Robert Douglas Raos
Explaining Variations in School Readiness: The Influence of Child Demographics, Socioeconomic Characteristics, and Neighbourhoods In A Spatial Regression Model ©2006
In multiple examinations of children's readiness to learn in school attempts are made to explain variations in their early development as they enter a structured educational system in kindergarten. Both child demographics and socioeconomic characteristics have been previously shown to explain some of the variation in a child's school readiness. Seldom examined is the influence of a child's neighbours on readiness to learn. In this study, spatial regression is used to examine how the school readiness of neighbouring children can increase the explanation of variations in readiness to learn at the neighbourhood level. The influence of neighbouring children's school readiness can indicate emulation and provide a proxy measure of possible underlying neighbourhood effects.