Early identification of young children at risk for poor academic achievement: preliminary development of a parent-report prediction tool

BACKGROUND Early school success is clearly related to later health. A prediction index that uses parent report to assess children's risk for poor academic achievement could potentially direct targeted service delivery to improve child outcomes. METHODS We obtained risk factors through literature review and used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Child Files to examine the predictive associations of these factors with academic achievement scores. RESULTS Twenty predictors were identified including four strong predictors (maternal education, child gender, family income, and low birth weight). Significantly, 12 predictors explained 17-24% of score variance. CONCLUSIONS Parent-reported factors provide predictive accuracy for academic achievement.