Multidomain/Multilevel contextual variables assessed at kindergartens were used as predictors. We selected representative variables, instead of an exhaustive list, based on the social determinants framework for the purpose of exploration and feasibility demonstration. Children, their families, teachers, schools and care providers provided information on children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development characteristics, as well as culture, immigration, home environment, parenting, home educational activities, school environment and quality, and neighborhood characteristics.
Child level predictors included measures on child learning, health, physical and socioemotional wellbeing, disability status, and social-process skills from direct child assessment, and parent and teacher report data. The kindergarten direct child assessment measured reading, mathematics, and science knowledge and skills, and executive function. Teachers reported on approaches to learning scale, providing information on how often their students exhibited a selected set of learning behaviors. The kindergarten questionnaires also asked teachers to indicate how often their children exhibited certain social skills and behaviors related to inhibitory control and attentional focusing. The parents-reported social scales consisted of four subscales, self-control, social interaction, sad/lonely, and impulsive/overactive behaviors. Parents also reported on approaches to learning scale. The parent interview reported on family structure, family literacy practices, parental involvement in school, care arrangements, household composition, family income, parent education level, culture/immigration, and other demographic indicators. Neighborhood level measures included measures of community support and community violence.
A complete list of predictors and their descriptions are presented in Supplement 1. Measures with less than 30% missingness were included in the predictive analysis, resulting in a total of 24 predictors. Continuous predictors were standardized to have mean 0 and variance of 1. Mean imputation was considered for missing continuous variables. An explicit class of missing was introduced for each categorical variable to maintain sample size in the predictive analysis.
Child level predictors included measures on child learning, health, physical and socioemotional wellbeing, disability status, and social-process skills from direct child assessment, and parent and teacher report data. The kindergarten direct child assessment measured reading, mathematics, and science knowledge and skills, and executive function. Teachers reported on approaches to learning scale, providing information on how often their students exhibited a selected set of learning behaviors. The kindergarten questionnaires also asked teachers to indicate how often their children exhibited certain social skills and behaviors related to inhibitory control and attentional focusing. The parents-reported social scales consisted of four subscales, self-control, social interaction, sad/lonely, and impulsive/overactive behaviors. Parents also reported on approaches to learning scale. The parent interview reported on family structure, family literacy practices, parental involvement in school, care arrangements, household composition, family income, parent education level, culture/immigration, and other demographic indicators. Neighborhood level measures included measures of community support and community violence.
A complete list of predictors and their descriptions are presented in Supplement 1. Measures with less than 30% missingness were included in the predictive analysis, resulting in a total of 24 predictors. Continuous predictors were standardized to have mean 0 and variance of 1. Mean imputation was considered for missing continuous variables. An explicit class of missing was introduced for each categorical variable to maintain sample size in the predictive analysis.
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