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Given theoretical and empirical support for the importance of peer play within the preschool classroom to early learning, the present study tested the hypothesis that associations between teacher-reported problem behavior and academic skills were mediated by difficulties in peer play (disruptive and disconnected play), for a representative sample (N = 507 children across 46 classrooms) enrolled in a large urban Head Start program. The study also tested whether mediation was moderated by child sex (e.g., whether the mechanism through which problem behavior was associated with learning differed for boys and girls) controlling for the multilevel nature of these data. Findings from structural equation models provided evidence for partial mediation, whereby associations between internalizing behavior and academic skills were partially explained through their effects on disconnected play; however, mediation was present for girls only. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed as they support low-income children’s social and academic development through the context of peer play.

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Research Findings: The present study employed a time lag design to assess temporal relationships between motivation, academic achievement, and cognitive development. Eighty-one children from 2 preschool programs were measured twice, with an 11-week time lag, on 2 measures of motivation (marble drop task, bean bag toss task), 2 measures of cognitive development (seriation task, oddity principle task), and 2 measures of academic achievement from the Woodcock-Johnson III (Letter-Word Identification Scale, Applied Problems Scale). There were significant correlations between all of these variables. One clear-cut temporal relationship was found: Prior motivation predicted later academic achievement, but not vice versa. There was also some evidence of temporal relations between motivation and cognitive development, and between cognitive development and academic achievement, but the evidence for these relations was not as conclusive.