Understanding how childrenʹs engagement and teachersʹ interactions combine to predict school readiness

This study examined the quality of preschool classroom experiences through the combination of childrenʹs individual patterns of engagement and teachersʹ classroom-level interactions in predicting childrenʹs gains in school readiness. A sample of 605 children and 309 teachers participated. The quality of childrenʹs engagement and teacher interactions was directly observed in the classroom, and direct assessments of childrenʹs school readiness skills were obtained in the fall and again in the spring. Latent profile analysis was used to examine childrenʹs patterns of engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks. Childrenʹs engagement and the quality of teacher interactions were associated with gains in school readiness skills. The effect of childrenʹs individual classroom engagement on their expressive vocabulary was moderated by classroom-level teacher interactions. The results suggest that when teachers engage in highly responsive interactions across the children in their classrooms, children may develop more equitable school readiness skills regardless of their individual engagement patterns.