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.