Differential academic achievement related to preschool and expectancy for African American males: Extended analysis of the High/Scope Perry Preschool program

Unlike early gains in IQ scores of low-income, minority children that have been observed for the duration of early childhood education programs, long-term positive effects of preschool intervention have not been consistently observed. Some studies have indicated that girls have benefitted more from preschool and related family support intervention than have boys of similar socio-cultural background. The importance of the complex interaction of influence on achievement over time of a number of principal, non-cognitive factors, including parent participation and parent expectancy, has been well documented. Much less research has focused on answering questions concerning differential effects of such non-cognitive factors across the gender dimension.; Secondary data, gathered longitudinally on 123 participants of the Perry Preschool Project of the High/Scope Research Foundation in the small urban region of Ypsilanti, Michigan, were analyzed. The regression of measures of academic achievement and educational attainment, for males (n = 72) and for females (n = 51) at ages 19 and 27 on selected non-cognitive factors, including preschool experience, mother's participation in her child's early schooling, parental expectancy of academic achievement, and early teacher ratings of the children on several psychoeducational constructs was conducted.; Different selected non-cognitive single predictors and patterns of predictors of adult academic achievement and educational attainment were found to be significant for males and females. A composite factor, formed from early teacher ratings on selected psychoeducational constructs (including academic motivation, potential, and personal behavior), when added to the analyses, emerged as the only or primary significant predictor of each criterion measure across gender groups. This factor was the sole significant predictor of both overall and reading achievement scale scores at age 27 for both males and females. The difference between regression coefficients for males and females was not statistically significant.; The need for consideration of gender-specific and gender-sensitive interaction with school personnel and caregivers of Black low-income children, from the children's earliest school experiences through adolescence, was discussed. Further investigation to identify and explain the potentially differential influence of additional non-cognitive correlates on the academic achievement and educational attainment of males and females was recommended.