P. Bowles

Ohio State University Michigan State University
Khara L. Pence Turnbull Lori E. Skibbe

University of Virginia Michigan State University
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This study tested the hypotheses that (a) persistent language difficulties during childhood would predict
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
lower school readiness and (b) language difficulties present just prior to school entry would predict lower
school readiness beyond any effects of persistence. The study involved examining indicators of school
readiness collected at kindergarten for children exhibiting various histories of language ability based on
language measures collected at 15, 24, 36, and 54 months by the National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development’s Early Child Care Research Network. Children (N ⫽ 1,064) were classified
according to whether they exhibited expressive or receptive language difficulties at each time point
measured. The relation between persistence and timing of these difficulties to each kindergarten outcome
was studied through a common factor approach for categorical outcomes. Persistence of language
difficulties was not generally related to kindergarten outcomes. However, a robust effect was found for
timing of language difficulties: Children who exhibited language difficulties at 54 months exhibited
significantly depressed performance on measures of school readiness. Findings are discussed in terms of
current policy and research concerning kindergarten readiness for children exhibiting risk.
Keywords: kindergarten readiness, school adjustment, language difficulties, language acquisition
The transition to kindergarten is an important event in the makers and school administrators, increased demands are being
developmental trajectory of young children in the United States. placed upon children to arrive at kindergarten prepared to learn.
This is particularly true in the current educational policy context This notion of preparedness is often referred to as school readiness
exemplified by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, in which (e.g., Duncan et al., 2007; La Paro, Kraft-Sayre, & Pianta, 2003;
kindergarten classrooms are increasingly defined by an explicit Pianta, Cox, & Snow, 2007), a multidimensional construct that
focus on children’s academic achievement, particularly with re- encompasses both skill-based academic competencies (e.g., read-
spect to reading (e.g., Walston & West, 2004). As the quality of ing and mathematics abilities) and social, behavioral, and self-
kindergarten instruction and its documented relations to children’s regulatory skills that enable children to socialize with peers, com-
academic achievement are placed under greater scrutiny by policy municate effectively, and engage and persist in structured and
unstructured tasks (Heaviside & Farris, 1993; Rimm-Kaufman,
Pianta, & Cox, 2000).
The theoretical construct of school readiness as defined in
Laura M. Justice, School of Teaching and Learning, College of Educa- current empirical research refers to the “minimum developmental
tion and Human Ecology, Ohio State University; Ryan P. Bowles, Depart- levels” children need to exhibit to respond adequately to the
ment of Psychology, Michigan State University; Khara L. Pence Turnbull,
demands of schooling (Lemelin et al., 2007, p. 1855; see also
Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, University of
Virginia; Lori E. Skibbe, Department of Family and Child Ecology, Mich- Duncan et al., 2007; Hair, Halle, Terry-Humen, Lavelle, &
igan State University. Calkins, 2006), which for many children may use routines and
The development of the database used in this article was supported in discourse practices for which they have not yet been socialized.
part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Although there is presently no consensus regarding how school
(NICHD). The Study of Early Child Care is directed by a steering com- readiness is best operationalized within policy discussions and
mittee and supported by NICHD through a cooperative agreement (U10) empirical research (Duncan et al., 2007; Lemelin et al., 2007),
that calls for the scientific collaboration between grantees and the NICHD research findings consistently show positive relationships between
staff. The contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the skills and behaviors children exhibit in the initial year of
NICHD, and endorsement by the federal government should not be as-
formal schooling and later academic achievement (Duncan et al.,
sumed. We extend our appreciation to Angela Beckman, who was involved
in early stages of this research.
2007; McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000; Smith, Borkowski,
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laura M. & Whitman, 2008). Conversely, underdeveloped skills at school
Justice, School of Teaching and Learning, Ohio State University, 356 Arps entry in such areas as language (Catts, Fey, Zhang, & Tomblin,
Hall, 1945 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210. E-mail: 2001), reading (O’Malley, Francis, Foorman, Fletcher, & Swank,
justice.57@osu.edu 2002), and social-behavioral competence (Caprara, Dodge, Pas-
460
SCHOOL READINESS AND LANGUAGE 461
torelli, Zelli, & The Conduct Problems Prevention Research tage. A particularly interesting finding from this literature relates
Group, 2006) serve as risk indicators for poor academic and social to the importance that timing appears to play with respect to
outcomes in the later primary grades. According to teacher report predicting ill effects from a history of early childhood language
during kindergarten, those child behaviors that most undermine difficulties, referred to as the critical age hypothesis (Bishop &
children’s readiness in kindergarten include difficulty following Adams, 1990). Specifically, several studies involving longitudinal
directions, lack of academic skills, problems working indepen- examination of outcomes among children with clinically identified
dently or as part of a group, and problems with social skills and language difficulties into the primary grades and adolescence have
communication (Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2000), whereas the accu- shown that the child who has language difficulties at the point at
mulated empirical literature indicates that academic skills (math, which these skills are needed to learn to read—that is, at about 5
reading, language) and attention at school entry are the strongest to 6 years of age—is at much greater risk for academic problems,
predictors of later school achievement (Duncan et al., 2007). particularly in reading, compared with the child whose language
In this study, we contribute to the growing literature on chil- difficulties have resolved (Bird, Bishop, & Freeman, 1995; Bishop
dren’s school readiness by studying six indicators of school readi- & Adams, 1990; Nathan et al., 2004; Stothard, Snowling, Bishop,
ness among children as a function of varying histories of language Chipchase, & Kaplan, 1998). Developmental research showing
difficulties as measured over the toddler and preschool years. The there to be a direct pathway between language ability measured
presence of language difficulties within the years of early child- just prior to school entry (at 54 months) and reading achievement
hood is one of the more well documented risk factors associated during kindergarten provides support for the critical age hypoth-
with later academic underachievement (e.g., Snow, Burns, & Grif- esis, by showing that learning to read during the kindergarten year
fin, 1998) and is often seen to be an early indicator of a child’s directly draws upon the child’s extant linguistic resources in such
later risk for reading disability (Catts, Adlof, Hogan, & Weismer, areas as vocabulary knowledge and grammatical comprehension
2005). Indeed, the conceptual rationale guiding this work is based (NICHD ECCRN, 2005; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002).
on an accumulated literature showing consistent developmental Given that preschool language difficulties are a common pre-
relations between language skills during the toddler and preschool cursor to later reading and academic problems, further consider-
years and academic performance within formal schooling, partic- ation of the role that timing may play in these relations is an
ularly in areas associated with reading achievement (e.g., Duncan important avenue for study. The critical age hypothesis suggests
et al., 2007; Nathan, Stackhouse, Goulandris, & Snowling, 2004; that persistent language difficulties during early childhood may
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network [ECCRN], 2005; have little negative impact on academic achievement if these
Pankratz, Plante, Vance, & Insalaco, 2007; Storch & Whitehurst, difficulties are resolved by the time of school entry, which has
2002). These relations are attributed largely to the developmental important implications for both theory and practice. As has been
interrelations between specific skills associated with both language well documented, there is considerable variability among children
and reading, such as phonological processing, vocabulary knowl- in their rate of language acquisition during the course of early
edge, and syntactic comprehension (e.g., Bishop & Adams, 1990; childhood (e.g., Storch & Whitehurst, 2002), and a range of
Catts et al., 2001; Nauclér & Magnusson, 1998). developmental and environmental factors are associated, both pos-
A related body of developmental research has shown children itively and negatively, with children’s language achievements.
who have a history of primary language difficulties to exhibit These include qualitative and quantitative aspects of mother– child
significantly increased risks for reading disabilities (Catts et al., relations within the home environment (e.g., Huttenlocher, Va-
2005; Catts, Fey, Tomblin, & Zhang, 2004; Nathan et al., 2004; silyeva, Cymerman, & Levine, 2002), characteristics of children’s
Skibbe et al., 2008). Children with primary language difficulties external caregiving arrangements (e.g., NICHD ECCRN, 2002,
exhibit significantly depressed language abilities relative to nor- 2003a), and common health concerns, such as chronic otitis media
mative age-based expectations in the receptive or expressive mo- (see Roberts, Rosenfeld, & Zeisel, 2004, for a review) and birth
dality. Most studies use a cutoff of the 16th percentile (⫺1 SD) or weight (e.g., Aram, Hack, Hawkins, & Weissman, 1991). Many
10th percentile (⫺1.25 SD) on a composite language measure to children show early lags in language acquisition, relative to age-
quantify a child’s language performance as significantly below based normative expectations, with perhaps as many as one in five
age-based expectations (see Tomblin et al., 1997). These difficul- 2-year-olds meeting commonly accepted criteria for late language
ties may be highly specific to a single domain of language (e.g., emergence (Zubrick, Taylor, Rice, & Slegers, 2007). Nearly half
vocabulary, syntax, phonology), or they may be diffuse. Primary of 3-year-olds with significant language difficulties (based on
language difficulties exist in the absence of significant sensory, norm-referenced measures) will resolve these difficulties within 18
neurological, or intellectual difficulties and occur more often in months, according to some estimates (La Paro, Justice, Skibbe, &
boys than in girls (Viding et al., 2003). Pianta, 2004). From a theoretical perspective, the critical age
To date, much of the research concerning academic-relevant hypothesis would suggest that the presence of even persistent
outcomes among children with a history of language difficulties difficulties in language development during early childhood may
has used variable-centered approaches that seek to identify rela- have little negative impact on reading or academic achievement if
tions between specific language and reading processes (e.g., pho- these difficulties are resolved at the point of school entry.
nological processing and word recognition; Hogan, Catts, & Little, A limitation of prior research on the critical age hypothesis,
2005) and core capacities of children that may directly interfere however, is that it has failed to effectively disentangle the effects
with later academic achievement (e.g., Catts et al., 2005). Some of persistent language difficulties from the issue of timing. Nathan
studies have taken a more person-centered approach to consider et al. (2004), for instance, presented a test of the critical age
whether there are certain groups of children with language diffi- hypothesis in a study involving 47 children with clinically identi-
culties who are at relatively greater risk for academic disadvan- fied impairments of speech or language at preschool who were
462 JUSTICE, BOWLES, PENCE TURNBULL, AND SKIBBE
assessed annually through first grade on measures of language and transient language difficulties (i.e., depressed language perfor-
reading. At first grade, 40% of the children were found to exhibit mance for 1 or several years), whereas other children will exhibit
persistent speech or language difficulties, whereas 60% had re- more persistent language difficulties (i.e., depressed language per-
solved these difficulties (identification of persistence vs. resolution formance for 4 years or longer). La Paro et al. (2004) found that
was based on the number of phonological errors in speech expres- nearly one half of 3-year-old children with language difficulties
sion). Research results showed that those in the persistent group exhibited typical language skills by 54 months of age, and some
exhibited significantly poorer outcomes on measures of language evidence suggests that those with persistent problems are more
and reading, leading the authors to conclude that persistent prob- likely to exhibit difficulties in academic and social realms than
lems present a particular risk factor for literacy problems; how- those with transient difficulties (e.g., Bird et al., 1995; Nathan et
ever, the importance of timing was not shown to be a unique al., 2004).
predictor of outcome beyond the effects of persistence. Difficulties attributable to persistent language problems include
A goal of the present study was, therefore, to determine whether relatively poor performance in early literacy skills (Bishop &
the timing of language difficulties is a significant determinant, Adams, 1990; Catts et al., 2002; Justice, Bowles, & Skibbe, 2006),
beyond any effects attributable to persistence of language difficul- narrative discourse skills (Chapman et al., 1997), social commu-
ties, when considering the relations between early childhood lan- nication abilities (Brinton & Fujiki, 2002; Brinton, Fujiki, &
guage difficulties and school readiness. The present work expands McKee, 1998), and retrieval of number sequences (Fazio, 1994).
upon the extant literature in several important ways. First, the Persistent language problems have been linked to higher incidence
critical age hypothesis has not been tested among a general pop- of reading disability (Catts et al., 2005) and poor mathematic
ulation of children who exhibit natural variation in language abil- outcomes (Fazio, 1999; Koponen, Mononen, Räsänen, & Ahonen,
ities, a population that is distinct from those studied in prior reports 2006). Social-relational difficulties are also relatively common
involving only children with clinically identified impairments in (Fujiki & Brinton, 1991; Gallagher & Craig, 1984; Rice, 1993).
language processes (e.g., Bird et al., 1995; Nathan et al., 2004). Studies of children with persistent language difficulties have
The extent to which the importance of timing of language diffi- shown them to be more easily distracted, sad, depressed, and
culties may hold developmental significance for understanding lonely relative to other children (Brinton & Fujiki, 1993) and to
relations among early language difficulties and later academic exhibit more reticent behaviors compared with typical peers (Fu-
challenges for the more general population of children is timely, jiki, Spackman, Brinton, & Hall, 2004). A lack of peer acceptance
given great interest among researchers, practitioners, and policy of children with significant language difficulties may negatively
makers in how to prevent academic difficulties and promote school affect the quantity and quality of peer social interactions for these
readiness among children at risk (e.g., Snow et al., 1998). children (Craig, 1993). On the basis of this body of evidence, we
Second, the critical age hypothesis has been examined only with hypothesized that more persistent language difficulties would be
respect to its association with reading skills, although it is plausible associated with poorer school readiness at kindergarten as mea-
that the timing of language difficulties is relevant to a broader sured across academic and social-behavioral domains.
range of readiness skills relevant to schooling success. Conse- In addition to hypothesizing about the effects of persistence, we
quently, in this work we questioned whether the critical age hypothesized that the timing of language difficulties would be
hypothesis applies only to understanding the relations among early particularly influential to predicting children’s school readiness,
language difficulties and outcomes exclusive to reading, or particularly within the reading domain. Consistent with the critical
whether its effects hold for school readiness as broadly defined to age hypothesis, we anticipated finding that presence of language
encompass early academic competencies as well as the social, difficulties just prior to school entry (at 54 months) would be
behavioral, and self-regulatory skills considered important to early associated with poorer school readiness beyond any effects attrib-
school success. This goal was addressed in the present study for a utable to a history of persistent language difficulties as identified
sample of kindergarten children who varied in history of language at 15, 24, or 36 months. As we noted previously, this hypothesis
difficulties, whereby some children had unremarkable language (Bishop & Adams, 1990) draws upon the proposed direct contri-
histories, others had persistent language difficulties (some of bution of oral language competence in the later preschool years to
which had resolved prior to school entry), and yet others had children’s early reading development, and is supported by recent
language difficulties apparent just at school entry and no time models of the direct and unique relations between preschool lan-
prior. guage abilities at 54 months and first-grade word recognition
Two hypotheses guided this work. We hypothesized, first, that (NICHD ECCRN, 2005). The timing hypothesis argues that chil-
persistent language difficulties would exert negative impacts on dren who exhibit language difficulties at the time in which these
school readiness and, second, that timing (presence of language resources are most needed to learn to read will be particularly
difficulties just prior to school entry) would exert impact beyond challenged. We explore a possible expansion of the critical age
the effects of persistence. For the first hypothesis, on the basis of hypothesis in the present work by considering whether this hy-
the accumulated literature, we anticipated showing a negative pothesis holds for readiness skills beyond those of reading, to
relationship between persistent language difficulties during early include mathematics as well as social-behavioral competence,
childhood and poorer school readiness. Persistence as measured in given the documented relations of both to language ability (e.g.,
this study represented the number of times children were identified Fazio, 1994).
as exhibiting poor performance (⬍10th percentile) on standardized To summarize, the primary aim of this research was to question
measures of expressive and receptive language ability collected at whether the timing of language difficulties is a significant deter-
15, 24, 36, and 54 months. On the basis of the extant literature, we minant, beyond any effects attributable to persistence of language
may expect that a substantial number of children will exhibit difficulties, of the relations between early childhood language
difficulties and school readiness. To address this aim, our research standard for identifying children with primary language difficulties
involved these objectives: first, to compare indicators of school (Tomblin et al., 1997).
readiness (i.e., academic competencies, social competencies, be- Consequently, in this research we use the term primary lan-
havioral problems) among groups of children exhibiting varying guage difficulties to refer to children whose standardized language
persistence of early childhood language difficulties and, second, to performance is significantly depressed (i.e., ⱕ10th percentile) at a
determine the predictive contribution of timing of language diffi- given time point but defer from using the term specific language
culties (i.e., whether problems are present just prior to school impairment, which describes children with primarily language
entry) to indicators of school readiness beyond effects attributable difficulties as defined by exclusionary–inclusionary procedures
to persistence of language difficulties. with demonstrated sensitivity and specificity (e.g., Tomblin et al.,
1997). In the present work, we used the same procedures for
Method identifying presence of language difficulties as La Paro et al.
(2004), for which 7% of the NICHD ECCRN sample (n ⫽ 98) at
National Institute of Child Health and Human 36 months met criteria for primary language difficulties according
Development (NICHD) Database to an inclusionary– exclusionary protocol that selected children

receiving a standard score of ⫺1.33 SD (of age-matched norming

Participants were part of the larger study conducted by the group) on the language comprehension or language expression
NICHD ECCRN (1993). Mothers were recruited from 10 locations subscale of standardized language assessments.
across the United States: Little Rock, Arkansas; Orange County,
California; Lawrence and Topeka, Kansas; Boston, Massachusetts;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Morganton Selection Procedures for the Present Study
and Hickory, North Carolina; Charlottesville, Virginia; Seattle,
Washington; and Madison, Wisconsin. During a pre-selected 24- A series of selection criteria were applied to identify children for
hour period of time, mothers from 31 hospitals (N ⫽ 8,986) were the present research from the 1,364 children in the NICHD
interviewed following the birth of their child to determine study ECCRN database. The first inclusionary criterion was to identify
eligibility based on the following criteria. Mothers were required children who exhibited an unremarkable developmental assess-
to be over the age of 18, to be conversant in English, and to have ment (standard score ⬎70) at a 24-month home visit based on the
no known substance abuse problems. Families were required to Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Mental Development Index;
state that they had no immediate plans to move. Finally, the target Bayley, 1969). Our intent in using this criterion was to exclude
child was required to have no identified disabilities or serious children with significant cognitive impairment, as in such cases
medical issues. From these eligible families (N ⫽ 5,416), a subset language difficulties would be considered a secondary rather than
of 1,364 families were enrolled in the study (see NICHD ECCRN, a primary condition. A total of 300 children were excluded for
1993, 1996, for additional information on study recruitment pro- further analyses, as data were not available to ascertain their
cedures). cognitive skills. Of the children who remained, all had scores
The researchers of the NICHD ECCRN have followed the study greater than 70 and were included in the present analyses.
children from birth through adolescence to model the effects of Next, the remaining 1,064 children were classified on the basis
various child care experiences on children’s developmental com- of their performance on standardized measures of receptive or
petencies (see http://secc.rti.org). The resultant public-domain da- expressive language skills collected at four ages (15 months, 24
tabase has been widely used by social scientists to document the months, 36 months, 54 months). Assessments were conducted by
unique and aggregated contributions of child care quality and a team of national examiners. Psychometric aspects of the mea-
quantity to children’s kindergarten adjustment and early academic sures are provided in Appendix A, and Figure 1 depicts the
performance (e.g., NICHD ECCRN 2002, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c, percentages of children identified at each of four time points.
2005). At 15 months, receptive and expressive language skills were
The NICHD ECCRN database has potential for researchers to measured with the percentiles derived from the vocabulary com-
study longitudinally the experiences of children with a history of prehension and production scores of the MacArthur Communica-
language difficulties, particularly for exploratory research to guide tive Development Inventory (infant form; CDI; Fenson et al.,
hypotheses on the relation between language difficulties during 1991). The CDI was completed by parent report. It contains a
early childhood and children’s later academic trajectory. Of the 396-item vocabulary checklist organized into 19 semantic catego-
more than 1,000 children in the NICHD ECCRN who have been ries (e.g., words about time, body parts). The vocabulary list is
systematically followed by researchers since birth, empirical evi- structured so that the parent can indicate which words the child
dence suggests that on the basis of epidemiological prevalence understands and which words the child understands and produces.
estimates, somewhere between 70 and 100 of these children will We identified children who scored at or below the 10th percentile
exhibit primary language difficulties (e.g., Tomblin et al., 1997). on the vocabulary comprehension or vocabulary production por-
However, it must be noted that the NICHD ECCRN data collection tion of the CDI as having language difficulties at 15 months.
procedures did not include specific exclusionary and inclusionary Although research does not support diagnosing children as young
procedures to identify primary language difficulties a priori. Thus, as 15 months with a language disorder, delay, or impairment, and
when using this database for retrospective identification of chil- such was not our intent, for this study we examined children’s
dren with language difficulties, as we do here and have done language history from the earliest assessment point (15 months)
elsewhere (La Paro et al., 2004; Skibbe et al., 2008), we must rely forward. Research provides support for the stability of individual
on post hoc procedures that do not necessarily represent the gold differences in children’s language abilities from as early as 13
Figure 1. Percentage of children identified with language difficulties at each of four time points.
months of age, using the 10th percentile cutoff on the MacArthur General Procedures
CDI (Thal, Bates, Goodman, & Jahn-Samilo, 1997).
The CDI toddler form, which was administered at 24 months, Data used in this study were collected through standardized
does not contain a measure of receptive vocabulary; rather, it assessment protocols of the NICHD ECCRN (1993). Measures
contains only a measure of vocabulary production. Therefore, we were selected by the national network of principal investigators on
identified children who scored at or below the 10th percentile on the basis of established psychometric qualities. The measures used
the vocabulary production portion of the CDI toddler form as for the present study included standardized language assessments,
having language difficulties at 24 months. The CDI toddler form a measure of household income, and indices to represent kinder-
was administered in a manner similar to that of the CDI infant garten adjustment. All data were gathered in university laboratory
form. settings and in children’s homes to characterize maternal, child,
At 36 months, receptive and expressive language skills were and demographic factors when children were 15, 24, 36, and 54
assessed with the Reynell Developmental Language Scale (RDLS; months of age, as well as through observations and assessments
Reynell, 1990). The RDLS was administered by a researcher during the fall of children’s kindergarten year when children were
during a 36-month lab visit. It is designed to test verbal compre- about 66 months of age. A full description of the laboratory
hension and expression, and is specifically tailored to detect protocols, tasks, and scoring instructions are publicly available on
changes in language development in young or developmentally the website of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth
delayed children between ages 1 and 7 years. The RDLS contains Development (http://secc.rti.org/). The key measures used in this
two 67-item scales: Verbal Comprehension and Expressive Lan- study are described here and, as will be seen, rely exclusively on
guage. Children who scored at or below the 10th percentile on the teacher report for estimating children’s skills.
Verbal Comprehension or Expressive Language portion of the Although concerns about the validity of teacher report for pro-
RDLS were identified as having language problems at 36 months. viding estimates of children’s skills and behaviors appear in the
At 54 months, receptive and expressive language skills were literature, teacher report is a common methodology in large-scale
assessed with the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3; Zimmer- developmental research requiring skill estimates for substantial
man, Steiner, & Pond, 1979). The PLS-3 is a norm-referenced, numbers of children (e.g., the National Center for Early Develop-
standardized measure that has been used to identify children with ment and Learning’s Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, the
language disorders (King et al., 2005; Skibbe et al., 2008). This joint National Center for Early Development and Learning–
measure was administered by a researcher during a 54-month National Institute for Early Education Research State-Wide Early
home visit. It contains two standardized subscales: Auditory Com- Education Programs Study, and the Twins Early Development
prehension and Expressive Communication. Standard scores have Study). A number of studies have shown that teacher report pro-
a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Children who scored vides a valid and reliable representation of child skills and behav-
at or below the 10th percentile on the Auditory Comprehension iors on such dimensions as behavioral inhibition (Bishop, Spence,
scale or the Expressive Communication scale of the PLS-3 were & McDonald, 2003), attentional processes (DuPaul et al., 1998),
identified as having language problems at 54 months. Sensitivity emergent literacy skills (Justice, Cabell, Zucker, & McGinty, in
of the PLS-3 ranged from .91 to 1.00, indicating that this measure press), and academic skills, including reading and mathematics
correctly identified the majority of children with language diffi- (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2002). A com-
culties. Specificity on this measure ranged from .60 to .72, indi- prehensive study of the psychometric characteristics of the Aca-
cating that the majority, although not all, of children with language demic Rating Scale (ARS), developed by NCES for use in the
difficulties were correctly identified. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, provides reasonable justifi-
cation for empirical use of teacher estimates of children’s aca- withdrawn syndromes. Teachers rated children’s behaviors on a
demic and social skills. Specifically, use of the Rasch model to test 3-point scale, with higher scores indicating greater problem be-
individual item functioning of all ARS items and scales resulted in haviors. Scores were summed for each child and then converted to
very high fit statistics, supporting the reliability of this measure T scores by the NICHD ECCRN. The externalizing and internal-
(NCES, 2002). Correlations between teacher ratings of child skills izing T scores were used.
on language, literacy, and mathematics with direct assessments of
these skills were also quite high (i.e., for three rounds of assess- Final Sample Characteristics and Analytical Plan
ments, r ⫽ .62, .69, and .72 for teacher ratings of language and
literacy with direct measures of reading, and r ⫽ .55, .60, and .61 Of the 1,064 children for whom information on gender was
for teacher ratings of math with direct measures of math). available, 527 were boys and 537 were girls. Race and ethnicity
Academic skills. Kindergarten teachers completed the ARS information available for these same children indicated that 5
from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study for each of the children were American Indian, 12 were Asian, 105 were African
children in this study. With this instrument, teachers were asked to American, and 891 were Caucasian (51 were reported as unspec-
rate children’s skills, knowledge, and behaviors in the fall of ified race or ethnicity). The income-to-needs ratio, a measure of
kindergarten within two areas of academic learning: Language and socioeconomic status, as assessed at the beginning of kindergarten,
Literacy (13 items) and Mathematical Thinking (28 items). Teach- was available for 905 children (M ⫽ 3.65, SD ⫽ 2.73). The
ers rated children’s skills on a 5-point scale ranging from not yet income-to-needs was calculated by dividing the poverty-line fam-
demonstrated proficiency to proficiency on questions targeting a ily income figure established by the U.S. Department of Labor (for
range of situations in which children may demonstrate similar 1991–94) for a family of the size evaluated.
skills and behaviors. Average scores were computed separately for To address our research aims, which involved comparing indi-
the Language and Literacy scale and the Mathematical Thinking cators of school readiness (i.e., academic skills, social skills,
scale by the NICHD ECCRN (see Appendix A for psychometric behavioral problems) for children with varying histories of lan-
properties). guage difficulty prior to kindergarten, we divided children into
Kindergarten teachers also completed the Academic Compe- groups according to whether they exhibited language difficulties at
tence scale of the Social Skills Rating System (teacher form; each of four time points using the criteria for receptive and
SSRS; Gresham & Eliott, 1990). The Academic Competence scale expressive language scores discussed previously at 15, 24 (expres-
of the SSRS contained nine items (Items 31–39) that measured the sive only), 36, and 54 months. Hereafter, we used the term iden-
teacher’s judgment of children’s academic learning behaviors, tified to specify whether a child exhibited language difficulties at
including reading and math performance, motivation, parental a given time point on receptive or expressive language measures.
support, and general cognitive functioning. Teachers responded to In total, seven identification points were possible for each child,
individual items on a 5-point scale that corresponded to percentage each yielding a dichotomous variable: 4 time points ⫻ 2 types of
clusters of the students in a class, where a score of 1 denoted the language except receptive language at 24 months.
lowest 10% and a score of 5 denoted the highest 10% (no infor- We determined the number (and percentage) of children who
mation was provided concerning the meaning for scale values 2, 3, were identified at each of the four time points on measures of
and 4). Scores on nine items were summed to produce a raw score expressive or receptive language. At 15 months, of the 873 chil-
and were converted to standard scores with a mean of 100 and a dren with receptive and expressive language test scores, 168 (19%)
standard deviation of 15 by the NICHD ECCRN. Standard scores and 150 (17%) were identified, respectively. At 24 months, of the
were used in this study. 1,073 children with expressive language scores, 201 (19%) were
Social skills. Teachers completed the Social Skills scale of the identified. At 36 months, of the 1,017 children with receptive
SSRS (Gresham & Eliott, 1990), which rates children’s social language scores, 104 (10%) were identified, and of the 998 chil-
competence during kindergarten in three areas: Cooperation, As- dren with expressive language scores, 81 (8%) were identified. At
sertion, and Self-Control. Cooperation describes behaviors such as 54 months, of the 936 children with receptive language scores, 160
paying attention to the teacher and putting materials away prop- (17%) were identified, and of the 930 with expressive language
erly. Assertion describes children’s behaviors that demonstrate scores, 153 (16%) were identified. As these figures show, the
initiative, such as starting conversations with peers, introducing percentage of children identified across these time points ranged
self to others, and volunteering to assist with classroom tasks. from 8% (expressive scores at 36 months) to 19% (receptive scores
Self-Control describes behaviors such as a child’s response to at 15 months). This variability is consistent with figures available
teasing or peer pressure, receiving criticism, and management of in epidemiological reports on the prevalence and incidence of
temper. The NICHD ECCRN created a total score for Social Skills language difficulties as measured at various ages (e.g., Zubrick et
by summing scores on Items 1–30 and then calculated a standard- al., 2007). Concerning the number of times each child was iden-
ized score. Standard scores with a mean of 100 and a standard tified according to receptive or expressive language scores, 362
deviation of 15 were used in this study. children (52%) were never identified, 199 (29%) children were
Behavioral problems. Kindergarten teachers reported on chil- identified at one time point, 92 (13%) children were identified at
dren’s externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors in the fall two time points, and 12 (2%) children were identified at all four
of kindergarten using the Teacher Report Form (Achenbach, time points on receptive or expressive language measures. Table 1
1991). Externalizing problem behaviors include overt, repetitive provides historical information on the children identified with
behaviors that detract from learning, such as noncompliance, ag- language difficulties at 54 months, indicating that 8.5% had also
gression, and oppositional behaviors. Internalizing problem behav- been identified at 15 months, 7.2% at 24 months, and 11% at 36
iors include somatic complaints, anxiousness or depression, and months. These numbers indicate that many children identified with
Table 1 our timing measure. In essence, the timing variables reflect how
Number (and Percentage) of Children Identified With Language much more or how much less likely a child is to display language
Difficulties at 54 Months and at Other Time Points difficulties at school entry than at other childhood measurement
occasions. Our analytical approach was analogous to entering
54 months persistence into the sequential regression first, followed by a
Time point Not identified Identified second regression step in which the two timing variables were
entered as predictors in addition to persistence. We considered
15 months changes in predictive power from adding the timing variables (akin
Identified 105 (15.1) 59 (8.5)
to ⌬R2, a typical measure in sequential regression). In reality, we
Not identified 437 (62.7) 105 (15.1)
24 months included both persistence and timing in a single step, but because
Identified 78 (11.2) 50 (7.2) the timing variables were residuals, this is equivalent to a sequen-
Not identified 577 (82.8) 143 (20.5) tial regression approach. Thus, we considered the effect of timing
36 months only as it predicted kindergarten outcomes beyond the impact of
Identified 38 (5.5) 78 (11.2)
Not identified 645 (9.3) 127 (18.2) persistence.

The path diagram used for the analysis appears in Figure 2. As

shown in this figure, we used a single latent factor reflecting
language difficulties at 54 months had not been previously iden- persistence (middle circle) to specify a child’s overall tendency to
tified. be identified with language difficulties across the four time points,
Table 2 and Table 3 provide descriptive statistics on kindergar- with up to seven positive identifications possible. Higher levels of
ten measures for children identified and not identified on receptive persistence were associated with a greater likelihood of being
and expressive measures, respectively, at each test point. To ex- identified with language difficulties on each indicator. The hori-
amine how children’s history of language difficulties prior to zontal row of observed measures (Rec15, Exp15, etc.) in Figure 2
school entry was related to kindergarten outcomes, we employed a shows that each of these seven dichotomous assessments served as
regression approach predicting each of the kindergarten outcomes independent indicators of persistence. Examination of alternative
from common factors with categorical outcomes as implemented models in which we excluded the two 15-month indicators, or
in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2006). Because the statistical model excluded both 15-month and 24-month indicators, yielded similar
is complex, we first provide a conceptual description of our ap- results, so we included all possible identification points in our
proach and then provide technical details. current presentation of results. Each indicator was associated with
Conceptually, we used a sequential regression approach, with a latent normally distributed identification propensity, dichoto-
each of the six kindergarten outcomes as criterion variables. We mized according to a threshold ␶. The identification propensities
considered three predictors: persistence of language difficulties were then used as the indicators of the persistence factor, with
and two timing variables, expressive and receptive language dif- associated factor loadings and uniquenesses. (Bartholomew,
ficulty at school entry. We defined persistence as the average or Steele, Moustaki, and Galbraith, 2002, provide a more detailed
overall tendency throughout early childhood for a child to be introduction to factor analysis of categorical outcomes.) For the
identified with language difficulties. We defined the timing vari- present purposes, factor loadings were constrained to a value of
ables as the child’s tendency to exhibit language difficulties at one for all indicators, so that persistence was defined as the typical
school entry beyond the persistent tendency, analogous to regress- or average tendency to be identified as having language difficul-
ing language difficulties at school entry on the persistence of ties. Examination of two alternatives to this approach (i.e., through
language difficulties and using the residual from the regression as the use of free factor loadings, and equal loadings within receptive
Table 2
School Readiness Indicators for Children With a History of Receptive Language Difficulties
15 months 36 months 54 months
Measure ⬍10th percentile ⬎10th percentile ⬍10th percentile ⬎10th percentile ⬍10th percentile ⬎10th percentile
ARS
Language and literacy 3.0 (0.93) 3.2 (0.93) 2.4ⴱ (0.94) 3.2 (0.90) 2.4ⴱ (0.87) 3.2 (0.89)
Mathematical thinking 3.0 (0.88) 3.2 (0.89) 2.4ⴱ (0.91) 3.2 (0.86) 2.4ⴱ (0.82) 3.2 (0.85)
SSRS
Academic competence 99.5 (11.21) 100.7 (10.58) 90.8ⴱ (12.36) 100.8 (10.30) 91.9ⴱ (11.39) 101.3 (10.15)
Social skills 104.0 (13.35) 105.4 (13.37) 98.3ⴱ (14.57) 105.4 (12.98) 98.8ⴱ (14.10) 105.7 (12.90)
TRF
Externalizing behavior 49.6 (8.81) 49.0 (8.61) 52.5ⴱ (9.89) 49.0 (8.41) 52.4ⴱ (9.27) 48.7 (8.35)
Internalizing behavior 46.7 (9.85) 46.3 (8.57) 48.2 (9.76) 46.3 (8.66) 47.3 (8.85) 46.2 (8.70)
Note. Standard deviations are given in parentheses. For Academic Rating Scale (ARS), raw scores are provided (Language and Literacy: M ⫽ 3.19, SD ⫽
0.91; Mathematical Thinking: M ⫽ 3.16, SD ⫽ 0.88); for Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), standard scores are based on M ⫽ 100, SD ⫽ 15; for Teacher
Report Form (TRF), T scores are provided (Externalizing Behavior: M ⫽ 48.89, SD ⫽ 8.52; Internalizing Behavior: M ⫽ 46.24, SD ⫽ 8.55).
ⴱ
p ⬍ .0083 (as based on Bonferroni corrected alpha).
Table 3
School Readiness Indicators for Children With a History of Expressive Language Difficulties
15 months 24 months 36 months 54 months
⬍10th ⬎10th ⬍10th ⬎10th ⬍10th ⬎10th ⬍10th ⬎10th

Measure percentile percentile percentile percentile percentile percentile percentile percentile
ARS
Language and literacy 3.0 (0.93) 3.2 (0.93) 2.9ⴱ (0.91) 3.2 (0.93) 2.3ⴱ (0.93) 3.2 (0.91) 2.5ⴱ (0.94) 3.2 (0.89)
Mathematical thinking 3.0 (0.92) 3.2 (0.89) 2.9 (0.86) 3.1 (0.89) 2.4ⴱ (0.95) 3.2 (0.87) 2.6ⴱ (0.95) 3.2 (0.84)
SSRS
Academic competence 98.9 (10.33) 100.8 (10.76) 96.5ⴱ (10.26) 100.7 (10.83) 91.5ⴱ (11.57) 100.6 (10.55) 93.0ⴱ (10.64) 101.1 (10.45)
Social skills 106.1 (13.63) 104.9 (13.31) 103.2 (12.51) 104.9 (13.39) 98.1ⴱ (13.64) 105.4 (13.16) 99.5ⴱ (13.13) 105.6 (13.18)
TRF
Externalizing behavior 48.2 (8.15) 49.3 (8.74) 49.5 (8.62) 49.2 (8.57) 51.3 (9.47) 49.2 (8.51) 50.4 (8.91) 49.1 (8.52)
Internalizing behavior 46.1 (9.38) 46.5 (8.70) 47.1 (9.04) 46.3 (8.59) 47.2 (9.59) 46.3 (8.73) 47.3 (8.49) 46.2 (8.74)
Note. Standard deviations are given in parentheses. For Academic Rating Scale (ARS), raw scores are provided (Language and Literacy: M ⫽ 3.19, SD ⫽
0.91; Mathematical Thinking: M ⫽ 3.16, SD ⫽ 0.88); for the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), standard scores are provided (M ⫽ 100, SD ⫽ 15); for
Teacher Report Form (TRF), T scores are provided (Externalizing Behavior: M ⫽ 48.89, SD ⫽ 8.52; Internalizing Behavior: M ⫽ 46.24, SD ⫽ 8.55).
ⴱ
p ⬍ .0083 (as based on Bonferroni corrected alpha).
and expressive but different across language type) yielded quali- dently. Therefore, we report only results from the primary concep-
tatively identical results. Response thresholds, reflecting the gen- tualization. However, when considering the issue of timing—that
eral population likelihood to be identified with language difficul- is, presence at school entry—we modeled effects for receptive and
ties, were constrained to be equal for all indicators; allowing expressive language difficulties as separate indicators to determine
differences across language type yielded no effect on the results. whether difficulties in one or the other modality are more detri-
Two additional latent constructs are present in this model, mental when considering schooling outcomes (e.g., Bishop &
namely, presence of language difficulties at school entry consid- Edmundson, 1987).
ered separately for receptive and expressive language (School
Entry Rec and School Entry Exp, respectively). These constructs
Results
reflect the residual tendency for children to exhibit language
difficulties at 54 months independent of persistence. With this School Readiness and Persistence of
model, we determined whether presence of language difficulties Language Difficulties
just prior to school entry (i.e., at 54 months) was related to
kindergarten readiness when controlling for persistence, as a par- In our initial analyses, we conducted two one-way analyses of
ticularly stringent test of the critical age hypothesis. As shown in variance to compare children’s performance on the six kindergar-
Figure 2, the three latent constructs were set as predictors for six ten readiness measures based on history of receptive language
kindergarten outcomes (language and literacy, academic compe- difficulties at three time points (see Table 2) and expressive
tence, math, social skills, internalizing behaviors, externalizing language difficulties at four time points (see Table 3). To control
behaviors). The script for this model is presented in Appendix B. for Type I error for multiple comparisons, we used a Bonferroni
In our analyses, we modeled several alternative conceptualiza- adjusted alpha of .0083 (.05/6). As shown in Table 2, children who
tions of how children’s history of language difficulties during had exhibited receptive language difficulties at 15 months per-
childhood was associated with school readiness at kindergarten. formed similarly to those with typical language skills at this age on
First, we considered history of language difficulties using expres- all six kindergarten measures (all ps ⬎.0083). A different trend
sive language measures only, yielding four indicators of persis- was apparent for the children at 36 months and 54 months. Spe-
tence (one for each time point) and one factor for presence at cifically, children with receptive language difficulties at 36 months
school entry. Second, we considered history of language difficul- performed significantly lower on five of the six kindergarten
ties using receptive language measures only, yielding three indi- measures compared with those with typical language skills:
cators of persistence (one for each time point except 24 months, for Language and Literacy, F(1, 851) ⫽ 54.70, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .86;
which no measure of receptive language was available) and one Mathematical Thinking, F(1, 848) ⫽ 53.64, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .84;
factor for presence at school entry. Third, in our most stringent Academic Competence, F(1, 856) ⫽ 62.93, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽
model, we considered history of language difficulties using mea- .87; Social Skills, F(1, 846) ⫽ 20.40, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .52; and
sures of both expressive and receptive language performance at all Externalizing Behavior, F(1, 857) ⫽ 11.26, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .38.
time points simultaneously; this approach yielded four indicators Effect size estimates were consistent with large effects for the
of persistence (one for each time point) and a single general factor academic domains (language, literacy, math) and small to
for presence at school entry. (For 24 months, we used only the medium-sized effects for social and behavioral indicators. The
expressive measure.) When we considered children’s history of same pattern was present at 54 months: Children with receptive
language difficulties (i.e., persistence), results and conclusions for language problems at 54 months performed significantly lower
all these alternatives were similar to those that occurred with expres- than those with typical language skills on kindergarten measures of
sive and receptive language problems treated separately and indepen- Language and Literacy, F(1, 843) ⫽ 105.23, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽.96;
LangLit AcadComp Math SocSkills IntBeh ExtBeh
Persistence School School

Entry Rec Entry Exp
IP IP IP IP IP IP IP
τ τ τ τ τ τ τ
Rec15 Exp15 Exp24 Rec36 Exp36 Rec54 Exp54
Figure 2. Path diagram for analysis of effect of persistence of language problems and presence of language
difficulties at school entry on kindergarten adjustment outcomes. LangLit ⫽ Language and Literacy subscale of the
Academic Rating Scale; AcadComp ⫽ Academic Competence subscale of the Social Skills Rating System; Math ⫽
Mathematical Thinking subscale of the Academic Rating Scale; SocSkills ⫽ Social Skills subscale of the Social Skills
Rating System; IntBeh ⫽ Internalizing Behaviors subscale of the Teacher Report Form; ExtBeh ⫽ Externalizing
Behaviors subscale of the Teacher Report Form; Rec15 ⫽ receptive identification on the MacArthur Communicative
Development Inventory (infant form); Exp15 ⫽ expressive identification on the MacArthur Communicative Devel-
opment Inventory (infant form); Exp24 ⫽ expressive identification on the MacArthur Communicative Development
Inventory (toddler form); Rec36 ⫽ receptive identification on the Reynell Developmental Language Scale; Exp36 ⫽
expressive identification on the Reynell Developmental Language Scale; Rec54 ⫽ receptive identification on the
Preschool Language Scale-3; Exp54 ⫽ expressive identification on the Preschool Language Scale-3; School Entry
Rec ⫽ receptive language difficulty at school entry; School Entry Exp ⫽ expressive language difficulty at school
entry; IP ⫽ latent identification propensity (see Muthén & Muthén, 2006); ␶ ⫽ response threshold for identification,
set equal for all indicators. All factor loadings were set equal to 1.
Mathematical Thinking, F(1, 840) ⫽ 100.56, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .95; .75; Mathematical Thinking, F(1, 833) ⫽ 58.94, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .70;
Academic Competence, F(1, 849) ⫽ 94.10, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ Academic Competence, F(1, 844) ⫽ 63.96, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .76; and
.87; Social Skills, F(1, 839) ⫽ 30.86, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .51; and Social Skills, F(1, 833) ⫽ 22.66, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .46. As shown,
Externalizing Behavior, F(1, 850) ⫽ 21.25, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .42. effect sizes were consistently in the magnitude of medium to large.
Again, effect size estimates are large for academic domains and Findings discussed thus far indicate that presence of language
moderate in size for the social-behavioral indicators. difficulties in the receptive or expressive domain in the years just
As shown in Table 3, which represents school readiness indi- prior to kindergarten is associated with significant differences in
cators for children with a history of expressive language problems, some aspects of kindergarten readiness but not in others. Differ-
there were no significant differences between groups at 15 months ences are apparent primarily in the preacademic domains of lan-
(all ps ⬎ .0083). At 24 months, children with language difficulties guage, literacy, and mathematics as well as social skills, although
performed significantly lower than children with typical language differences in externalizing behaviors are present when comparing
skills on kindergarten measures of Language and Literacy, F(1, children with a history of receptive language difficulties at 36 and
802) ⫽ 10.92, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .33, and Academic Competence, F(1, 54 months.
808) ⫽ 15.09, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .40. At 36 months, children with
language difficulties performed significantly lower on four of six Timing as a Unique Predictor of School Readiness
kindergarten measures than children without language problems: Lan-
guage and Literacy, F(1, 836) ⫽ 44.68, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .91; Mathe- To address the main research question driving this study, which
matical Thinking, F(1, 833) ⫽ 35.73, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .79; Academic concerned the potentially differential impacts of timing of lan-
Competence, F(1, 839) ⫽ 38.63, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ .82; and Social Skills, guage difficulties versus persistence of language difficulties, the
F(1, 829) ⫽ 15.27, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽.54. At 54 months, children with six kindergarten measures were each predicted by three latent
language difficulties performed significantly lower on the same factors: persistence of language problems (reflecting an overall
four kindergarten measures than children with typical language tendency to be identified with language difficulties across multiple
skills: Language and Literacy, F(1, 836) ⫽ 63.98, p ⬍ .001, d ⫽ assessment time points); presence of receptive language difficul-
ties at school entry; and presence of expressive language difficul- expressive language difficulties at school entry for five of the six
ties at school entry. Before presenting findings pursuant to this outcomes.
question, we emphasize several points that may be useful in their
interpretation. The first point is that the two factors concerning Discussion
presence at school entry (i.e., timing) are residual tendencies: these
reflect the tendency to exhibit language difficulties at 54 months The purpose of this study was to investigate indicators of school
beyond the overall tendency to exhibit persistent language diffi- readiness at kindergarten for children with varying histories of
culties. Thus, when persistence and timing have shared predictive early childhood language difficulties, in view of the unique con-
value, all prediction is assigned to the persistence factor, and tributions of both persistence and timing. Our primary intent was
prediction based on timing is considered only after accounting for to consider whether the critical age hypothesis was tenable when
persistence. Second, because timing based on expressive language applied to a general population of children who exhibit natural
difficulties and timing based on receptive language difficulties are variation in language abilities (rather than focus on exclusively
measured in the same way, the size of the regression coefficients clinical populations, as in prior research on this hypothesis) and
can be directly compared. However, numerical values of the re- whether this issue of timing is relevant to a broad range of school
gression coefficients for all three predictors (persistence, presence readiness indicators relevant to schooling success. We proposed
at school entry for receptive language, and presence at school entry two a priori hypotheses: first, that persistence of early childhood
for expressive language) are difficult to interpret, so we point to language difficulties would be negatively associated with indica-
the effect sizes from the descriptive results to aid in understanding tors of school readiness and, second, that timing of language
the role of the significant predictors. difficulties would also exhibit these negative associations beyond
Estimated regression coefficients are presented in Table 4, and those of persistence.
results show that all six measures of kindergarten readiness had the Regarding the first hypothesis, the results of this study were
same pattern of predictor significance, in that they were not sig- contradictory to our expectations, in that persistence of language
nificantly associated with persistence of language difficulties. Al- difficulties was not significantly associated with children’s aca-
though there was a trend toward significance for persistence when demic, social, or behavioral competencies at kindergarten. Al-
considering the social skills outcome, this trend was not observed though the data considered in this research showed that measures
in any of the alternative analyses previously referenced, and thus of school readiness across nearly all dimensions were significantly
it should be interpreted with strong caution. In contrast, timing was lower for children who exhibited depressed language performance
a significant predictor of school readiness. Specifically, presence at specific points of time (e.g., measures of kindergarten mathe-
of receptive language difficulties at school entry was a significant matics skill differed by about one standard deviation for 36-month-
predictor for five outcome measures (language and literacy, math- old children with and without expressive language difficulties),
ematical thinking, academic competence, social skills, and exter- greater levels of persistent language difficulties did not serve as a
nalizing behaviors), whereas presence of expressive language dif- unique predictor of kindergarten outcomes. Regarding the second
ficulties at school entry was a significant predictor for four hypothesis, the results of the study supported our expectation, with
outcomes (language and literacy, mathematical thinking, academic presence of receptive or expressive language difficulties just prior
competence, and social skills). Findings show that the timing of to school entry serving as a significant predictor for most of the
receptive language difficulties served as a stronger predictor than kindergarten outcomes, with the exception of internalizing behav-
iors (the outcomes of which could not be predicted from any of our
predictor variables). Moreover, presence of receptive language
Table 4 difficulties just prior to school entry was a stronger predictor than
Effects of Persistence and Timing of Language Difficulties on presence of expressive language difficulties, a finding converging
Measures of School Readiness: Regression Coefficients with prior research showing a positive relation between young
children’s receptive language abilities in particular and later read-
Timing (presence at ing outcomes (Fewell & Deutscher, 2002; Sénéchal & LeFevre,
school entry)
2002).
Receptive Expressive The null finding concerning persistence of language difficulties
Outcome variable Persistence difficulties difficulties as a predictor of school readiness was surprising given consistent
evidence about the relations among preschool language abilities
Language and literacy 0.13 ⫺0.30a ⫺0.19a
Mathematical thinking 0.19 ⫺0.31a ⫺0.18a
and children’s subsequent academic success, particularly in the
Academic competence 1.07 ⫺2.95a ⫺2.21a area of reading (Catts et al., 2002; NICHD ECCRN, 2005; Snowl-
Social skills 3.64 ⫺3.17a ⫺2.66a ing, Bishop, & Stothard, 2000; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Con-
Externalizing behaviors ⫺1.59 1.98a 0.33 versely, studies have also shown that children with primary lan-
Internalizing behaviors ⫺0.37 0.40 0.46 guage difficulties are at particular risk for difficulties in a range of
Note. Language and Literacy ⫽ Language and Literacy subscale of the academic domains (Bird et al., 1995; Catts et al., 2002), and it
Academic Rating Scale (ARS); Mathematical Thinking ⫽ Mathematical seems reasonable to expect that persistent language difficulties
Thinking subscale of the ARS; Academic Competence ⫽ Academic Com- would be predictive of poorer school readiness. Nonetheless, in the
petence subscale of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS); Social present study, our question regarding persistence of language
Skills ⫽ Social Skills subscale of the SSRS; Externalizing Behaviors ⫽
Externalizing Behaviors subscale of the Teacher Report Form (TRF);
difficulties and school readiness was tested quite differently than
Internalizing Behaviors ⫽ Internalizing Behaviors subscale of the TRF. in prior reports showing positive relations between language skills
a
Significance at ␣ ⫽ .05. during early childhood and readiness-related outcomes (e.g.,
Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Specifically, we examined the linear in other areas of developmental science showing there to be
relations between the number of times a child was identified as nonlinear relations between histories of marginal behavioral diffi-
having language difficulties and the child’s performance on indi- culties and the emergence of serious aggression in youth (see
cators of school readiness. Given our unexpected finding, we Caprara, Dodge, Pastorelli, & Zelli, 2008).
consider here several possible explanations for the null finding that Regarding our second finding about the timing of language
warrant exploration. difficulties, results of this study demonstrated that the presence of
First, given the degree to which calculations of the percentage of language difficulties at school entry was a particularly important
children exhibiting language problems fluctuated across time factor for predicting poorer school readiness, such that children
points in the present sample (i.e., from 10.2% to 19.2% of the who exhibited language difficulties at 54 months demonstrated
sample for receptive language and from 8.1% to 19.8% of the more difficulty with academic, social, and behavioral aspects of
sample for expressive language), it is possible that the measures kindergarten than other children. Only on measures of internaliz-
used in this study were insufficiently specific and sensitive for ing behavior did children with 54-month language difficulties
identifying language difficulties. Because we were using an extant show no significant differences from their peers; on the contrary,
research database, we were unable to implement any concurrent they were rated less highly by their teachers on indicators of
tests of the validity of the approach used to identifying language language skill, literacy skill, mathematics skill, social skill, and
difficulties. Second, it is also possible that a number of children in externalizing behavior in the classroom. This finding provides
this study exhibited mild language difficulties (i.e., around the 10th additional support to Bishop and colleagues’ (Bishop & Adams,
percentile), whereas others exhibited more serious difficulties. 1990; Bishop & Edmundson, 1987) critical age hypothesis, which
Many studies showing deleterious effects of persistent language contends that presence of significant language difficulties in the
difficulties to academic outcomes have involved children with year just prior to the advent of formal schooling is most problem-
documented disorders of language, which may represent more atic to children’s academic learning and achievement. The present
severe cases of language difficulty compared with those of many study extends our understanding of the critical age hypothesis
children in our sample (e.g., Bird et al., 1995; Catts et al., 2002; beyond clinically defined samples of children with speech and
Nathan et al., 2005). It is possible that mild language difficulties language disorders, and indicates that within a general population
pose no risk to children’s school readiness, as is suggested by the of children, having well-developed language skills at school entry
present findings. The use of person-centered subgroup analysis in is a critical determinant of school success. This finding is an
future research on this topic may find that the positive outcomes of important complement to recent research showing a direct pathway
children with a history of mild language difficulties masks poten- between oral language skills at 54 months and reading outcomes in
tially negative readiness skills of children with more severe lan- kindergarten and first grade (NICHD ECCRN, 2005); children
guage difficulties. In this regard, it is important to note that the who exhibit even mild language difficulties at the 54-month time
persistence construct used in this study is different from a severity point are at risk for poorer school readiness compared with their
construct, and that we did not study severity of language difficul- same-age peers.
ties during early childhood as a potential influence on school An interesting finding in the present work was the extension of
readiness. Although it seems plausible that severity and persistence the critical age hypothesis to include risk for academic outcomes
would overlap, it is also true that many children may persistently beyond those of reading. Although the link between language
exhibit subtle or mild difficulties in language ability. abilities and later reading abilities has been established for some
As a third explanation, it is also plausible to consider that the time (e.g., Aram & Nation, 1980; Catts et al., 2002; NICHD
findings presented here support Scarborough’s (2002) points about ECCRN, 2005), the current findings suggest that language diffi-
the nonlinear nature of language development during early child- culties at school entry compromise other kindergarten academic
hood, whereby children exhibit spurts and plateaus in their lan- competencies, including mathematics. Previous work supports the
guage development. Scarborough commented specifically on cases prevalence of comorbidity for language and mathematics difficul-
of children who may have substantial impairments of language but ties (e.g., Jordan, Hanich, & Kaplan, 2003) and identifies children
who, by virtue of the nonlinear nature of language development, with language difficulties to be at particular risk for problems with
may exhibit periods of “illusory recovery” when their language mathematic achievement across the elementary grades (Fazio,
abilities appear similar to those of peers. This proposal can be 1999; Koponen et al., 2006). These accounts suggest that children
considered in conjunction with other reports showing that learning who have difficulties comprehending language are likely to have
to read is a developmental activity that is particularly taxing to difficulty with mathematics problems that require verbal reasoning
children’s language abilities given its metalinguistic demands and with interpreting and extracting verbal information from math-
(e.g., Justice et al., 2006; Skibbe et al., 2008). If this is the case, ematical problems (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2002; Geary, 2000; Jordan &
persistence of language difficulties would not necessarily be a Montani, 1997). The present study showed that difficulties in
reliable measure of a child’s future academic risks, whereas pres- mathematics abilities in the kindergarten year can be anticipated
ence of language difficulties at the time point when language skills when children exhibit language difficulties at 54 months. This
are particularly taxed in the act of learning to read would be a result is particularly relevant in light of Duncan et al.’s (2007)
strong indicator of risk. In this regard, the relationship between the recent meta-analysis of six school readiness indicators, which
persistence of early language difficulties and future academic found children’s math abilities at school entry to be among the
performance would not be linear but rather nonlinear, in that risks strongest predictors of later academic achievement in both math
associated with language difficulties are amplified if those diffi- and reading.
culties are present at a particular point in time. Our findings, if Several additional findings about the issue of timing warrant
interpreted by this conceptual framework, converge with findings note. First, presence of language difficulties at school entry was
shown to be predictive of children’s social competencies in kin- direct measures of children’s skills rather than relying solely on the
dergarten, a finding converging with previous research indicating teacher report measures would have strengthened our methodol-
that children with language difficulties have problems engaging in ogy, although it is important to note that the teachers in this study
socially competent interactions with others (e.g., Craig, 1993). had no knowledge of children’s performance on any of the stan-
Given that successful social interactions require many underlying dardized language measures. Consequently, teachers’ reports were
cognitive competencies (Dodge, Pettit, McClaskey, & Brown, made in absence of any knowledge of whether children had per-
1986), including language (Dale, 1996), it is no surprise that formed poorly on standardized measures of language historically
children with language difficulties struggle when navigating their or contemporaneously. Nonetheless, future investigations of the
social environments. Second, study results showed that presence of relations among children’s history of language difficulties and
language difficulties at school entry was related to children’s future school readiness using a different set of measures, including
externalizing behavior in kindergarten, although this finding was direct assessments of children’s skills, are needed to ensure the
specific to children whose language difficulties at school entry validity of the present results.
were in the receptive rather than the expressive domain. Previous Second, the inclusionary and exclusionary criteria used to iden-
research indicates that kindergarten teachers report substantial tify children with language difficulties were constrained by the
proportions of their students to exhibit externalizing behavior extant data set and by the lack of an agreed-upon approach for a
problems. For example, of a sample of 325 children, 20% were priori identification of children with language difficulties when
rated by their teachers as having moderate externalizing problems applied to extant databases. It is important to recognize that the
in kindergarten and first grade (Pianta & Caldwell, 1990; see also children in this study were identified retrospectively as having
Powell, Fixsen, & Dunlap, 2003). The current study suggests that language difficulties on the basis of applying a single cutoff to
these problems may be particularly exacerbated among children standardized test scores. It is unknown whether these children
with receptive language difficulties, an issue warranting future would have been identified as having language difficulties under
consideration. other criteria (e.g., spontaneous language sampling) or by individ-
Third, one area in which presence of language difficulties at uals skilled in language diagnostics. Likewise, it is possible that if
school entry did not demonstrate a significant association was different language assessments had been used or if these measures
internalizing behaviors. Although research documents that chil- had been applied at different time points in children’s develop-
dren with language difficulties demonstrate problems in this area ment, we would have had different findings. In short, the sensi-
(e.g., Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999; Redmond & Rice, tivity and specificity of our identification approach cannot be
1998), the teacher report form used in this study was designed to determined; for this reason the present findings should be gener-
identify clinically significant behavior problems and may not be a alized with caution and warrant replication.
reliable measure for nonclinical samples. Third, given the nature of the extant data set, we were unable to
As a final comment on our findings, we point out that the determine whether children with language difficulties had received
present results lend support to recent research concerning the any speech and language services prior to or during kindergarten.
outcomes for children who show late language emergence (some- Receipt of specialized services may have moderated children’s
times called late talkers). The scientific literature shows that a outcomes, yet this possibility could not be determined with the
relatively substantial number of toddlers (perhaps as many as 20%) extant NICHD ECCRN database, as special education services
exhibit late language emergence (Zubrick et al., 2007) but that the were not detailed. In addition, it is possible that children who were
majority of these children (50% to 75%) are best considered as late identified with language difficulties at earlier ages were more
bloomers who will have no adverse effects from these early delays likely to receive specialized services designed to minimize the
(Weismer, Murray-Branch, & Miller, 1994; Rescorla, 2002; Thal, impact of language problems on the academic and social outcomes
Tobias, & Morrison, 1991). Findings from the present study con- investigated in the current study. We are unable to determine
verge with such reports to show no reliable association between whether those children who resolved their language difficulties
exhibiting a language difficulty at 15 months in either the receptive before 54 months did so over the normal course of development or
or the expressive modality and poorer school readiness at kinder- through the assistance of special services.
garten. Consequently, it seems likely that many of the children
who were below the 10th percentile on language measures at 15 Concluding Comments
months went on to resolve their language difficulties and succeed
in the academic milieu. The present findings are theoretically important for considering
the relations between early language difficulties and later school-
Limitations ing success and make a unique contribution to the extant literature
by identifying the particular importance of timing of these diffi-
There are several limitations of the present study that warrant culties. Complementing previous research that has shown direct
discussion, some of which have been highlighted previously. First, pathways between language skills at 54 months and reading
like any study that uses an extant database, the measures available achievement in the years shortly thereafter (NICHD ECCRN,
to our research team were not necessarily selected for the purposes 2005), we asked whether this time point has special developmental
we had in mind. For instance, the Teacher Report Form was used significance, as is proposed by the critical age hypothesis. When
as a measure of behavioral problems, although a more accurate and children learn to read, they must use not only code-based skills,
objective measure of behavioral problems might have been ob- like alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness, but also
tained through an observational protocol, as Caulfield, Fischel, meaning-based skills that largely draw upon children’s capacities
DeBaryshe, and Whitehurst (1989) have suggested. Also, using with language (e.g., vocabulary, grammar; Storch & Whitehurst,
2002). Our findings show that the time point just prior to kinder- Brinton, B., & Fujiki, M. (1993). Language, social skills, and socioemo-
garten entry is, indeed, a critical one and that children’s language tional behavior. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 24,
abilities as measured at 54 months are a critical determinant of 194 –198.
their school readiness, defined not only by reading but also by Brinton, B., & Fujiki, M. (2002). Social development in children with
mathematics and social-behavioral competence. We propose that specific language impairment and profound hearing loss. In P. K. Smith
& C. H. Hart (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social develop-
language difficulties that persist throughout early childhood do not
ment (pp. 588 – 603). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
necessarily pose risks to children’s ability to succeed in school; Brinton, B., Fujiki, M., & McKee, L. (1998). Negotiation skills of children
however, if these difficulties are present at the time children must with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and
draw upon linguistic resources to learn to read, engage in mathe- Hearing Research, 41, 927–940.
matical reasoning, and navigate the social realm of the kindergar- Caprara, G. V., Dodge, K. A., Pastorelli, C., & Zelli, A. (2008). How
ten classroom, then language difficulties present a substantial risk marginal deviations sometimes grow into serious aggression. Child
to schooling success. Development Perspectives, 1(1), 33–39.
The results of this work also have practical appeal, as they point Caprara, G. V., Dodge, K. A., Pastorelli, C., Zelli, A., & The Conduct
to a need for increased attention to sensitive and specific identifi- Problems Prevention Research Group. (2006). Effect of marginal devi-
ations on behavioral development and social judgment. European Psy-

cation of language difficulties at school entry and the monitoring

of children’s language trajectory over time. Our examination of chologist, 11, 79 – 89.
Catts, H., Adlof, S., Hogan, T., & Weismer, S. E. (2005). Are specific
children’s performance on standardized language assessments at
language impairment and dyslexia distinct disorders? Journal of Speech,
15, 24, 36, and 54 months shows that relatively few children
Language, and Hearing Research, 48, 1378 –1396.
performed poorly at all time points (i.e., had persistent problems) Catts, H., Fey, M., Tomblin, J. B., & Zhang, Z. (2002). A longitudinal
but that a relatively large number of children were identified only investigation of reading outcomes in children with language impair-
one or two times, indicating that children may experience spurts ments. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 1142–
and plateaus in their language development. Scarborough (2002) 1157.
suggests that for nonlinear growth trajectories, such as those ap- Catts, H., Fey, M., Zhang, Z., & Tomblin, J. B. (2001). Estimating the risk
plicable to language development, significant difficulties are most of future reading difficulties in kindergarten children: A research-based
readily detectable during periods when normal development un- model and its clinical implementation. Language, Speech, and Hearing
dergoes a spurt or when “that skill is normally ascendant” (p. 106), Services in Schools, 32, 38 –50.
as is the case when children must draw on their language abilities Caulfield, M. B., Fischel, J. E., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Whitehurst, G. J.
in the act of reading. For children who have significant difficulties (1989). Behavioral correlates of developmental expressive language
disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17, 187–200.
with language, school entry may therefore represent a crucial time
Chapman, S. B., Watkins, R., Gustafson, C., Moore, S., Levin, H. S., &
point for identifying those who will need additional supports to
Kufera, J. A. (1997). Narrative discourse in children with closed head
succeed academically. injury, children with language impairment, and typically developing
children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 6, 66 –75.
Craig, H. K. (1993). Social skills of children with specific language
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Appendix A
Psychometric Properties of Language Difficulty Identification Measures and Outcome Measures

Measure Psychometric properties Reference
MacArthur For internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha for Infant Vocabulary http://secc.rti.org/instdoc
Communicative Comprehension ⫽ .95, Infant Vocabulary Production ⫽ .96, .doc
Development and Toddler Vocabulary Production ⫽ .96. For test–retest
Inventory (CDI; reliability, 500 parents completed a second inventory within 6
infant and toddler weeks, and the Pearson correlation coefficient for the CDI
forms) infant form was in the .8–.9 range for Infant Vocabulary
Comprehension and Infant Vocabulary Production and
exceeded .9 for the CDI/Toddler Vocabulary Production. For
predictive validity, Vocabulary Production scores on the CDI
infant form (from children between 10 and 16 months of age)
were correlated with the CDI toddler form (from children

between 16 and 25 months of age) at .69 (n ⫽ 217).

Reynell Developmental For internal consistency, reliability for Verbal Comprehension ⫽ http://secc.rti.org/instdoc
Language Scale .93 and Expressive Language ⫽ .86. For interscale .doc
(RDLS) correlations, the correlation between the Verbal
Comprehension scale and the Expressive Language scale is
.76. The RDLS also demonstrates adequate concurrent validity
(e.g., between the Expressive Language scale and the Illinois
Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities subscales, r ⫽ .44–.74) and
predictive validity (e.g., between the Expressive Language
scale at 4 years and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children Verbal scale at 7 years, r ⫽ .67).
Preschool Language The internal consistency of the PLS-3 was established using http://harcourtassessment
Scale-3 (PLS-3) Cronbach’s coefficient alpha and ranged from .47 to .99 for .com/hai/Images/
Auditory Comprehension and from .68 to .91 for Expressive resource/techrpts/
Communication. Test–retest reliabilities range from .82 to .91 pls3–4.html
for children ages 3 years to 3 years and 5 months, from .90 to
.94 for children ages 4 years to 4 years and 5 months, and
from .89 to .94 for children ages 5 years to 5 years and 11
months. Concurrent validity has been established with the
Bayley Scales of Infant Development–Second Edition and the
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Preschool.
Academic Rating Scale Reliability obtained by the National Institute of Child Health and http://nces.ed.gov/
Human Development for the Language and Literacy scale is pubs2001/
.87 and for the Mathematical Thinking scale is .92. Additional 2001029rev_1_4.pdf
psychometric properties are reported in National Center for
Education Statistics (2001).
Social Skills Rating Kindergarten teacher ratings of children correlated .92, .86, .91, http://secc.rti.org/
System (SSRS) .94, and .95 for Cooperation, Assertion, Self-Control, Total Phase2InstrumentDoc
Social Competence, and Academic Competence, respectively. .pdf
The SSRS has been found to be highly correlated with other
measures, including the Social Behavior Assessment and the
Child Behavior Checklist.
Teacher Report Form The TRF is a highly reliable and internally consistent measure. http://secc.rti.org/
(TRF) There also exist extensive data on the predictive validity of Phase2InstrumentDoc
the TRF for clinically referred children. .pdf
(Appendixes continue)
Appendix B
Mplus Script for Path Diagram in Figure 1
VARIABLE: langlit ON persist exp54 rec54;

CATEGORICAL ⫽ exp15 exp24 exp36 exp54 rec15 rec36 math ON persist exp54 rec54;
rec54; [exp15$1] (2);
MISSING ⫽; [exp24$1] (2);
ANALYSIS: [exp36$1] (2);
TYPE ⫽ MEANSTRUCTURE MISSING; [exp54$1] (2);
ITERATIONS ⫽ 1000000; [rec15$1] (2);
PARAMETERIZATION ⫽ THETA; [rec36$1] (2);
MODEL: [rec54$1] (2);
persist BY exp15@1 exp24@1 exp36@1 exp54@1 rec15@1 [persist@0];

rec36@1 rec54@1; persist;

internal ON persist exp54 rec54;
external ON persist exp54 rec54; Received May 23, 2007
socialsk ON persist exp54 rec54; Revision received June 13, 2008
acadcomp ON persist exp54 rec54; Accepted August 26, 2008 䡲
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School Readiness Among Children With Varying Histories of Language Difficulties

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School Readiness Among Children With Varying Histories of Language Difficulties

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Developmental Psychology © 2009 American Psychological Association

2009, Vol. 45, No. 2, 460 – 476 0012-1649/09/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0014324

School Readiness Among Children With Varying Histories of

Laura M. Justice Ryan P. Bowles

Khara L. Pence Turnbull Lori E. Skibbe

Keywords: kindergarten readiness, school adjustment, language difficulties, language acquisition

Development (NICHD) Database to an inclusionary– exclusionary protocol that selected children

receiving a standard score of ⫺1.33 SD (of age-matched norming

Not identified 645 (9.3) 127 (18.2) persistence.

The path diagram used for the analysis appears in Figure 2. As

15 months 36 months 54 months

15 months 24 months 36 months 54 months

⬍10th ⬎10th ⬍10th ⬎10th ⬍10th ⬎10th ⬍10th ⬎10th

LangLit AcadComp Math SocSkills IntBeh ExtBeh

Persistence School School

Rec15 Exp15 Exp24 Rec36 Exp36 Rec54 Exp54

ations on behavioral development and social judgment. European Psy-

cation of language difficulties at school entry and the monitoring

O’Brien, M. (1997). The prevalence of specific language impairment in

kindergarten children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Re-

Psychometric Properties of Language Difficulty Identification Measures and Outcome Measures

were correlated with the CDI toddler form (from children

between 16 and 25 months of age) at .69 (n ⫽ 217).

Mplus Script for Path Diagram in Figure 1

VARIABLE: langlit ON persist exp54 rec54;

persist BY exp15@1 exp24@1 exp36@1 exp54@1 rec15@1 [persist@0];

rec36@1 rec54@1; persist;

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