Prekindergarten children’s executive functioning skills and achievement gains: The utility of direct assessments and teacher ratings.

Fuhs, Mary Wagner; Farran, Dale C.; Nesbitt, Kimberly Turner

doi:10.1037/a0037366

Cited by 94 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Similarly, Fuhs et al (2015) reported that an EF factor comprised of measures of inhibitory control, working memory, and shifting as well as a teacher-report of self-regulation uniquely predicted spring language, literacy, and mathematics scores after controlling for the corresponding fall score in a sample of 719 preschool children.…”

Section: Self-regulation and Academic Skillsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Examining the predictive relations between two aspects of self-regulation and growth in preschool children’s early literacy skills.

Lonigan¹,

Allan²,

Phillips³

2017

Developmental Psychology

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There is strong evidence that self-regulatory processes are linked to early academic skills both concurrently and longitudinally. The majority of extant longitudinal studies, however, have been conducted using autoregressive techniques that may not accurately model change across time. The purpose of this study was to examine the unique associations between two components of self-regulation, attention and executive functioning (EF), and growth in early literacy skills over the preschool year using latent-growth-curve analysis. The sample included 1,082 preschool children (M-age = 55.0 months, SD = 3.73). Children completed measures of vocabulary, syntax, phonological awareness, print knowledge, cognitive ability, and self-regulation, and children’s classroom teachers completed a behavior rating measure. To examine the independent relations of the self-regulatory skills and cognitive ability with children’s initial early literacy skills and growth across the preschool year, growth models in which the intercept and slope were simultaneously regressed on each of the predictor variables were examined. Because of the significant relation between intercept and slope for most outcomes, slope was regressed on intercept in the models to allow a determination of direct and indirect effects of the predictors on growth in children’s language and literacy skills across the preschool year. In general, both teacher-rated inattention and directly measured EF were uniquely associated with initial skills level; however, only teacher-rated inattention uniquely predicted growth in early literacy skills. These findings suggest that teacher-ratings of inattention may measure an aspect of self-regulation that is particularly associated with the acquisition of academic skills in early childhood.

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Section: Self-regulation and Academic Skillsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Examining the predictive relations between two aspects of self-regulation and growth in preschool children’s early literacy skills.

Lonigan¹,

Allan²,

Phillips³

2017

Developmental Psychology

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“…M. Allan, Allan, Lerner, Farrington, & Lonigan, 2015; Fuhs, Farran, & Nesbitt, 2015; Wiebe et al, 2011); however, some studies with preschool children report distinct IC and WM dimensions, depending on the tasks used and the ages of the children (e.g., Lerner & Lonigan, 2014; Schoemaker et al, 2012). There are a variety of tasks that can be used to measure EF, only some of which are appropriate for use with preschool-age children.…”

Section: Self-regulation Executive Function and Academic Achievementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inhibitory Control of Spanish-Speaking Language-Minority Preschool Children: Measurement and Association With Language, Literacy, and Math Skills

et al. 2015

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Children’s self-regulation, including components of executive function such as inhibitory control, is related concurrently and longitudinally with elementary school children’s reading and math abilities. Although several recent studies have examined links between preschool children’s self-regulation or executive function and their academic skill development, few included large numbers of Spanish-speaking language-minority children. Among the fastest growing segments of the U.S. school-age population, many of these children are at significant risk of academic difficulties. We examined the relations between inhibitory control and academic skills in a sample containing a large number of Spanish-speaking preschoolers. Overall, the children demonstrated substantial academic risk based on preschool-entry vocabulary scores in the below-average range. Children completed assessments of language, literacy, and math skills in English and Spanish, when appropriate, at the start and end of their preschool year, along with a measure of inhibitory control, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task, which was administered at the start of the preschool year in the child’s dominant conversational language. Scores on this last measure were lower for children for whom it was administered in Spanish. For both English and Spanish outcomes, those scores were significantly and uniquely associated with higher scores on measures of phonological awareness and math skills but not vocabulary or print knowledge skills.

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“…However, a significant amount of research has demonstrated that several aspects of EF and self-regulation abilities are strongly correlated with academic achievement (e.g., Blair and Razza, 2007; Duncan et al, 2007; Li-Grining et al, 2010; Fuhs et al, 2014). It has been hypothesized that higher EF skills allow children to meet classroom demands quicker—i.e., those children have better attention capacities, memory of classroom rules, and are more capable to engage in academic content—which may enable them to benefit more from the academic environment that they are in Fuhs et al (2015) demonstrated that teachers' ratings as well as measurements of EF were directly correlated with academic achievement in prekindergarten children. Another study by Blair and Razza (2007) showed that teachers' ratings of effortful control and measurements of these EF skills were directly associated with children's literacy and mathematics skills during kindergarten.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between Parenting Behavior and Executive Functioning in Children and Young Adolescents

Sosic-Vasic¹,

Kröner²,

Schneider

et al. 2017

Front. Psychol.

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Executive functioning (EF) is associated with various aspects of school achievement and cognitive development in children and adolescents. There has been substantial research investigating associations between EF and other factors in young children, such as support processes and parenting, but less research has been conducted about external factors relating to EF in older children and adolescents. Therefore, the present study investigates one possible factor that could correlate with EF in school-age children and adolescents: parenting behavior. The cross-sectional study design gathered data from 169 children in primary schools, middle-schools, and Gymnasien, and their corresponding parents. All children underwent a standardized task to measure EF, the computer-based Erikson Flanker task, which evaluates EF as a function of error rates and response time. A self-report questionnaire was used to assess parenting behavior. Multilevel analysis was implemented to test the effects of parenting behavior on EF in school-age children. The results show significant associations between various parenting behaviors and children's EF: High scores on parental involvement or parental responsibility are associated with low error rates on the Erikson Flanker task, whereas high parental scores on inconsistent discipline are associated with high error rates. These correlations between parenting behavior and EF remained significant despite controlling for child age, maternal education, family income, and baseline performance (i.e., congruent trials on the Erikson Flanker task). No associations were found between parental behavior and reaction time on the Erikson Flanker task. These results indicate the important association between parenting behaviors and EF skills in school-age children, and foster the necessity to inform parents about ways in which they can optimally support their children's cognitive development.

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Prekindergarten children’s executive functioning skills and achievement gains: The utility of direct assessments and teacher ratings.

Cited by 94 publications

References 55 publications

Examining the predictive relations between two aspects of self-regulation and growth in preschool children’s early literacy skills.

Examining the predictive relations between two aspects of self-regulation and growth in preschool children’s early literacy skills.

Inhibitory Control of Spanish-Speaking Language-Minority Preschool Children: Measurement and Association With Language, Literacy, and Math Skills

The Association between Parenting Behavior and Executive Functioning in Children and Young Adolescents

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