Fine motor skills and early comprehension of the world: Two new school readiness indicators.

Duncan et al. (2007) presented a new methodology for identifying kindergarten readiness factors and quantifying their importance by determining which of children's developing skills measured around kindergarten entrance would predict later reading and math achievement. This article extends Duncan et al.'s work to identify kindergarten readiness factors with 6 longitudinal data sets. Their results identified kindergarten math and reading readiness and attention as the primary long-term predictors but found no effects from social skills or internalizing and externalizing behavior. We incorporated motor skills measures from 3 of the data sets and found that fine motor skills are an additional strong predictor of later achievement. Using one of the data sets, we also predicted later science scores and incorporated an additional early test of general knowledge of the social and physical world as a predictor. We found that the test of general knowledge was by far the strongest predictor of science and reading and also contributed significantly to predicting later math, making the content of this test another important kindergarten readiness indicator. Together, attention, fine motor skills, and general knowledge are much stronger overall predictors of later math, reading, and science scores than early math and reading scores alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School readiness and later achievement: Replication and extension using a nationwide Canadian survey.

In this article we replicate and extend findings from Duncan et al. (2007). The 1st study used Canada-wide data on 1,521 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to examine the influence of kindergarten literacy and math skills, mother-reported attention, and mother-reported socioemotional behaviors on 3rd-grade math and reading outcomes. Similar to Duncan et al., (a) math skills were the strongest predictor of later achievement, (b) literacy and attention skills predicted later achievement, and (c) socioemotional behaviors did not significantly predict later school achievement. As part of extending the findings, we incorporated a multiple imputation approach to handle missing predictor variable data. Results paralleled those from the original study in that kindergarten math skills and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised scores continued to predict later achievement. However, we also found that kindergarten socioemotional behaviors, specifically hyperactivity/impulsivity, prosocial behavior, and anxiety/depression, were significant predictors of 3rd-grade math and reading. In the 2nd study, we used data from the NLSCY and the Montreal Longitudinal-Experimental Preschool Study (MLEPS), which was included in Duncan et al., to extend previous findings by examining the influence of kindergarten achievement, attention, and socioemotional behaviors on 3rd-grade socioemotional outcomes. Both NLSCY and MLEPS findings indicated that kindergarten math significantly predicted socioemotional behaviors. There were also a number of significant relationships between early and later socioemotional behaviors. Findings support the importance of socioemotional behaviors both as predictors of later school success and as indicators of school success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of cognitive skills and gains in academic school readiness for children from low-income families.

This study examined developmental associations between growth in domain-general cognitive processes (working memory and attention control) and growth in domain-specific skills (emergent literacy and numeracy) across the prekindergarten year and their relative contributions to kindergarten reading and math achievement. One hundred sixty-four Head Start children (44% African American or Latino; 57% female) were followed longitudinally. Path analyses revealed that working memory and attention control predicted growth in emergent literacy and numeracy skills during the prekindergarten year and that growth in these domain-general cognitive skills made unique contributions to the prediction of kindergarten math and reading achievement, controlling for growth in domain-specific skills. These findings extend research highlighting the importance of working memory and attention control for academic learning, demonstrating the effects in early childhood, prior to school entry. Implications of these findings for prekindergarten programs are discussed, particularly those designed to reduce the school readiness gaps associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The value of reanalysis and replication: Introduction to special section.

In their 2007 article in this journal, Duncan et al. examined 6 longitudinal data sets to gauge the links between 3 key elements of readiness at school entry (academic, attention, and socioemotional skills) and later achievement. Across all 6 data sets, the strongest predictors of later achievement were school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. Social skills and internalizing and externalizing behavior did not predict subsequent achievement, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and were not moderated by socioeconomic status. The 5 articles in this section reconsider the original findings and reanalyze the data involved. Overall, the thrust of these articles confirms the original article. The articles in this section, however, do offer some new insights. In general, the articles find somewhat more support for socioemotional factors, especially for prosocial skills, but the relationships involved are very small. Perhaps the most striking new finding is the added emphasis on fine motor skills, which is the focus of 2 articles. Taken together, the articles reveal the value of reanalysis and replication in developmental psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer exclusion and victimization: Processes that mediate the relation between peer group rejection and children's classroom engagement and achievement?

Longitudinal data from a study of kindergarten through 5th graders were used to estimate a structural model in which chronic peer exclusion and chronic peer abuse were hypothesized to mediate the link between children's early peer rejection, later classroom engagement, and achievement. Peer exclusion and abuse were expected to predict changes in 2 forms of school engagement (classroom participation and school avoidance), and changes in both forms of engagement were expected to predict changes in achievement. The model fit the data well and lent support to the premise that distinct forms of peer maltreatment and classroom engagement mediate the link between early peer rejection and changes in children's achievement. Early peer rejection was associated with declining classroom participation and increasing school avoidance, but different forms of chronic peer maltreatment mediated these relations. Whereas chronic peer exclusion principally mediated the link between peer rejection and classroom participation, chronic peer abuse primarily mediated the link between rejection and school avoidance. Children's reduced classroom participation, more than gains in school avoidance, anteceded decrements in children's achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"School readiness and later achievement": Correction to Duncan et al. (2007).

Reports an error in "School readiness and later achievement" by Greg J. Duncan, Chantelle J. Dowsett, Amy Claessens, Katherine Magnuson, Aletha C. Huston, Pamela Klebanov, Linda S. Pagani, Leon Feinstein, Mimi Engel, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Holly Sexton, Kathryn Duckworth and Crista Japel (Developmental Psychology, 2007[Nov], Vol 43[6], 1428-1446). The DOI for the supplemental materials was printed incorrectly. The correct DOI is as follows: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428.supp. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-16709-012.) Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contribution of children’s self-regulation and classroom quality to children’s adaptive behaviors in the kindergarten classroom.

In this study, the authors examined the extent to which children’s self-regulation upon kindergarten entrance and classroom quality in kindergarten contributed to children’s adaptive classroom behavior. Children’s self-regulation was assessed using a direct assessment upon entrance into kindergarten. Classroom quality was measured on the basis of multiple classroom observations during the kindergarten year. Children’s adaptive classroom behavior in kindergarten was assessed through teacher report and classroom observations: Teachers rated children’s cognitive and behavioral self-control and work habits during the spring of the kindergarten year; observers rated children’s engagement and measured off-task behavior at 2-month intervals from November to May. Hierarchical linear models revealed that children’s self-regulation upon school entry in a direct assessment related to teachers’ report of behavioral self-control, cognitive self-control, and work habits in the spring of the kindergarten year. Classroom quality, particularly teachers’ effective classroom management, was linked to children’s greater behavioral and cognitive self-control, children’s higher behavioral engagement, and less time spent off-task in the classroom. Classroom quality did not moderate the relation between children’s self-regulation upon school entry and children’s adaptive classroom behaviors in kindergarten. The discussion considers the implications of classroom management for supporting children’s early development of behavioral skills that are important in school settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early behavioral associations of achievement trajectories.

Duncan et al. (2007) examined associations between early behavioral and cognitive skills with later achievement. These associations were examined in 6 different data sets and results converged to suggest that early behavioral competences or problems had little, if any, prediction to later achievement and that attentional competences had small positive relations with later achievement. In contrast, cognitive abilities were by far the strongest predictors of achievement. We provide and investigate potential reasons why Duncan et al. found little to no association between behavior and later achievement in a reanalysis of data from 3 studies previously analyzed by Duncan et al. Potential reasons include the validity of the behavioral measures, treatment of the behavioral measures as continuous as opposed to categorical, and the choice of data analytic method. In this article, we discuss these issues at greater length and address them in our reanalysis. We also bring into question the nature of the relationship between behavior and achievement. Generally, our reanalysis supports the idea that attention measures are more predictive than behavioral measures; however, certain behavior measures showed small to moderate associations to concurrent levels of academic achievement and changes in academic achievement through elementary school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher-student support, effortful engagement, and achievement: A 3-year longitudinal study.

Measures of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), effortful engagement, and achievement in reading and math were collected once each year for 3 consecutive years, beginning when participants were in 1st grade, for a sample of 671 (53.1% male) academically at-risk children attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. In separate latent variable structural equation models, the authors tested the hypothesized model, in which Year 2 effortful engagement mediated the association between Year 1 TSRQ and Year 3 reading and math skills. Conduct engagement was entered as a covariate in these analyses to disentangle the effects of effortful engagement and conduct engagement. Reciprocal effects of effortful engagement on TSRQ and of achievement on effortful engagement were also modeled. Results generally supported the hypothesized model. Year 1 variables had a direct effect on Year 3 variables, above year-to-year stability. Findings suggest that achievement, effortful engagement, and TSRQ form part of a dynamic system of influences in the early grades, such that intervening at any point in this nexus may alter children's school trajectories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting reading and mathematics achievement in fourth-grade children from kindergarten readiness scores.

This study examined age and gender differences in verbal skills and visuomotor skills at kindergarten, in achievement in reading and mathematics at Grade 4, and in the link between skills at kindergarten and later achievement (n?=?281). Older children had higher verbal skills and visuomotor skills than younger children, and girls had higher visuomotor skills and reading achievement than boys. With controls for age, verbal skills uniquely predicted later reading achievement, whereas both verbal skills and visuomotor skills uniquely predicted later mathematics achievement. Readiness in the specific areas of auditory memory and verbal associations predicted later reading achievement, whereas readiness in the specific areas of auditory memory, number skills, and visual discrimination predicted later mathematics achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurodevelopmental investigation of academic achievement: A report of Years 1 and 2 of a longitudinal study.

Investigated the neuropsychological and cognitive basis of early achievement among 105 kindergartners (mean age 5 yrs 6 mo) to determine the stability of this relation over a 2-yr period. Portions of the Reitan–Indiana Neuropsychological Test Battery and the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities were used to predict readiness skills in kindergarten (Year 1) and later achievement in 1st grade (Year 2). MANOVA revealed that (a) neuropsychological and intellectual function was related to early achievement; (b) multiple correlations were similar for the Reitan–Indiana and McCarthy variables with kindergarten readiness skills (Year 1); (c) multiple correlations were higher for the Reitan subtests than they were for the McCarthy for Spelling, Reading, Total Reading, and Total Mathematics achievement for 1st grade (Year 2); (d) the Reitan and McCarthy subtests showed similar accuracy for discriminating high, average, and low readers in 1st grade; and (e) specific predictor variables were relatively stable across 2 yrs of development. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kindergarten competencies as predictors of third-grade classroom behavior and achievement.

To investigate the relationships between preschool competencies and later academic functioning, multiple regression analyses were conducted using kindergarten intellectual, academic, and social variables (Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Wide Range Achievement Test, teacher ratings of academic readiness, and the Sells Teacher Rating Scale of Peer Relations) to predict 3rd-grade classroom behavior and achievement. A random sample (n?=?50) of 184 3rd-grade children evaluated during the 1973–1974 kindergarten year and a 2nd sample (n?=?49) with additional Time 1 social and background variables were included. Ss were observed in classrooms and administered achievement tests during the 1976–1977 school year. Results indicate that kindergarten social and academic competencies typically entered as optimal predictors of later achievement-related behaviors and achievement. A social competence measure of initiative was a particularly successful predictor of achievement. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of student-teacher and parent-teacher relationships on lower achieving readers' engagement and achievement in the primary grades.

Participants were 443 (52.6% male, 47.4% female) ethnically diverse, 1st-grade, lower achieving readers attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, the authors tested a theoretical model positing that (a) the quality of teachers' relationships with students and their parents mediates the associations between children's background characteristics and teacher-rated classroom engagement and that (b) child classroom engagement, in turn, mediates the associations between student-teacher and parent-teacher relatedness and child achievement the following year. The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data. African American children and their parents, relative to Hispanic and Caucasian children and their parents, had less supportive relationships with teachers. These differences in relatedness may be implicated in African American children's lower achievement trajectories in the early grades. Implications of these findings for teacher preparation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School readiness and later achievement.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 44(1) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2007-19851-023). The DOI for the supplemental materials was printed incorrectly. The correct DOI is as follows: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428.supp.] Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent-school involvement and school performance: Mediated pathways among socioeconomically comparable African American and Euro-American families.

Children's academic and social competencies were examined as mediators to explain the often positive relation between parent-school involvement and achievement. Ethnic variations in the relation between parent-school involvement and early achievement and the mediated pathways were examined. Because much of the comparative research confounds ethnicity with socioeconomic status, the relations were examined among socioeconomically comparable samples of African American and Euro-American kindergarten children and their mothers. For reading achievement, academic skills mediated the relation between involvement and achievement for African Americans and Euro-Americans. For math achievement, the underlying process differed across ethnic groups. For African Americans, academic skills mediated the relation between school involvement and math performance. For Euro-Americans, social competence mediated the impact of home involvement on school achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictive value of teachers' ratings of young children.

Assessed the relation of teachers' ratings of young children's abilities, classroom skills, and personal-social characteristics to achievement (Wide Range Achievement Test) in school. Teachers' ratings of 217 children were obtained in the fall and spring of kindergarten and again in 2nd and 3rd grades. By the end of the 3rd grade, 146 children remained in the sample. A total of 63 teachers participated. Predictive validity of the ratings was high for both concurrent and subsequent achievement by the children. The sum of 4 ratings (Effective Learning, Retaining Information, Vocabulary, and Following Instructions) predicted achievement nearly as well as the entire battery of ratings. Average ratings were consistently higher for girls than for boys. Ratings made by mothers were less predictive of scholastic success than ratings made by teachers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advancing Achievement Goal Theory: Using Goal Structures and Goal Orientations to Predict Students' Motivation, Cognition, and Achievement.

The objective of this study was to investigate how different components of achievement goal theory were related to each other and to students' motivation, cognitive engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Junior high school students (N=525) completed a self-report survey that assessed their perceived classroom goal structures; personal goal orientations: and a collection of outcomes that included persistence, procrastination, choice, their use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and mathematics grade. Results indicate that mastery structure and mastery orientation were related to adaptive outcomes in all areas. The patterns of relations for performance-approach goal structure, and for performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations were less uniform across outcomes. Implications for achievement goal theory and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

WISC, Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, and Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test performance of Spanish-American kindergarten and first-grade school children.

Tested 84 kindergarten and 1st grade anglo-americans, spanish-american "monolinguals," and spanish-american "bilinguals," matched on school achievement, with the wisc, illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities, and bender visual motor gestalt test. Specific cognitive deficits which might account for the poor school performance of spanish-american schoolchildren were examined. Expected global differences were found, but in 10 of 18 subtests there were no group differences. Results suggest that spanish-american children are deficient on the input side of communicative skills, especially in understanding sentences and pictures. Bilingualism per se did not appear to be as important a variable as is commonly assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological, family, and peer predictors of academic outcomes in first- through fifth-grade children.

This study tested a model that posited that 3 diverse sets of academic outcomes (memory, verbal, and nonverbal aptitudes [N?=?521]; passing proficiency tests in reading and mathematics [N?=?122]; and end-of-year ratings of verbal and mathematical skills by teachers [N?=?159]) for 1st- through 5th-grade children were uniquely determined by psychological (verbal and visual-motor "school readiness" skills at kindergarten, cognitive self-control, and academic self-competence), family (behavioral involvement of an adult family member in the child's schooling), and peer (the average academic performance of members of one's peer group) factors. Verbal readiness skills were uniquely linked to 5 of the 7 academic outcomes. An outcome-specific view of what sets of factors are linked to academic performance was favored in that, of the 5 predictors, only school readiness accounted for unique portions of the variance in aptitudes; only school readiness and cognitive self-control accounted for unique portions of the variance in whether proficiency tests were passed; and only school readiness, cognitive self-control, and the academic performance of one's peer group accounted for unique portions of the variance in end-of-year ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social competence of Latino kindergartners and growth in mathematical understanding.

We know that social competence contributes to young children's adaptation to, and cognitive learning within, classroom settings. Yet initial evidence is mixed on the social competencies that Latino children bring to kindergarten and the extent to which these skills advance cognitive growth. Building from ecocultural and developmental-risk theory, this paper shows children's social competence to be adaptive to the normative expectations and cognitive requirements of culturally bounded settings in both the home and classroom. Latino socialization in the home may yield social competencies that teachers value rather than reflect “risk factors” that constrain children's school readiness. We draw on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, kindergarten cohort (N = 19,590) to detail 5 social competencies at entry to school—self-control, interpersonal skills, approaches to learning, internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors—and to examine variability among Latino subgroups. We then test the extent to which baseline variation in social competence accounts for children's cognitive growth during the kindergarten year. We find that Latino children from poor, but not middle-class, families display weaker social competencies vis-à-vis White children (all relationships p ≤ .05). Social competence levels contribute to Latino children's cognitive growth, which is shaped most strongly by positive approaches to learning. The disparities in competencies observed for Latino children from poor families, relative to White children, are significant yet much smaller than gaps in baseline levels of mathematical understanding. We discuss how the consonance or mismatch between competencies acquired at home and those valued by teachers must consider cultural differences, social-class position, and variation among diverse Latino subgroups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)