FAILURE OF BIRTH DATA TO PREDICT EARLY SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES AMONG INNER-CITY FIRST-GRADERS

Objectives: To determine a set of perinatal characteristics that predi ct school difficulties in inner-city children by comparing first grade rs requiring remediation with first graders progressing normally. Meth ods. In a case-control study, maternal surveys about perinatal charact eristics were completed for 74 of 90 remedial pre-first and 62 of 90 r andomly selected first graders in the Rochester, NY, City School Distr ict. Results. Pre-first graders, as compared with first graders, were more likely to have had birth weights (<2,500 g (27% versus 6%). Durin g pregnancy, their mothers were more likely to have been unemployed (7 3% versus 50%), to have received WIC (68% versus 50%), to have been co vered by Medicaid (58% versus 37%), and to have received late or no pr enatal care (9% versus 2%). Of these factors, only low birth weight wa s independently associated with remedial kindergarten placement. Concl usion. Potential risk factors, unfortunately, were fairly prevalent in both groups of inner-city children. While the remedial group was show n to be at greater risk, these findings have little utility in identif ying subsets most likely to require remediation at school entry. Becau se resources aimed at preventing the long-term consequences of early s chool failure are limited, better means of identifying educational ris k at an early age are urgently needed.