Factors pertaining to a child’s home environment, such as income, can impact learning outcomes. One outcome that has been found to be affected by a child’s family income is reading ability. Previous literature suggests that children's ability to read in primary school is linked to cognitive development and their academic trajectory, making it important to study factors that impact early reading achievement. Various aspects of a child’s classroom environment, such as student-teacher relationships and teacher support, have been positively linked to reading ability and might serve as a buffer for children from low-income environments. These findings suggest that additional factors may influence the relation between income and reading achievement. However, it is unclear how classroom quality moderates the relationship between income and reading achievement, particularly in underrepresented populations. This study examined whether instructional support moderates the relation between income and reading achievement among a socioeconomically diverse sample of African-American kindergarteners. It was hypothesized that instructional support would moderate the relation between income and reading achievement, such that classrooms with high instructional support will increase reading achievement for children from low-income backgrounds. Results of the research can suggest ways educators can effectively support reading achievement for children from all backgrounds.
