This report highlights children's gains in reading and mathematics over their first 6 years of school, from the start of kindergarten to the time when most of the children are completing fifth grade. It also describes children's achievement in reading, mathematics, and science at the end of fifth grade. Comparisons are made in relation to children's sex, race/ethnicity, family characteristics (e.g., family type, poverty status, primary home language), the types of schools attended (i.e., public or private), and residential and school mobility. While all children showed progress, learning gaps persisted. Certain family background variables were found to be associated with reading and mathematics achievement, for example, poverty status and mother's highest level of education. Children living in poverty in all rounds of data collection scored lower in both reading and mathematics, on average, than students who moved into and out of poverty during the same period. Children whose mothers had not completed high school scored lower than children whose mothers had a bachelor's or higher degree. Boys were more likely than girls to score in the highest third of the distribution of mathematics achievement scores. It is the fifth in a series of reports from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99.
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