The potential utility of an opportunity-propensity framework for understanding individual and group differences in developmental outcomes: A retrospective progress report

Abstract

The present paper explores the potential utility of Opportunity-Propensity (O-P) frameworks for explaining multiple developmental outcomes such as individual and group differences in the development of academic skills, language skills, and social skills. To illustrate the approach, the author summarizes the historical development of the O-P framework and describes several of the most important findings related to academic skills. It is argued that some of these findings, if verified in RCTs, challenge the assumptions of policymakers and could provide an explanation as to why so many educational reforms have not been successful in closing the achievement gap. The concluding section focuses on describing next steps in theory development that could eventually lead to the creation of intervention strategies that could be more likely to be successful than prior attempts, and provides suggestions for further research to (a) identify additional predictors of achievement, (b) develop more precise assessments of constructs, (c) more fully explore the mechanisms by which variables such as socio-economic status have their effects, and (d) develop O-P analyses of other developmental outcomes.