OISE research links kindergarten school readiness to math achievement through Grade 9

Children’s developmental readiness in kindergarten can predict their math achievement years later, according to new OISE-involved research that followed more than 25,000 Ontario students through Grade 9.

Published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, the study was led by Dr. Fatemeh Ameli, a Canadian Postdoctoral Research Award Fellow and sessional lecturer at OISE. The research was conducted as part of Ameli’s doctoral dissertation at OISE, under the supervision of Professor Scott Davies, and was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Co-authors include Dr. Magdalena Janus and Eric Duku of the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University. 

As one of the first studies of its kind in Ontario, the researchers used a unique, province-wide dataset to examine five dimensions of children’s school readiness in kindergarten—physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge—and linked them to math achievement in Grades 3, 6 and 9. 

“This study has strong public relevance because it uses large-scale longitudinal Ontario data to examine how children’s developmental readiness in kindergarten predicts math achievement through Grade 9,” said Ameli, who earned her PhD from OISE’s Department of Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education in 2025.

Language and cognitive readiness emerged as the strongest and most consistent predictor of later math achievement. Physical well-being and social competence were also associated with later math outcomes in key analyses, highlighting the importance of considering school readiness more broadly than early academic skills alone. 

Children who were less developmentally ready in kindergarten tended to have lower math scores beginning in Grade 3, and these differences largely persisted into Grade 9. Although the gaps between children who were on track and not on track in language and cognitive readiness narrowed slightly over time, they did not disappear. 

The study extends previous Canadian research by following the relationship between kindergarten readiness and academic achievement beyond the elementary years and into high school, an important contribution given the limited availability of long-term longitudinal education data in Canada. 

“Early readiness can predict later achievement, but it does not determine a child’s future,” Ameli said. “Our findings highlight the importance of supporting children’s development early and taking a holistic approach that considers cognitive, social and physical readiness.”

The researchers say the findings highlight the potential value of early, universal supports that address multiple dimensions of children’s development. 

Read more about the research

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Sim Kapoor, 
Director, Office of Advancement, Communications, and External Relations
sim.kapoor@utoronto.ca 
oiseut.communications@utoronto.ca