The present study aims to examine the influence of early science experiences in kindergarten on children’s growth in science performance in elementary grades. The data for this study came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K). A model illustrating the relationships between the early learning experiences and later academic performance in science was developed using the opportunity-propensity framework and the model was tested using the latent growth curve modeling technique. Results indicated that the antecedent (gender and socio economic status) and propensity (aptitude and motivation) variables predicted children’s science performance. However, the science learning opportunities in kindergarten did not predict children’s growth in science performance from third grade to eighth grade.

Keywords: Early childhood, science education, structural equation modeling, elementary schools, longitudinal studies