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Empirically-Derived, Person-Oriented Patterns of School Readiness in Typically-Developing Children: Description and Prediction to First-Grade Achievement
Abstract
School readiness assessment is a prominent feature of early childhood education. Because the construct of readiness is multifaceted, we examined children's patterns on multiple indicators previously found to be both theoretically and empirically linked to school readiness: social skill, interactions with parents, problem behavior, and performance on tests of cognition and attention. Multistage cluster analysis with independent replications was used to empirically identify normative profiles in a sample of 964 typically developing 54-month-old children. This procedure considered how the aforementioned indicators operate in concert by accounting for the nonlinear multivariate relations among them. Results supported six common (or core) profile types that satisfied all formal heuristic and statistical criteria, including complete coverage, satisfactory within-type homogeneity, between-type dissimilarity, and replicability. Resulting profiles suggest that cognitive process and self regulation develop somewhat independently, resulting in profiles that reveal both linkage and independence of these areas of development. A summary of the defining characteristics for each profile is provided. In addition, the performance of children comprising different profiles was investigated on three concurrent achievement measures to further substantiate the external validity of the resulting configurations. Because readiness connotes a link to the future, predictive validity was examined by evaluating differences between profile types on three achievement measures collected in first grade. Results are discussed in the context of a compensatory hypothesis, one which acknowledges that there is more than one route to successful, or at least adequate, educational outcome among typically developing children.
... The recognition that school readiness comprises multiple dimensions has led some researchers to consider how different elements of school readiness combine, and whether distinct groups or categories of children can be defined, based on patterns of observed characteristics (Konold & Pianta, 2005;Sabol & Pianta, 2012). For example, in a sample of high-risk, low-income kindergarteners Abenavoli et al. (2017) examined profiles based on academic ability, learning engagement, socio-emotional skills and aggressive-disruptive behaviours. ...
... In another study that used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, Taylor et al. (2019) found 62 per cent of their children in a Developmentally Enabled group. In a study of typically developing 54-month-old children, Konold and Pianta (2005) found that nearly 50 per cent of their sample were in groups typified by high cognitive, or social and self-regulatory functioning. ...
... The at-risk groups we identified were also broadly consistent with the extant literature. Previous person-centred studies of school readiness have identified profiles defined by social-emotional characteristics (Konold & Pianta 2005;Quirk et al. 2013;Abenavoli et al. 2017). Our "Language and Developmental Risks" group was at increased likelihood of all risks. ...
In this paper, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the multidimensional nature of school readiness. In a sample of over 4,000 Australian children in their first year of school, we used latent class analysis to examine patterns of school readiness based on child, family, school and community characteristics, and examine the relationship between these patterns of school readiness and subsequent outcomes (reading comprehension, school absence and emotional and behavioural difficulties). We identified four distinct groups: a Developmentally Enabled group (70 per cent of children),
a Parenting Risk group (16 per cent of children), an Emotionally
Immature Risk group (7 per cent of children) and a Language and Developmental Risks group (7 per cent of children). The four profiles showed differential patterns of association with low reading comprehension and emotional and behavioural difficulties at age 8, but no association with school absence. The study highlights the importance of family, school and community factors when considering
school readiness.
... The recognition that school readiness comprises multiple dimensions has led some researchers to consider how different elements of school readiness combine, and whether distinct groups or categories of children can be defined, based on patterns of observed characteristics (Konold & Pianta, 2005;Sabol & Pianta, 2012). For example, in a sample of high-risk, low-income kindergarteners Abenavoli et al. (2017) examined profiles based on academic ability, learning engagement, socio-emotional skills and aggressive-disruptive behaviours. ...
... In another study that used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, Taylor et al. (2019) found 62 per cent of their children in a Developmentally Enabled group. In a study of typically developing 54-month-old children, Konold and Pianta (2005) found that nearly 50 per cent of their sample were in groups typified by high cognitive, or social and self-regulatory functioning. ...
... The at-risk groups we identified were also broadly consistent with the extant literature. Previous person-centred studies of school readiness have identified profiles defined by social-emotional characteristics (Konold & Pianta 2005;Quirk et al. 2013;Abenavoli et al. 2017). Our "Language and Developmental Risks" group was at increased likelihood of all risks. ...
In this paper, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the multidimensional nature of school readiness. In a sample of over 4,000 Australian children in their first year of school, we used latent class analysis to examine patterns of school readiness based on child, family, school and community characteristics, and examine the relationship between these patterns of school readiness and subsequent outcomes (reading comprehension, school absence and emotional and behavioural difficulties). We identified four distinct groups: a Developmentally Enabled group (70 per cent of children), a Parenting Risk group (16 per cent of children), an Emotionally Immature Risk group (7 per cent of children) and a Language and Developmental Risks group (7 per cent of children). The four profiles showed differential patterns of association with low reading comprehension and emotional and behavioural difficulties at age 8, but no association with school absence. The study highlights the importance of family, school and community factors when considering school readiness.
... Importantly, profiles were often not (or not only) distinctive in terms of the level of school readiness skills included (e.g., one profile with above average functioning on all skills, and one profile of low functioning over the whole range of school readiness skills). That is, often so-called mixed profiles were delineated, that consisted of a combination of relative strengths and weaknesses (McWayne et al., 2004(McWayne et al., , 2012Konold and Pianta, 2005;Hair et al., 2006;Smeekens et al., 2008;Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2010;Denham et al., 2012;Halle et al., 2012;Quirk et al., 2013;Mascareño et al., 2014;Abenavoli et al., 2017;Justice et al., 2017;Collie et al., 2018;Iruka et al., 2018;Martarelli et al., 2018;Sandilos et al., 2019;Tavassolie et al., 2020). For example, Justice et al. (2017) examined kindergarten readiness profiles in a sample of low-income children from rural areas. ...
... Second, many studies explored the predictive validity of school readiness profiles and found them to be differentially and meaningfully related to academic and/or other (mainly cognitive) school outcomes (McWayne et al., 2004(McWayne et al., , 2012Konold and Pianta, 2005;Hair et al., 2006;Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2010;Denham et al., 2012;Sabol and Pianta, 2012;Quirk et al., 2013;Mascareño et al., 2014;Abenavoli et al., 2017;Collie et al., 2018;Martarelli et al., 2018;Tavassolie et al., 2020). In general, highfunctioning (i.e., high performance on all profile indicators) profiles were associated with high performance on school outcomes, whereas children in low-functioning profiles were likely to be characterized by less favorable school functioning (e.g., McWayne et al., 2004;Hair et al., 2006;Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2010;Denham et al., 2012;Collie et al., 2018). ...
... Instead, what can be explored is how motor skills, in combination with other school readiness skills, affect school outcomes. In this respect, so-called compensatory processes for the combination of cognitive and socioemotional skills have been found in previous PC-studies (Konold and Pianta, 2005;Hair et al., 2006). For example, Konold and Pianta (2005) found that strengths in terms of cognitive skills compensated for social deficits and externalizing behavior, when considering first grade academic outcomes. ...
A promising approach for studying school readiness involves a person-centered approach, aimed at exploring how functioning in diverse developmental domains conjointly affects children’s school outcomes. Currently, however, a systematic understanding lacks of how motor skills, in conjunction with other school readiness skills, affect a child’s school outcomes. Additionally, little is known about longitudinal associations of school readiness with non-academic (e.g., socioemotional) school outcomes. Therefore, we examined the school readiness skills of a sample of Dutch children (N = 91) with a mean age of 3 years and 4 months (46% girls). We used a multi-informant test battery to assess children’s school readiness in terms of executive functions (EFs), language and emergent literacy, motor skills, and socioemotional behavior. During the spring term of a child’s first grade year, we collected academic and non-academic (i.e., EFs, motor skills, socioemotional- and classroom behavior, and creative thinking) school outcomes. A latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles. Children in the “Parent Positive” (29%) profile were rated positively by their parents, and performed variably on motor and language/emergent literacy skills tests. The second profile–“Multiple Strengths” (13%)–consisted of children showing strengths in multiple domains, especially with respect to motor skills. Children from the third profile–“Average Performers” (50%)–did not show any distinct strengths or weaknesses, rather displayed school readiness skill levels close to, or just below the sample mean. Finally, the “Parental Concern” (8%) profile was characterized by high levels of parental concerns, while displaying slightly above average performance on specific motor and language skills. Motor skills clearly distinguished between profiles, next to parent-rated EFs and socioemotional behavior, and to a lesser extent emergent literacy skills. School readiness profiles were found to differ in mean scores on first grade academic achievement, parent- and teacher-rated EFs, motor skills, parent-rated socioemotional functioning, and pre-requisite learning skills. The pattern of mean differences was complex, suggesting that profiles could not be ranked from low to high in terms of school outcomes. Longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the interaction between emerging school readiness of the child and the surrounding context.
... The premise of our approach is that a successful transition to school would involve satisfactory academic achievement and school adjustment (from the teacher's perspective), whereby school adjustment refers to children's behaviour in the classroom and attitudes associated with the transition to school (Herndon, Bailey, Shewark, Denham, & Bassett, 2013). On the basis of previous studies (e.g., Konold & Pianta, 2005), we expected identifiable subgroups of kindergarteners with different levels of EFs and SSs. In addition, following the suggestion that cognitive abilities may to some extent be compensable (Konold & Pianta, 2005), we hypothesized that higher levels of SSs will, to some degree, compensate for lower levels of EFs in predicting school readiness. ...
... On the basis of previous studies (e.g., Konold & Pianta, 2005), we expected identifiable subgroups of kindergarteners with different levels of EFs and SSs. In addition, following the suggestion that cognitive abilities may to some extent be compensable (Konold & Pianta, 2005), we hypothesized that higher levels of SSs will, to some degree, compensate for lower levels of EFs in predicting school readiness. ...
... Although approximately half of the remaining children (21%) showed a profile with moderate EFs yet very low SSs (below average in terms of SSIS norms), the other half (19%) showed a profile with low EFs but moderate SSs (33% of the children scored above average in reference to SSIS norms). Thus, the results from our cluster analysis approach support previous findings (e.g., Konold & Pianta, 2005) and can be interpreted indicating that identifiable and meaningful subgroups of kindergarteners within the normal range of development are easily overlooked in a variable-centred approach. Our study therefore substantially extends the existing literature, as it is the first to include both EFs and SSs. ...
Whether a child is ready for school is of interest for different parties involved. With a person‐centred approach, the present study examined 123 kindergarteners (59 girls, 64 boys) regarding their early executive functions and social skills profiles. Children were 6–7 years of age at the first measurement point (M = 6; 6, SD = 4.22, range = 5; 8–7; 8). One year later, at the end of first grade, they were 7–8‐years old (M = 7; 6, SD = 4.11, range = 6; 9–8; 8). Four different profiles were identified. The profiles did not differ on demographic dimensions or socioeconomic status but appeared to be related to academic achievement and school adjustment at the end of the first grade 1 year later. Profiles with high executive functions showed the greatest predictive validity, independent of their social skills. However, greater social skills seemed to serve as a compensator in the profile with lower executive functions. The resulting profiles have theoretical and practical relevance, when discussing the question what a child needs to be “ready” for school.
Highlights
• A person‐centered approach to children's school readiness with 123 kindergarteners.
• Low executive functions can partially be compensated with high social skills. This compensation was stronger for school adjustment than for academic achievement.
• Cognitive and social aspects of a child's development should be considered by teachers and practitioners.
... In the present study, we follow-up prior work using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) that derived cluster-analytic-based profiles of school readiness from social, cognitive, and attention indicators at 54 months (Konold & Pianta, 2005) that subsequently demonstrated predictive validity in relation to child outcomes in first and fifth grades (Sabol & Pianta, 2012). This study examines associations between the 54-month readiness clusters and academic achievement, social-emotional development and risktaking, and executive functioning at age 15. ...
... Of particular relevance for the current study, Konold and Pianta (2005) used multi-stage cluster analysis to identify six profiles of functioning at 54 months in a sample of children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). Using an assessment battery that consisted of measures of attention, social competence, externalizing problems, and cognitive development, the analytic solution classified children into the following school readiness profiles, with group names reflecting the most prominent aspect of performance on the battery of assessments: had elevated scores on cognitive tests but also showed somewhat higher levels of externalizing behaviors. ...
... Fundamental to the concept of "readiness" is the assumption that these skills collectively forecast success and failure over the life course. In terms of prediction, Konold and Pianta (2005) examined whether school readiness profiles were related to achievement at the end of first grade. In general, high cognitive ability at 54 months predicted high achievement in first grade, irrespective of social functioning. ...
A person-oriented approach examined the extent to which patterns of school readiness across social and cognitive domains in 944 typically-developing 54-month-old children forecast academic achievement, social-emotional development, risk taking, and executive functioning at age 15. Prior work identified six distinct profiles of school readiness at 54 months that predicted group differences in achievement in first grade, as well as achievement and social-emotional outcomes in fifth grade. After controlling for demographics, early language skills, and home and school factors, the 54-month readiness profiles demonstrated different performance on risk-taking and executive function behaviors assessed at age 15. Children with attention problems at 54 months were most likely to believe that peers were engaging in risky behaviors and to have smoked more than 2 cigarettes by age 15. Children with low working memory and low to average social skills at 54 months were outperformed by their peers on working memory and executive function tasks at age 15. Results are discussed in terms of continuity in forms of developmental function.
... The researchers concluded that school readiness should not be limited to cognitive and language skills only and that a broader, more well-rounded approach should be adopted. Konold and Pianta (2005) used a person-centered approach when exploring school readiness and later achievement. They found that readiness skills clustered in six distinct profiles, and that students in these different profiles performed differently on subscales of the Woodcock Johnson, which was used to estimate academic achievement in Grade 1. ...
... Some studies focus on early to middle elementary outcomes like 1st through 3 rd grade ( Davies et al., 2016 ;DiPerna et al., 2007 ;Hair et al., 2006 ;Pagani et al., 2010 ;Romano et al., 2010 ;Quirk et al., 2013 ). Others, though fewer, look toward later outcomes, like the end of elementary school and even beyond ( Claessens et al., 2009 ;Konold & Pianta, 2005 ;Kurdek & Sinclair, 2001 ;Sabol & Pianta, 2012 ). The current study examines the relation between school readiness and educational outcomes across the key grades of Kindergarten, 3 rd , and 5 th Grade to address short-and longer-term effects. ...
... Nearly all studies in this area use scores on a standardized test to establish academic achievement. Some studies use achievement assessments like the Woodcock Johnson or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children ( Duncan et al., 2007 ;Konold & Pianta;Sabol & Pianta, 2012 ), and others use standardized tests given to students in the relevant schools ( Davies et al., 2016 ;Quirk et al., 2013 ). Although lab measures of achievement allow for better measurement validity compared to local standardized tests, they tend to be lower in external, ecological validity. ...
In this study, we use a large-scale (n = 33,717) ethnically diverse (59% Latinx, 34% Black, and 7% White/other) largely low-income sample to assess the predictive power of a wide range of school readiness skills measured at age four in preschool on authentic academic outcomes through Grade 5. Specifically, we explored the extent to which cognitive, language, fine motor, gross motor, and socioemotional skills at age four are related to GPA, standardized test scores, likelihood of retention, and likelihood of suspension in Kindergarten and key grades through Grade 5. OLS and logistic regressions revealed that each of these measures of school readiness was related to later academic outcomes, even when controlling for demographic characteristics and other measures of performance in preschool. Preschool socioemotional readiness skills were consistently related to K to Grade 5 outcomes. These findings suggest that school readiness skills at age 4 have long-term influence on academic performance in elementary school and that socioemotional skills are an important component of school readiness.
... First, children higher in social competence may be both more assertive and better at initiating and sustaining communication with adults. Also, when faced with challenges arising in the process of learning, they display more adequate reactions and maintain positive behaviours toward teachers (Ladd & Burgess, 2001;Konold & Pianta, 2005). Second, socially competent children make teachers' work easier by having less trouble with their classmates and being more constructive towards teachers (Lillvist et al., 2009). ...
... Furthermore, children scoring higher in interpersonal skills of cooperation, sharing and contact initiation may display more confidence in communication with adults, which in class may provide for a more trusting and closer relationship with their teachers. Such children tend to have more positive beliefs about school, which make it easier for them to maintain good relationships with teachers (Ladd & Burgess, 2001;Konold & Pianta, 2005). As these children feel more secure, they are able to use teacher's feedback constructively and avoid counterproductive defensive reactions to such feedback (Konold & Pianta, 2005). ...
... Such children tend to have more positive beliefs about school, which make it easier for them to maintain good relationships with teachers (Ladd & Burgess, 2001;Konold & Pianta, 2005). As these children feel more secure, they are able to use teacher's feedback constructively and avoid counterproductive defensive reactions to such feedback (Konold & Pianta, 2005). ...
The present research investigated the importance of learning-related and interpersonal aspects of social competence as well as parent education in the first grade for school adjustment indicators These included self-reported involvement in bullying, teacher-reported student-teacher relationships, and academic achievement-a year later. Social competence of children was assessed using the Elementary School Social Competence Scale (short version) completed by teachers. The sample consisted of 403 children attending 14 elementary schools in Lithuania. Results indicated that the learning-related aspect of social competence measured in the first grade was significantly related to all indicators measured in the second grade, while the interpersonal aspect of social competence was significantly related to student-teacher relationship quality. Taken together, both aspects of social competence assessed in the first grade explained some 34% of the variance in student-teacher conflict a year later. Interpersonal social competence explained 24% of the variance in student-teacher closeness. Furthermore, learning-related social competence and parent education significantly predicted academic achievement, accounting for 26% of the variance. Results of the present study highlight the lasting links of learning-related social competence and school adjustment indicators in elementary school.
... Findings indicating that some VPT children have selective deficits in executive function, motor skills, and mathematics, while others appear free of any discernable impairments, raises the possibility of individual variability in school readiness profiles [20][21][22]. Individual variability is also supported by findings that suggest different profiles of school readiness skills in community samples of children [9,23,24] and of behavior problems in extremely preterm (GA < 28 weeks) children [25]. Using cluster or latent class analysis (LCA), these studies identified profiles suggesting that some children have pervasive problems in readiness skills or behavior while others have more selective deficits or are functioning well in all areas. ...
... The objectives of this study were to enhance knowledge of the effects of VPT birth on school readiness in three ways. First, we compared groups of VPT preschoolers and FT controls on multiple measures of readiness to identify the breadth and magnitude of readiness problems in the VPT group and to confirm that our cohort had deficits similar to those observed in seminal studies of VPT preschoolers [8][9][10]13,17,20,[24][25][26]. The two groups were compared on both continuous measures of readiness and rates of deficits on these measures. ...
... Relative to the children assigned to class 3, those in class 2 performed at somewhat higher levels on tests of cognitive and motor skills but also had higher caregiver ratings of behavior problems. These findings are consistent with research suggesting that some VPT children display age-typical outcomes across multiple developmental domains, while others have either selective or generalized impairments [21,22,[25][26][27]31,41]. Research examining readiness profiles in community samples of kindergarteners or first graders reveals similar findings [9,23,24]. As was evident in the present sample, these studies identified subgroups of children with uniformly positive or negative outcomes across readiness domains, as well as subgroups showing dissociations between cognitive and behavioral aspects of readiness. ...
The aims of this study were to identify the aspects of school readiness that best distinguish very preterm (VPT) preschoolers from full-term (FT) controls, determine the extent to which readiness problems in the VPT group reflected global cognitive weaknesses or more specific deficits, and identify distinct profiles of readiness problems. Fifty-three VPT (gestational age ≤ 30 weeks) 4-year-olds were compared to 38 FT (gestational age ≥ 37 weeks) controls on measures of global cognitive ability, executive function, motor skills, early literacy and numeracy, and psychosocial functioning. Latent class analysis (LCA) was also conducted to identify individual readiness profiles. The VPT group had the most pronounced difficulties on tests of spatial and nonverbal cognitive abilities, executive function, motor skills, phonological processing, and numeracy. The VPT group also had sex-related difficulties in processing speed, social functioning, and emotion regulation. These differences were evident in analyses of both continuous scores and rates of deficits. The VPT group’s difficulties in motor skills, and VPT females’ difficulties in social functioning and emotion regulation, were evident even when controlling for global cognitive ability. LCA suggested four profiles of readiness, with the majority of the VPT group assigned to profiles characterized by relative weaknesses in either cognitive abilities or psychosocial functioning or by more global readiness problems. The findings support the need to evaluate multiple aspects of school readiness in VPT preschoolers and inform efforts to design more targeted early educational interventions.
... This indicates that children who start school with stronger preacademic skills performed ahead of their peers four years later, compared to children who began school with below average pre-academic skills, even when both groups had comparable social skills. This finding is consistent with studies that have found a persistent positive effect of strong cognitive skills at school entry as being the strongest predictor of later success (Konold & Pianta, 2005;. ...
... This study also points to home and school behavior strengths as possibly being unique contributors to school readiness. Several other studies that include behavior in school readiness profiles do not have dual-informant measures of behavior (Abenavoli et al., 2017;Justice et al., 2017;Konold & Pianta, 2005). Other studies have shown that behavior problems in preschool are linked with weaker school performance in kindergarten . ...
... This study does provide an ecologically-valid exploration of early childhood profiles because it uses school readiness measures and academic outcome measures that were used/given by the schools and decided on by the community of educators. While other studies use non-school-based measures, such as Woodcock Johnson (Justice et al., 2017;Konold & Pianta, 2005) or the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Cabell et al., 2013), this project used measures that were chosen by the community and utilized within the community and the school system, such that the findings are more directly relevant to school and community officials and professionals. ...
A person-centered approach was used to explore how preschool school readiness profiles predict Grade 3 academic performance among a large (N = 43,044) low-income, ethnically-diverse longitudinal sample of children. Study aims: (a) determine the number and type of preschoolers’ school readiness profiles, (b) determine how profile membership relates to demographic characteristics, and (c) use the profiles to predict Grade 3 academic achievement. Six profiles were found: Pre-academic strength (PAS) strong school, average home behavior; PAS-average school, low home behavior; PAS-average school, strong home behavior; Pre-academic weakness (PAW) average school, low home behavior; PAW-low school, average home behavior; and Overall poor school readiness. Demographic characteristics were associated with profile membership, and profiles were differentially related to Grade 3 outcomes, after controlling for demographic factors. Results highlight the importance of starting school with strong social skills at school (vs. home) and the potential benefits of public school pre-K boosting children’s social/emotional skills.
... Socially competent children are bolder and more skilled at initiating communication with adults. They feel safer, thus display more adequate reactions to difficulties and teachers' remarks encountered in the process of learning (Bustin, 2007;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd & Burgess, 2001). ...
... On the other hand, children with higher interpersonal social competence tend to be bolder and more confident in their interactions with adults, which is conducive for higher student-teacher relationship closeness. Socially competent children have favorable attitudes towards school environment, which also help them to form positive relationships with class teachers (Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd & Burgess, 2001). Such children tend to feel more secure (Mashburn & Pianta, 2006), thus are able to use teacher's remarks for improvement of learning activities and avoid transferring such feedback into their relationships with teachers (Bustin, 2007;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd & Burgess, 2001). ...
... Socially competent children have favorable attitudes towards school environment, which also help them to form positive relationships with class teachers (Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd & Burgess, 2001). Such children tend to feel more secure (Mashburn & Pianta, 2006), thus are able to use teacher's remarks for improvement of learning activities and avoid transferring such feedback into their relationships with teachers (Bustin, 2007;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd & Burgess, 2001). ...
This study examined teacher perceptions of social competence and school adjustment in a Lithuanian sample of 403 elementary school children followed from the 1st to the 2nd grade. All children were aged 7 or 8 years in the 1st grade. The teacher–reported school adjustment indicators measured concurrently in the 1st and 2nd grade included academic achievement, student–teacher relationships, and school anxiety. Results indicated that in the 1st and 2nd grade both interpersonal and learning-related aspects of social competence as reported by teachers were significantly correlated with all aspects of teacher-assessed school adjustment measured in this study. Further analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that both aspects of social competence together accounted for about a third of variance in academic achievement in the 1st and 2nd grade. Learning-related social competence alone accounted for a similar amount of variance in student–teacher conflict, while interpersonal social competence was moderately linked to social anxiety in school and student–teacher closeness. © 2018 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
... Similarly, using the kindergarten and first grade outcomes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SEC-CYD), Konold and Pianta (2005) conducted cluster analyses with social-emotional and cognitive skills, finding that children with higher levels of cognitive skills (high vs. average) had higher mathematics and language skills in first grade (Konold & Pianta, 2005) and better outcomes on mathematics through fifth grade (Sabol & Pianta, 2012), regardless of social-emotional skills. However, for children with average cognition, those with higher social competence were significantly more likely to have better academic outcomes compared with children who had low social skills in combination with average cognition. ...
... Similarly, using the kindergarten and first grade outcomes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SEC-CYD), Konold and Pianta (2005) conducted cluster analyses with social-emotional and cognitive skills, finding that children with higher levels of cognitive skills (high vs. average) had higher mathematics and language skills in first grade (Konold & Pianta, 2005) and better outcomes on mathematics through fifth grade (Sabol & Pianta, 2012), regardless of social-emotional skills. However, for children with average cognition, those with higher social competence were significantly more likely to have better academic outcomes compared with children who had low social skills in combination with average cognition. ...
Children's skill levels in language, mathematics, literacy, self-regulation, and social–emotional adjustment at kindergarten entry are believed to play an important role in determining school success through their long-term association with academic and social skills in primary and secondary education. Hence, children's school readiness is a national priority. To date, there is some evidence that specific individual school readiness skills relate to specific outcomes, but much of that research has not addressed concerns regarding generalization due to the high levels of correlations among the school readiness skills. The interrelationships among school readiness domains and patterns of skill acquisition – during the first three years of primary education in which basic skills are the focus and in the later years of primary or secondary education when higher-order skills are the focus – have not been explored adequately. Using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development dataset (n = 1364), this research conducted growth curve analyses to examine a comprehensive set of readiness indicators in kindergarten and identify which domains were stronger predictors of academic and social trajectories through grade 3 and from grades 3 to 5. Results highlight the importance of examining multiple school readiness domains simultaneously rather than separately, and moving beyond outcomes (skill levels) at a particular grade to consider which kindergarten skills predict gains over time (skill acquisition) both within- and across-domains. Empirical and methodological implications are considered for educational research, policy, and practice.
... Research on the value of play supports these theoretical perspectives and adds that play might also support "whole child development." That is, play can support social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development (Birch & Ladd, 1997;Hamre & Pianta, 2001;Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2009;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd et al., 2006). ...
... Like many types of developmentally appropriate activities, play exerts its influence in a more wholistic way contributing to incremental development of multiple interrelated skills. For example, cognitive and social-emotional development are interrelated: social competence has been highlighted as a prerequisite for academic success and cognitive growth (Berk et al., 2006;Birch & Ladd, 1997;Diamond, 2016;Hamre & Pianta, 2001;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Ladd et al., 2006;Valiente et al., 2012). From the whole child perspective, play is a developmentally appropriate way to simultaneously foster multiple developmental skills, as play organically exercises social-emotional, physical, and cognitive processes. ...
Participating in play affords physical, social, and cognitive benefits. Here, we review the cognitive behavioral science literature highlighting the value of play and describe the different types of play along with the evidence linking play to positive outcomes for children in areas such as social-emotional, cognitive, academic, and social-emotional development. Several case studies demonstrate how educators, caregivers, and community members can integrate low-cost, evidenced-based playful learning interventions into community settings to impact children where they live.
... An important issue that remains unanswered is whether cognitive and behavioral self-regulation predicts academic performance similarly or differentially in short-versus long-term. Some findings suggest cognitive skills are more predictive of later achievement compared to general behaviors (Barriga COGNITIVE REGULATION, LEARNING, AND ACHIEVEMENT 8 et al., 2002;Frick et al.;Hinshaw, 1992;Kim et al., 2020;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Trzesniewski et al., 2006). Other work has found that skills guiding cognitive self-regulation are significant predictors of long-term achievement (Claessens et al., 2009;Duncan et al., 2007;Watts et al., 2014) while some research has reported that behavioral self-regulation predicts long-term classroom outcomes (Duckworth et al., 2012;Duckworth & Seligman, 2005). ...
... By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of long-term academic achievement even after accounting for cognitive skills such as attention (Duncan et al., 2007). Examining cognitive skills separately from behavior problems suggests that cognitive skills predict later achievement differently compared to behavioral regulation (Barriga et al., 2002;Hinshaw, 1992;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Trzesniewski et al., 2006). Our work here and elsewhere (Modrek et al., 2019) revealed that cognitive regulation and behavior regulation are indeed interrelated, but only cognitive regulation predicts inquiry learning, as assessed by the applied inductive reasoning activities in the task administered. ...
Individual differences in self-regulation have been a topic of increased empirical research. However, few investigations have been conducted on how sub-components of self-regulation differentially predict education outcomes over time. We examined cognitive and behavior regulation as predictors of middle-school students’ (n=127) long-term academic achievement. It has been previously reported that behavior regulation, not cognitive regulation, predicts state standardized test scores in the first year (Modrek et al., 2019). However, here we show that after two years, this pattern flips in that cognitive regulation, not behavior regulation, predicts state standardized test scores for both math and English. We analyzed the mediating role of learning using structural equation modeling, suggesting the differing roles of self-regulation in education where certain facets may or may not affect students’ long-term outcomes.
... An important issue that remains unanswered is whether cognitive and behavioral self-regulation predicts academic performance similarly or differentially short-versus long-term. Some findings suggest cognitive skills are more predictive of later achievement compared to general behaviors (Barriga et al. 2002;Frick et al. 2019;Hinshaw 1992;Kim et al. 2020;Konold and Pianta 2005;Trzesniewski et al. 2006). Other work has found that skills guiding cognitive self-regulation are significant predictors of long-term achievement (Claessens et al. 2009;Duncan et al. 2007;Watts et al. 2014) while some research has reported that behavioral self-regulation predicts long-term classroom outcomes (Duckworth et al. 2012;Duckworth and Seligman 2005). ...
... By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of long-term academic achievement even after accounting for cognitive skills such as attention (Duncan et al. 2007). Examining cognitive skills separately from behavior problems suggests that cognitive skills predict later achievement differently compared to behavioral regulation (Barriga et al. 2002;Hinshaw 1992;Konold and Pianta 2005;Trzesniewski et al. 2006). Our work here and elsewhere (Modrek et al. 2019) revealed that cognitive regulation and behavior regulation are indeed interrelated, but only cognitive regulation predicts inquiry learning, as assessed by the applied inductive reasoning activities in the task administered. ...
Individual differences in self-regulation have been a topic of increased empirical research. However, few investigations have been conducted on how sub-components of self-regulation differentially predict education outcomes over time. We examined cognitive and behavior regulation as predictors of middle-school students' (n = 127) long-term academic achievement. It has been previously reported that behavior regulation, not cognitive regulation, predicts state standardized test scores in the first year (Modrek et al. 2019). However, here we show that after two years, this pattern flips in that cognitive regulation, not behavior regulation, predicts state standardized test scores for both math and English. We analyzed the mediating role of learning using structural equation modeling, suggesting the differing roles of self-regulation in education where certain facets may or may not affect students' long-term outcomes.
... A framework including academic skills and behaviors, academic enablers, and social skills has been developed to define non-cognitive factors (Farrington et al., 2012). Children with higher academic competence respond positively to social situations they encounter (Konold & Pianta, 2005). In this direction, it is thought that there is a relationship between academic competence and the social information processing that explains children's responses, and the social information processing model is included. ...
... Because children who react positively are accepted by their peers, and their relationship with their teachers and peers develops. Thus, children's commitment to school increases, they are more motivated to learn what is taught at school, have a positive attitude toward learning, and increase their academic success increases (Konold & Pianta, 2005). ...
Starting from the preschool period, children need to grow up as individuals with high academic skills, academic enablers and respond positively to their social situations. Academic skills and academic enablers together constitute academic competence. The positive reaction of children to the problems they face constitutes social information processing. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the academic competencies of 60–72-month-old children and their social information processing. The study was designed with the relational survey method. The study group consisted of 132 children aged 60–72 months with normal development who attend preschool education. The data collection tools of the study are as follows: Personal Information Form, The Social Information Processing Interview–Preschool Version, and Teacher Rating Scales of Early Academic Competence. Spearman's rank-order correlation test was used to evaluate the relationship between the scales. The findings of the study revealed that there is a relationship between the interpretation of cues and response decision, which are subdimensions of the social information processing model, academic skills (numeracy, early literacy, thinking skills, and comprehension) and academic enablers (social-emotional competence, approaches to learning, and communication).
... Similarly, using the kindergarten and first grade outcomes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SEC-CYD), Konold and Pianta (2005) conducted cluster analyses with social-emotional and cognitive skills, finding that children with higher levels of cognitive skills (high vs. average) had higher mathematics and language skills in first grade (Konold & Pianta, 2005) and better outcomes on mathematics through fifth grade (Sabol & Pianta, 2012), regardless of social-emotional skills. However, for children with average cognition, those with higher social competence were significantly more likely to have better academic outcomes compared with children who had low social skills in combination with average cognition. ...
... Similarly, using the kindergarten and first grade outcomes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SEC-CYD), Konold and Pianta (2005) conducted cluster analyses with social-emotional and cognitive skills, finding that children with higher levels of cognitive skills (high vs. average) had higher mathematics and language skills in first grade (Konold & Pianta, 2005) and better outcomes on mathematics through fifth grade (Sabol & Pianta, 2012), regardless of social-emotional skills. However, for children with average cognition, those with higher social competence were significantly more likely to have better academic outcomes compared with children who had low social skills in combination with average cognition. ...
... Similarly, using the kindergarten and first grade outcomes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SEC-CYD), Konold and Pianta (2005) conducted cluster analyses with social-emotional and cognitive skills, finding that children with higher levels of cognitive skills (high vs. average) had higher mathematics and language skills in first grade (Konold & Pianta, 2005) and better outcomes on mathematics through fifth grade (Sabol & Pianta, 2012), regardless of social-emotional skills. However, for children with average cognition, those with higher social competence were significantly more likely to have better academic outcomes compared with children who had low social skills in combination with average cognition. ...
... Similarly, using the kindergarten and first grade outcomes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SEC-CYD), Konold and Pianta (2005) conducted cluster analyses with social-emotional and cognitive skills, finding that children with higher levels of cognitive skills (high vs. average) had higher mathematics and language skills in first grade (Konold & Pianta, 2005) and better outcomes on mathematics through fifth grade (Sabol & Pianta, 2012), regardless of social-emotional skills. However, for children with average cognition, those with higher social competence were significantly more likely to have better academic outcomes compared with children who had low social skills in combination with average cognition. ...
... Socially competent children are able to form positive relationships with teachers and peers, enjoy school, participate effectively in classroom activities, and in turn, have higher achievement than children who enter school with low levels of social-emotional competence ( Izard et al., 2001;Raver, Garner, & Smith-Donald, 2007). Conversely, less socially competent children are often disengaged from classroom activities and many exhibit disruptive behavior problems that undermine their classroom adjustment and academic progress (Blair & Raver, 2015;Chen, Huang, Chang, Wang, & Li, 2010;Konold & Pianta, 2005). ...
Research findings:
Head Start teachers completed brief rating scales measuring the social-emotional competence and approaches to learning of preschool children (Total N = 164; 14% Hispanic-American, 30% African-American, 56% Caucasian; 56% girls). Head Start lead and assistant teacher ratings on both scales demonstrated strong internal consistency and moderate inter-rater reliability. When examined longitudinally, preschool teacher-rated approaches to learning made unique contributions to the prediction of kindergarten and first grade academic outcomes, need for supplemental services, and grade retention, even after accounting for preschool academic skills. In contrast, preschool teacher-rated social-emotional competence made unique contributions to the prediction of reduced behavior problems and peer difficulties in kindergarten and first grade.
Practice implications:
The findings demonstrate that preschool teachers are able to provide distinct and reliable ratings of child social-emotional competence and approaches to learning using brief rating scales, with validity for predicting elementary school adjustment.
... That is, had different risk factors been included, a different set of profiles may have resulted. 46 However, we were constrained by the data available to us. For example, had we included measures of parent health, mental health, trauma or adverse life events, we may have discovered different profiles. ...
Objective
Early childhood is a critical time to address risk factors associated with developmental vulnerability. This study investigated the associations between clusters of early life risk factors and developmental vulnerability in children’s first year of full-time school at age 5.
Design
A retrospective cohort study.
Setting
Population-wide linkage of administrative data records for children born in Tasmania, Australia in 2008–2010.
Participants
The cohort comprised 5440 children born in Tasmania in 2008–2010, with a Tasmanian 2015 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) record and a Tasmanian Perinatal Collection record.
Outcome measure
The AEDC is a national measure of child development across five domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills (school-based), and communication skills and general knowledge. Children who scored below the 10th percentile on one or more AEDC domains were classified as developmentally vulnerable. Children with special needs are not included in the AEDC results.
Results
Latent class analysis identified five clusters of risk factors: low risks (65% of children), sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (24%), teenage mother and sociodemographic risks (6%), birth risks (3%), and birth, sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (2%). In this sample population, 20% of children were classified as developmentally vulnerable, but the proportion varied substantially by latent class. Logistic regression showed increased odds of developmental vulnerability associated with sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.91 to 2.68, p<0.001), teenage mother and sociodemographic risks (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.50 to 2.69, p<0.001), and birth, sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (OR 3.29, 95% CI 2.10 to 5.16. p<0.001), but not birth risks (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.88 to 2.03, p=0.1649), relative to the reference group.
Conclusions
The patterning of risks across the five groups invites consideration of multisectoral policies and services to address complex clusters of risk factors associated with developmental vulnerability.
... In the same way, emotional regulatory processes help children to manage extreme feelings of anxiety or anger, allowing them to behave in more socially acceptable ways by maintaining appropriate interactions with teachers and peers. As such, self-regulation would appear to be an ideal target for intervention during the preschool years if it truly has the power to boost long-term academic and behavioral outcomes for young children, especially those who enter school with limited background knowledge and experiences (Blair & Raver, 2012a;Bierman et al., 2014;Konald & Pianta, 2005). ...
Since the turn of this century, improving school readiness for young children has been a central tenet of research, practice, and public policy at the local, state, and national levels (Blair, 2002; Boethel, 2004; Hair, Halle, Terry-Humen, Lavelle, & Calkins, 2006; Konald & Pianta, 2005; Nores, Belfled, Barnett, & Schweinhart, 2005; Rolnick &
Grunewald, 2003; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; Snow, 2006; Zigler & Hall, 2000). At the same time, the academic and behavioral expectations for young children in kindergarten have skyrocketed (Bassok & Latham, 2017). Thus, it comes as no surprise that a plethora of early childhood programs supporting the development of behavioral self-regulation are currently under development and evaluation (e.g., Bierman et al., 2008; Bodrova & Leong, 2007; Raver et al., 2008). The most promising of these programs target social and emotional competence, classroom quality, and parent scaffolding support for learning.
Yet, very little is known about self-regulation development after the transition to formal schooling or how to promote growth in academic-focused kindergarten programs. The present study explores relations between parent involvement, one potential method, and growth in literacy and self-regulation skills. Thirty-seven kindergarten children were recruited from six classrooms in a rural consolidated school district. Direct assessments of literacy skills and self-regulation skills were collected in the fall and spring. Teachers reported on children’s self-regulated learning behavior in the winter. Parents reported on
their involvement in education as well as several demographic characteristics.
Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the relation between parent involvement and growth in literacy and self-regulation skills after controlling for relevant demographic variables and school readiness skills. Results indicated that parent involvement was not a significant predictor of either spring outcome. In addition, self
regulated learning was not significantly associated with spring literacy or self-regulation skills and could not be explored as a potential mediator. Instead, school readiness skills remained the most robust predictors of success in kindergarten. Implications for future research are discussed.
... Over the past fifteen years, instead of describing children's level of readiness on one or many dimensions of readiness (variable-centered approach), several research teams established profiles of readiness based on multiple indicators considered simultaneously (person-centered approach) (e.g., Abenavoli et al., 2017;Hair et al., 2006;Konold & Pianta, 2005;Sabol & Pianta, 2012). Such an approach makes it possible to consider the child as a whole, taking into account the combination of the various dimensions of school readiness and of their interinfluence (Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2010;Sabol & Pianta, 2012). ...
In this study, a combination of variable-oriented and person-oriented statistical analyses was used to examine the links between three temperament factors (negative affectivity, surgency/extraversion, effortful control) evaluated before entry into kindergarten and the cognitive and socioemotional dimensions of school readiness measured at the end of kindergarten. The sample included 98 children considered to be at risk because of their poor school readiness seven months before kindergarten entry. Multiple linear regressions showed that the temperament factors were associated differentially with the school readiness dimensions at the end of kindergarten. Three school readiness profiles (moderate cognitive and socioemotional risk, high socioemotional risk, high cognitive risk) were identified through latent profile analyses. A multinomial logistic regression showed that the temperament factors helped predict membership in the profiles. Practice or policy: Temperament thus represents an important determinant of school readiness and could be used to identify, within an at-risk population, children who are likely to present risks of a different nature at the end of kindergarten. Prevention programs and closer supervision during the transition to school could then be offered to these children.
... Socio-emotional skills are closely related to language development (Sandhofer and Uchikoshi 2013;Vallotton and Ayoub 2011) and are important for school adjustment, and academic achievement (Blair and Diamond 2008;Halle et al. 2009;Konold and Pianta 2005;Romano et al. 2010). Emotional regulation, following directions, forming positive social bonds, and expressing feelings play a role in school success (Espinosa 2013;McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes 2000), with social skills and emotional regulation upon entry into primary school linked to greater wellbeing and success in later life, and the ability to work cooperatively, relate to others and handle one's own emotions highlighted as key skills and dispositions (Jones, Greenberg, and Crowley 2015). ...
Socio-emotional development is increasingly recognised as playing a central role in children’s academic achievement. However, little is known about the socio-emotional development of language-minority children on entry to school and how these children fare in comparison to their language-majority peers. To address this gap, longitudinal data on the socio-emotional outcomes of language-minority children in Ireland at five years of age were analysed. Teacher ratings on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) indicated comparable outcomes for language-minority and language-majority children upon entry into formal schooling. Further, language-minority children with poor English vocabulary skills were rated more favourably by their teachers than language-majority peers with poor English vocabulary skills, and, language-minority children had better teacher ratings on the SDQ when important child and family factors were taken into account in regression modelling. These findings support an emerging body of literature reporting positive socio-emotional development for young language-minority children. However, advantages associated with learning two or more languages may not be conferred as the child progresses through school if poorer vocabulary skills in the majority language are not addressed early. Educators may be able to capitalise on the positive socio-emotional outcomes reported here when working with language-minority children to support literacy in the majority language.
... Masalah ini dapat terjadi karena ketidakmampuan anak secara kognitif untuk mengikuti kegiatan akademis sehingga jumlah anak yang mengalami masalah dalam belajar semakin meningkat (Izzaty, Ayriza, & Setiawati, 2017). Selain itu, permasalahan kesiapan sekolah mengenai sosial emosi yang dihadapi anak seperti perilaku (agresi fisik, bullying), keterampilan sosial (sulit bekerjasama dengan teman atau guru), dan kurangnya kemampuan komunikasi sehingga dapat mengalami kesulitan dalam akademik dibandingkan dengan anak yang lebih siap (Connel & Prinz, 2002;Konold & Pianta, 2005). Perkembangan sosial emosi anak pada usia 3-6 tahun menurut Erikson berada pada tahapan inisiatif versus rasa bersalah, yaitu anak mulai memiliki gagasan yang sederhana sehingga mampu menimbulkan rasa percaya diri, selalu ingin terus belajar namun juga dapat menimbulkan perasaan bersalah terhadap kegagalan yang terjadi (Shala, 2013). ...
... Research also suggests that early SECs are linked to later academic achievement, whereas social and emotional problems or challenges are linked to academic difficulties (Blair & Diamond, 2008;Konold & Pianta, 2005;National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, 2000;Raver, 2002;Romano et al., 2010). In EiE contexts, SEL skills build wellbeing and resilience among children and youth affected by crisis, making the difference between their having supportive relationships or being socially isolated, between managing stress or turning to negative coping mechanisms, and between success in school or dropping out (Diaz Varela et al., 2013). ...
... In particular, research has demonstrated that adaptive emotion regulation can compensate low domain-general abilities, which in turn result in higher mathematical achievement (Gut et al., 2012;Konold & Pianta, 2005). For example, Gut et al. (2012) showed that children aged 8-13 years were able to compensate low levels of fluid intelligence with high social-emotional skills (including emotion regulation) in their mathematical performance. ...
Many children and adolescents experience negative emotions while learning mathematics and it is likely that children with a more adaptive way of regulating their emotions perform better in mathematics. This conclusion was indeed supported by recent research. A different line of research suggested that emotion regulation could compensate for low fluid intelligence in children’s mathematical achievement indicating that a similar compensation effect may exist for other cognitive skills. Building on this research, the aims of the current study were to investigate whether a) emotion regulation is associated with mathematical achievement in children and adolescents and b) whether emotion regulation can buffer working memory (WM) capacities in the mathematical domain. In an additional set of exploratory analyses, we tested whether these interaction effects hold for other core components of executive functions (EFs) such as inhibition and cognitive flexibility. A large sample of 7- to 15-year-olds (N = 992) was tested using the Intelligence and Development Scales–2. We tested the hypotheses with multiple regression analyses with EFs as predictor variables, knowledge of emotion regulation strategies (emotion regulation) as moderator variable, and mathematical achievement as outcome variable. Results showed relations between children’s and adolescents’ emotion regulation and their mathematical achievement across mid-childhood to mid-adolescence. Furthermore, children’s and adolescents’ emotion regulation compensates low WM in participants’ mathematical achievement, which was not found for inhibitory skills or cognitive flexibility. Our results highlight the dynamic relation between WM and emotional abilities in students’ academic success.
... Latent class analysis is a data-driven approach. The emerging latent classes depend on the variable selection, the sample under study, and the criteria used to decide the number and structure of the final classes (Konold & Pianta, 2005). As such, the resulting classes and the interpretation of findings may vary across studies that use different samples, variables, or criteria. ...
This study assessed if the association between mental disorders and higher student absences varies across different profiles of risk factors, and estimated the proportion of student absences associated with mental disorders. Data included responses from a nationally representative Australian survey of child and adolescent mental health (Young Minds Matter, N = 5,081). A latent class analysis identified four classes of multiple risk exposure for students and their families, including On Track (55%), Low Resources (22%), Child Concerns (15%), and Overwhelmed (7%). Negative binomial regression models with adjustment for misclassification probabilities showed that absence rate ratios were higher among students classified as Low Resources (1.8 times), Child Concerns (1.7 times), or Overwhelmed (3.0 times) than On Track students. Overall, students with an anxiety or depressive disorder had 1.2 times as many absences as students without a disorder, after adjusting for latent class membership. There was no support for the hypothesis that the association between anxiety/depressive disorder and absences would be greater for students experiencing multiple risk exposures. Behavioral disorders were not associated with higher absences. Mental disorders accounted for approximately 8.6% of absences among secondary students (Years 7–12) and 2.4% of absences among primary students (Years 1–6). The estimated contribution of mental disorders to school absences is not trivial; however, the contribution is about half that estimated by previous research. The educational impacts of mental disorders must be considered in conjunction with the broader social contexts related to both mental disorders and student absences.
... The first few years of school can be formative experiences toward future academic success for young children (Deater-Deckard, Mullineaux, Petrill, & Thompson, 2009;Duncan et al., 2007). Children who can follow the rules of the classroom, play well with others, and stay on task enter kindergarten more prepared both behaviorally and academically and are better set up to be successful throughout elementary school (Duncan et al., 2007;Eisenberg, Valiente, & Eggum, 2010;Graziano et al., 2007;Konold & Pianta, 2005). While we are aware of many risks that might impede early successful adjustment to school, we also know that there are ways to mitigate these risks early on in preschool (Bierman et al., 2008). ...
Research Findings: Exuberant temperament, characterized by high approach and positive affect, is linked to socioemotional outcomes including risk of externalizing symptoms across development. Externalizing problems interfere with children’s school readiness and lead to disruptive behavior in the classroom. While some moderating factors help identify which exuberant children are at risk and in which contexts they are at risk, few studies have identified early moderators that protect against maladjustment when children enter school. In the current study, we examined exuberant temperament in 124 toddlers and classroom behavior problems reported by kindergarten teachers. We also assessed the impact of maternal responsiveness at 24 months on the relation between exuberance and classroom behavior problems. As hypothesized, we found that higher exuberance predicted more behavior problems. In addition, maternal responsiveness moderated this association such that high responsiveness protected exuberant children from classroom behavior problems.
Practice or Policy: These results expand our understanding of socioemotional risks for exuberant children and how these risks influence school readiness. We also find that maternal responsiveness during toddlerhood mitigates these risks, and our findings suggest that interventions for exuberant children at risk for behavior problems or poor school readiness should target parental responsiveness when children are toddlers.
... Despite shared cognitive processes involved in the development of both behavioral self-regulation and emergent literacy in early childhood, research has also shown that children may display weaknesses in one domain without necessarily showing lags in another. For example, studies have identified distinct school readiness profiles, in which first-time kindergartners displayed diverse patterns of proficiencies and deficits across cognitive, socioemotional, and behavioral domains (Konold & Pianta, 2005;Tindal et al., 2015). Moreover, researchers have argued that it is the successful integration of the component skills involved in behavioral self-regulation, above and beyond each skill in isolation, that is necessary for young children to benefit from classroom literacy instruction and thus maximize growth in early literacy skills (McClelland & Cameron, 2012). ...
Research Findings: This study used data from a large-scale kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) to understand how well two state screening measures, administered at school entry, predicted the first-grade reading outcomes of a large sample of first-time kindergarteners (N=5,480) at high risk for future reading failure. We examined young children’s emergent literacy and behavioral self-regulation skills in the fall of kindergarten in relation to decoding skills in the spring of first grade. We also explored whether behavioral self-regulation moderated the effect of emergent literacy on first-grade reading outcomes. Consistent with prior research, results of multilevel regression models revealed that scalable measures of emergent literacy and behavioral self-regulation, assessed via a multidimensional KEA, positively predicted literacy outcomes in first grade, with a stronger association for emergent literacy. Additionally, school-entry behavioral self-regulation moderated the effect of children’s initial emergent literacy skills on first-grade decoding, such that stronger than average behavioral self-regulation partially compensated for weak emergent literacy at school entry. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the importance of screening young children on both academic and non-academic domains of school readiness and of seeking to understand children’s risk of reading failure from multiple perspectives.
... First, family SES indicated by parents' education, and family income has most often been cited as influencing children's school readiness profiles (Burchinal et al., 2002;Konold & Pianta, 2009;Ren et al., 2019). In a literature review on SES disadvantage, SES was significantly predictive of children's social competence, early language skills, and academic achievement (McLoyd, 1998). ...
Children enter school with different patterns of strength and weakness. The progressive universal preschool attendance advancement in China has raised a burning and important question: Are these young children ready for preschool? By taking an interpersonal perspective, this study examined Chinese young children's preschool readiness profile and explored its association with family socioeconomic status, home learning environment, parenting, and child care. The class teachers rated preschool readiness on 765 young children (M age = 43.4, SD = 3.63, Boy = 51.8%) one month after they entered preschool, using the Chinese Preschool Readiness Scale (CPRS). Latent profile analysis (LPA) examined preschool readiness profiles across domains of self-care abilities and emotional maturity, cognitive and communications skills, social competence, learning dispositions, and classroom rules. LPA revealed three distinct profiles that described differentiated patterns of strength and weakness: (1) Low Selfcare Ability and Emotional Maturity (17%), (2) Balanced Average (34%), and (3) Overall High (48%). The home learning environment predicted children's likelihood of being in the Low Selfcare Ability and Emotional Maturity group compared to the Balanced Average group, and the children from higher SES families were more likely to be in the Low Selfcare Ability and Emotional Maturity group than in the Overall High group. The findings indicated the need for providing differentiated support to children with distinct patterns of strength and weakness.
... Koppitz's juga melakukan penskoran emosi melalui Draw A Person (DAP). Selain gambar dapat mengukur emosi, hasil gambar anak dapat juga digunakan untuk mengukur kemampuan sosial, interaksi dengan orang tua, ada-tidaknya masalah perilaku, deteksi hambatan mental dan perkembangan kognitif (Konold dan Pianta, 2005;Stiles, Joan dkk., 2000). ...
This research aimed to compare the picture drawn by children aged 4and 6 year old. 68 students of kindergarten school and in grade one (firstyear) of elementary school involved as participants were asked to draw aperson then assessed based on Florence Goodenough list which revisedby Harrish (1963). To avoid bias, the result of the drawing scored bydrawing teacher and psychology lecturer. Score will be given if there areany similarity score filled in both form in the same child. The result indicatedthat there are differences and similarities between the picture drawn bychildren aged 4 and 6 years old.
... Findings regarding the relative contributions of these different skill domains at school entry have been mixed. Konold and Pianta (2005) found that children characterised by a high level of social skill at school entry tended to do better than most other groups on academic outcomes measured after the first year of school. On the other hand, a metaanalysis of six longitudinal cohort studies (drawn from Canada, UK and USA), using school entry assessments as predictors of academic achievement, found moderate effects for early number skills, small effects for early literacy and language skills and null effects for early social skills (Duncan et al., 2007). ...
The quality of a child’s early language and communication environment (ELCE) is an important predictor of later educational outcomes. However, less is known about the routes via which these early experiences influence the skills that support academic achievement. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n=7,120) we investigated relations between ELCE (<2 years), literacy and social adjustment at school entry (5 years), structural language development and social development in mid-primary school (7-9 years), and, literacy outcomes (reading and writing) at the end of primary school (11 years) using structural equation modelling. ELCE was a significant, direct predictor of social adjustment and literacy skills at school entry and of linguistic and social competence at 7-9 years. ELCE did not directly explain variance in literacy outcomes at the end of primary school, instead the influence was exerted via indirect paths through literacy and social adjustment aged 5, and, language development and social development at 7-9 years. Linguistic and social skills were both predictors of literacy skills at the end of primary school. Findings are discussed with reference to their potential implications for the timing and targets of interventions designed to improve literacy outcomes.
... The main social emotional skills identified for school success include: 1) associating with others, 2) following directions, 3) identifying and managing one's emotions and behaviors, 4) thinking of appropriate solutions to conflict, 5) enduring tasks, 6) engaging in social conversation and cooperative play, 7) correctly interpreting the behavior and emotions of others, and 8) feeling good about oneself and others (Dr. Smith in Carrie Shrier, 2014) and the social emotional ability of five-year-olds more focused on managing behavior, creating social relationships, and tolerating frustration with peers (Blair & Diamond, 2008;Konold & Pianta, 2005). ...
... Conversely, children who have difficulty making and maintaining friends during the first year of school are more likely to struggle adapting to the transition and new routine, and experience poorer academic performance (Ladd, 1990). In a study comparing preschool children with (parent-rated) high social competence to those with low-to-average social competence, Konold and Pianta (2005) reported higher academic achievement scores for socially competent children compared to children with poorer social skills, even though the two groups did not differ in their performance on cognitive tasks. Likewise, other studies have shown that teacher ratings of preschool children's social skills are not only associated with concurrent mathematical performance (Dobbs, Doctoroff, Fisher, & Arnold, 2006) but also predict math and reading skills 6 years later (McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2006). ...
Recent research into school readiness has highlighted the importance of not only children's cognitive and socio‐emotional skills but also the degree to which they have family support in the home. The current study examines the association between social success upon school entry and teacher‐ratings of school readiness as assessed by the Brief Early Skills and Support Index (BESSI), controlling for language ability. Importantly, social success was assessed using a ‘child's‐eye view’ with peer‐reported assessments of both social preference and reciprocated friendships. A total of 244 children (131 boys, Mage = 61 months, SD = 4.78 months) in their first year of formal schooling participated. Child school readiness was found to be important for social preference, with the association being more marked for boys versus girls. Family support was the only independent predictor of children's reciprocated friendships. The use of the BESSI, with its broad scope compared to other measures of school readiness, highlights the importance of focusing both on a child's cognitive and socio‐emotional skills at school entry and their family support when exploring the association of school readiness to children's social success at the transition to formal schooling.
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... Together then, it is possible that high levels of anxious and aggressive-disruptive behaviors may co-occur at contrasting levels within some individuals and at similarly high levels among others. However, given that the bulk of prior person-centered research has examined anxiety and aggression/disruptiveness separately (e.g., Broidy et al., 2003), alongside other maladaptive behaviors (e.g., Haapasalo et al., 2000), or as part of a broader examination involving cognitive and physical development (e.g., Konold & Pianta, 2005), an open empirical question concerns how the maladaptive SEBs co-occur alongside the adaptive SEBs. Indeed, is it the case that children high in anxious or aggressive-disruptive behaviors tend to have low adaptive SEBs? ...
Relatively little attention has been given to understanding different social and emotional behavior (SEB) profiles among students and their links to important educational outcomes. We applied latent profile analysis to identify SEB profiles among kindergarten students based on five SEBs: cooperative, socially responsible, helpful, anxious, and aggressive-disruptive behavior. In Study 1, we identified SEB profiles among the population of students who attended kindergarten in New South Wales (NSW; Australia’s most populous state comprising Australia’s largest education jurisdictions), Australia in 2012 (N = 100,776). We also examined whether profile membership was differentially associated with students’ socioeducational characteristics (gender, age group, language background, neighborhood socioeconomic status, and learning disability status). Results revealed four different SEB profiles: social-emotional prosocial (SE-Prosocial), SE-Anxious, SE-Aggressive, and SE-Vulnerable groups. Profile membership was associated with the socioeducational characteristics in different ways (e.g., female and older students tended to be in the SE-Prosocial profile). In Study 2, we undertook replication with a different sample of children who attended kindergarten in 2009 in NSW (n = 52,661). We also examined whether the SEB profiles were associated with academic achievement in Grades 3 and 5 using standardized test scores. Results revealed the same four profiles as Study 1 and similarities in how profile membership was associated with the socioeducational characteristics. Moreover, profiles were associated with significantly different levels of achievement in Grades 3 and 5—highest for the SE-Prosocial and lowest for the SE-Vulnerable profiles. Together, the findings have implications for healthy student development and academic intervention.
Although the diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were originally intended for children [1, 2], the criteria are the same for adults and can be reliably used to diagnose individuals who are currently experiencing symptoms of the disorder and have a history of these symptoms since early childhood [3, 4]. It is also necessary to document impairment in professional, academic, and personal settings and that the symptoms are due primarily to ADHD and not to another psychiatric condition or other environmental or personal circumstances. Rating scales can be quite helpful for documenting symptoms (ADHD symptom scales) or for more structured evaluations which can be used in fully establishing the diagnosis. A further utility of ADHD adult symptom scales can be in monitoring the response to treatment. There are several diagnostic interviews and symptom rating scales that can be used in the clinical evaluation of adults for ADHD (Tables 18.1 and 18.2), which are generally economical and effective in obtaining a large amount of data quickly, including symptom severity and response to treatment. Many of these measures include adult-specific prompts and probes designed to assess the impact and severity of ADHD symptoms using a semi-structured interview, which is particularly advantageous for clinicians who have limited experience in working with adult ADHD patients. There are also measures that assess ADHD-related impairments in executive function (EF), emotional regulation (ER), occupational, and quality-of-life domains.
Im vorliegenden einführenden Kapitel werden theoretische Konzepte und em pirische Befunde zur Schulbereitschaft von Kindern dargestellt. Selbstregula tion wird aktuell als zentrales Konstrukt der Schulbereitschaft angesehen. Diese beinhaltet neben physiologischen, emotionalen, motivationalen-volitionalen und verhaltensbezogenen Aspekten insbesondere höher geordnete kognitive Prozesse. Es handelt sich dabei um die Fähigkeit von jungen Kindern, eine kleine Menge von Informationen kurzzeitig zu speichern und zu bearbeiten, automatisierte Reaktionen und kognitive Operationen zu hemmen und flexi bel die Aufmerksamkeit auf relevante Aspekte zu lenken und zu fokussieren (=exekutive Funktionen). Die Selbstregulation hat sich als wichtiges Verhal tensmerkmal zur Vorhersage späterer schulischer Leistungen herausgestellt. Sie nimmt deshalb im vorliegenden Beitrag eine prominente Rolle ein. Darü ber hinaus sind sprachliche Fähigkeiten und sogenannte Vorläuferfertigkeiten der Schriftsprache und der Mathematik für die Schulbereitschaft von Kindern von Bedeutung. Die theoretische und empirische Verankerung dieser Konst rukte werden vorgestellt. Während standardisierte Testverfahren für letztere bereits existieren, stellt die Entwicklung eines normierten Testinstrumentes zur Erfassung der exekutiven Funktionen im deutschsprachigen Raum eine Auf gabe für zukünftige Forschung dar.
In the current study, we utilized latent profile analysis to investigate patterns of heterogeneity within children's executive function (EF) skills – as measured through direct assessments and as rated by teachers – that emerged within a large, national sample of kindergarten children (N = 10,770; Mage = 66.48 months, SD = 4.15). We then investigated whether these profiles predicted children's reading and mathematics achievement in third grade. Five unique profiles emerged from the data – representing groups with high, average, and low EF performance – as well as two groups with discordant performance across the direct assessments and teacher ratings. When predicting third grade achievement from latent class membership, performance on reading and math for both discordant groups was below that of the average-EF group. Findings demonstrate the importance of improving methods for identifying children who may be in need of extra support and may be overlooked when using solely linear-based analytic techniques.
This chapter presents a conceptual framework through which researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers can organize an understanding of children’s development during their transitions from their primary preschool settings (e.g., homes, public pre-K programs, private pre-K programs) into the K-12 educational system. The first half of this chapter focuses on developing an understanding of the processes that impact children’s Kindergarten transitions. We conclude that children’s experiences of the Kindergarten transition are affected by the characteristics of children themselves, their educational settings, the large-scale systems that support children’s educational experiences, and the way each of these is dynamic over time. We draw on research and theory to show that children’s transitions are smoothest when their experiences in educational settings are of consistent high-quality and become increasingly complex over time to support children’s developing skillsets. The second half of this chapter applies the conceptual framework to educational practice by showing how some common strategies for improving children’s Kindergarten transitions fit within this framework.
This study examined the associations between academic knowledge, executive functions, and behavioral skills in kindergarten and third grade among children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011. Cross-sectional latent profile analyses (LPAs) were estimated to examine profiles of academic (i.e., math and reading), cognitive (i.e., executive function), and behavioral (i.e., approaches to learning and externalizing behaviors) skills among children in kindergarten (N = 15,770) and third grade (N = 11,730). Multilevel, multinomial logistic regression models were estimated to examine predictors of profile membership at each time point, including examining how kindergarten profile membership predicted third grade profile membership. Academic, cognitive, and behavioral skills appeared to become increasingly related over time, such that profiles in third grade showed less variability across domains than profiles in kindergarten. Furthermore, children classified into more adaptive profiles were more likely to be classified into an adaptive profile again in third grade.
This study examined whether social competence at the time of entrance to elementary school predicted school adjustment two years later. The sample consisted of 389 children followed from the 1st to the 3rd grade in Lithuanian urban schools. In the 3rd-grade school adjustment was measured by assessing popularity in class, student-teacher relationships, involvement in bullying, school anxiety, and academic achievement. All school adjustment variables assessed in the 3rd grade were linked to learning-related social competence, while the interpersonal aspect of social competence was related to all indicators of school adjustment except for involvement in bullying in the 3rd grade. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that learning-related social competence measured during the 1st year of schooling was the strongest predictor for academic achievement and teacher-student conflict in the 3rd grade, while interpersonal social competence was the strongest predictor of student-teacher closeness and social school anxiety two years later
This study explored cross-sectional gender and grade level trends in emotional literacy and empathy among 634 elementary school children in Japan. Children were presented with hypothetical scenarios involving positive, negative, neutral, and mixed emotions, and identified the emotions that the characters were feeling and the intensity of their emotions. Three-hundred thirty fourth- through sixth-grade children also completed a self-report survey on empathy. Results were mixed. Grade and gender differences emerged in children’s ability to identify appropriate emotional expressions in the negative scenario but not in the other scenario types, grade and gender differences were found in the number and variety of emotion words identified, and grade but no gender differences were found in children’s ability to differentiate varying levels of perceived emotional intensity. In terms of empathy, gender but no grade level differences were found in empathy levels, and empathy and perceived emotional intensity were related. These grade and gender considerations may be incorporated in social-emotional learning curricula to enhance the utility of programs for diverse populations.
Poorly self-regulated children have a temperament profile that is defined by undirected motor activity and high levels of distractibility and irritability. They typically are perceived by parents and teachers as underachieving their academic potential. These characteristics, among others, make them more difficult to manage in the home and school. This chapter clarifies what is meant by temperament-based poor self-regulation and how it relates to the concepts of impulsivity and extraversion. Good parenting and teaching of this group of children require emotional control, firm guidelines for behavior, and consistent/appropriate consequences for inappropriate behavior. Good parenting and teaching also require understanding of the behavioral assets of children who are often defined by their sometime-troubling behavior.
In this chapter, we present a brief review of research on the stability of individual differences in temperament – and personality – from infancy through adulthood. Three generalizations can be made. First, the stability of individual differences in these behavioral tendencies is moderate from late infancy through the preschool years. Second, individual differences in temperament become more stable in middle childhood. The level of stability in middle childhood is similar to that obtained in adolescence. Third, stability in adulthood is very high when behavior is assessed through self-reports. These findings are robust and have been rigorously studied in many contexts, using different measurement devices. Fourth, there is limited research on the stability of temperamental profiles. However, results from a few studies indicate that the same pattern can be expected for profile stability as was the case for individual traits. That is, in infancy and toddlerhood, stability is moderate, but it becomes more stabilized in middle childhood. Stability in adulthood, based on self-reports, is very high.
The book presents an empirical model of commonly occurring individual differences in children that is derived from a large-scale research effort assessing parental and teacher perceptions of children in middle childhood. It examines eight characteristic behavioral traits, most of which have been widely shown to be present in infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children. The book demonstrates the importance of considering profiles of these relatively stable individual differences for the educational, social, and emotional life of the child. It describes characteristic behaviors of children within each profile – emphasizing the assets and liabilities of each – and how they are perceived by their parents, teachers, and peers. Chapters explore issues related to the most developmentally effective management of children exhibiting each profile type.
In addition, the book addresses a critical need in child development, parenting, and teaching to understand the wide range of individual differences observed every day in school-aged children. Not only does this volume underscore that commonly occurring differences can be understood as being normal and do not suggest a pathology, it also discusses implications of the model in diagnosing pathology. The book describes what is known about the stability of temperament behaviors and profiles across the lifespan as well as the origins of these behaviors.
Key topics addressed include:
• Nurturing development of well-adjusted children.
• Causes of individual differences in children’s behavior.
• Temperamental tendencies and profiles of children.
• Diagnosing psychopathology in children.
This book is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and related professionals in developmental, clinical child and school psychology, social work, public health, pediatrics, family studies, educational psychology and counseling, and all other interrelated disciplines.
Self-regulation describes how individuals assess and adapt to demands within and across environments. Research accumulated over the past quarter century identifies self-regulation as a powerful predictor of children’s school success. However, studying young children’s self-regulation in school is challenging. Tools that are easy and efficient to administer, closely linked to curriculum and learning in classrooms, and that do not require self-reports from children are needed. Here we report on the development and validation of the Self-Regulation In School Inventory (SRISI), a teacher-report tool designed to assess typically developing young children’s self-regulation in school. Then, we present data from the SRISI that shows how different targets of self-regulation in school were related to one another, school adjustment, child gender, and achievement. Data were gathered from 28 teachers who provided ratings of 307 kindergarten children’s (age range = 4.96–6.61 years old) self-regulation using the SRISI. An exploratory factor analysis on the SRISI items distinguished three targets of self-regulation in school: ‘Emotion Regulation’, ‘Self-Regulation of/for Learning’ and ‘Socially Responsible Self-Regulation’. Path analysis confirmed the relationship between child gender and ER and SRSR, and between SRL and achievement. Findings are situated within a larger discussion concerning the assessment of young children’s self-regulation in school.
This article is based on a study that examines the Head Start goal of school readiness in the context of inner city communities that reflect the socio-cultural-economic environment of a more neoliberal and globalized world. The research was conducted as a qualitative and naturalistic inquiry and data collection included document review, in-depth interviews and classroom observations in four Head Start centres in a particular New York City community. The objective of the study was to better understand how the local community and parent body have changed over time, and to assess the effectiveness of the centres in providing appropriate services to the children and their families and preparing them to be ready for primary schooling. Findings are seen in the areas of classroom curriculum, assessment procedures, changes experienced over time, and the future potential of Head Start, raising critical issues such as the tension between school readiness and educating the whole child. Such issues question old policies that fail to address dramatic changes in inner city demographics and the tensions between targeted and universal early childhood programmes.
Effects of early child care on children's functioning at the age of 41/2 years wee a examined in the NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Study of Early Child Care, a prospective longitudinal study of more than 1,000 children. Even after controlling for multiple child and family characteristics, children's development was predicted by early child-care experience. Higher-quality child care, improvements in the quality of child care, and experience in center-type arrangements predicted better pre-academic skills and language performance at 41/2 years. More hours of care predicted higher levels of behavior problems according to caregivers. Effect sizes associated with early child-care experiences were evaluated in relation to effect sizes obtained for two other well-recognized influences on early development: parenting and poverty. The findings indicated the importance (and relative independence) of quantity, quality, and type of child care for children's development just prior to the time that children initiate formal schooling.
A method for identifying clusters of points in a multidimensional Euclidean space is described and its application to taxonomy considered. It reconciles, in a sense, two different approaches to the investigation of the spatial relationships between the points, viz., the agglomerative and the divisive methods. A graph, the shortest dendrite of Florek etal. (1951a), is constructed on a nearest neighbour basis and then divided into clusters by applying the criterion of minimum within cluster sum of squares. This procedure ensures an effective reduction of the number of possible splits. The method may be applied to a dichotomous division, but is perfectly suitable also for a global division into any number of clusters. An informal indicator of the "best number" of clusters is suggested. It is a"variance ratio criterion" giving some insight into the structure of the points. The method is illustrated by three examples, one of which is original. The results obtained by the dendrite method are compared with those obtained by using the agglomerative method or Ward (1963) and the divisive method of Edwards and Cavalli-Sforza (1965).
This study examined relationships between oral language and literacy in a two-year,
multivariate design. Through empirical cluster analysis of a sample of 88 kindergarten children,
four oral language subtypes were identified based on measures of semantics, syntax,
metalinguistics, and oral narration. Validation efforts included (a) concurrent and predictive
analyses of subtype differences on reading, spelling, and listening comprehension measures
based on a priori hypotheses and (b) a comparison of the teacher classification of the children
with the empirical classification. The subtypes represented high average, low average, high
narrative, and low overall patterns of oral language skill. The high average subtype received the
most consistent evidence for validation. The pattern of validation results indicates that the
relationship between oral language and literacy is not uniform and suggests a modification of the
assumption that oral language skills have a direct role in reading acquisition.
A model for conceptualizing the components or elements of attention is presented. The model substitutes for the diffuse and global concept of attention a group of four processes and links them to a putative system of cerebral structures. Data in support of the model are presented; they are derived from neuropsychological test scores obtained from two samples, the first consisting of 203 adult neuropsychiatric patients and normal control subjects, and the second, an epidemiologically-based sample of 435 elementary school children. Principal components analyses of test scores from these two populations yielded similar results: a set of independent elements of attention that are assayed by different tests. This work presents a heuristic for clinical research in which the measurement of attention is essential.
Increasing evidence suggests that aspects of children’s learning-related social skills (including interpersonal skills and work-related skills) contribute to early school performance. The present investigation examined the association of work-related skills to academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade as well as characteristics of children with low work-related skills. Children were selected from a sample of 540 children based on low work-related skills scores on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales, a teacher-rated scale. Results indicated that work-related skills predicted unique variance in academic outcomes at school entry and at the end of second grade, after controlling for kindergarten academic score and important background variables. In addition, children with poor work-related skills (n = 82) were found to differ from the overall sample on a number of child, family, and sociocultural variables including: significantly lower IQs, more behavior difficulties, and more medical problems, such as hearing and language problems. Finally, children with low work-related skills scored lower on academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. Findings highlight the importance of early work-related skills in understanding successful school transition and early academic achievement.
The most representative subtest profiles were found for the 1,200 children comprising the standardization sample of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI; Wechsler, 1967). The primary benefit of such a core profile typology is that it provides necessary contrasts for testing hypotheses about whether children’s profiles are descriptively or clinically unique. Scaled scores from WPPSI subtests were grouped according to similar level and shape using sequential minimum-variance cluster analysis with independent replications. A final solution of six core profile types met all formal heuristic and statistical criteria. Results are discussed in the context of leading research on the correlates of children’s abilities. Thereafter, two methods are presented for determining the relative uniqueness of WPPSI subtest patterns: the first is mathematically precise and the second is more convenient to every day practice. A step-by-step worksheet is provided for the “everyday” method and a case study is analyzed using this procedure.
63 1st and 2nd graders recently identified as having a learning disability (LD) and 66 normally developing Ss matched by grade, sex, and race with LD Ss were rated by teachers on the 60-item Classroom Behavior Inventory and observed using a time-sampling schedule of classroom activity norms. Analysis identified 7 distinct behavioral subtypes of LD Ss. In Cluster 1, 28.6% Ss had deficiencies in task-oriented behavior and independence. In Cluster 2 (25.4% of Ss) and Cluster 5 (9.5% of Ss), 2 variations of normal classroom behavior were represented. In Cluster 2, Ss had slightly elevated ratings on considerateness and introversion, while in Cluster 5, Ss were seen as slightly less considerate and more hostile. In Cluster 3, mild attention deficits in 14.3% of Ss were combined with high ratings on distractibility and hostility and low ratings on considerateness. In Cluster 4, 11% of Ss were withdrawn and overly dependent with low ratings on independence and extraversion and high ratings on dependence and introversion. In Cluster 6, 6.3% of Ss showed a pattern of a mild version of a global behavior disorder. In Cluster 7 (3 males), Ss were impaired on all classroom behaviors. (31 ref)
General methodological difficulties are discussed, particularly; the need to discuss similarity only with respect to specified dimensions, loss of information involved when configurations are reduced to indices, the need to interpret a similarity index as a relative rather than as an absolute measure, and the general non-comparability of scale units involved in profiles. The measure D is presented. This is, for two profiles, the sum of the squared deviations of corresponding scores, and is a general expression for dissimilarity (distance in the hyperspace of k variates). 27 references.
An analytic and computer strategy is introduced and demonstrated for multistage Euclidean grouping (MEG). The procedure sequentially produces first-stage clusters for independent data blocks ; second-stage, higher order clusters based on a full similarity matrix for first-stage clusters; and third-stage clusters that allow case migration to relocate prior misassignments and to optimize within-cluster homogeneity. The process is facilitated by special SAS computer codes and, in addition to conventional SAS cluster output, produces special fusion statistics, plots of all fusion statistics, and indices of homogeneity within clusters and within profile variables. The program also reports replication rates for final clusters.
This study developed a normative core profile taxonomy of the most common aptitude and achievement scales in the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-R; Woodcock & Johnson, 1989). Eight scales were included in the analyses: the WJ-R's four scholastic aptitudes and their four corresponding achievement scales. Cluster analysis was used to sort 2,620 students from the standardization sample of the WJ-R. Results of internal and external validity analyses provided support for eight core profiles. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of how the ability and achievement scores covary in the population. Practical implications and utility are gained by providing a multivariate procedure through which the distinctiveness of a given child's aptitude-achievement profile can be assessed through comparison to the population core types.
The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children is reviewed from an information-processing point of view. The article points out five major positive features of the test: its (a) attempt to provide a theoretical basis for intelligence testing, (b) assessment of the ability to deal with novelty, (c) attempt to integrate psychometric and information-processing paradigms, (d) attempt to achieve culture-fairness and norm representation, and (e) attempts to ensure examinees' comprehension of tasks. The article also points out major negative features of the test: its (a) misrepresentation of support for the theory underlying the test, (b) noncorrespondence between definition and measurement of intelligence, (c) inadequate aptitude-achievement distinction, (d) overemphasis on rote learning, and (e) questionable empirical support in studies directly testing the construct validity of the test. On balance, the assessment is unfavorable, and it is not recommended that the test be used in place of its major competitors, the WISC-R and the Stanford-Binet.
School readiness screenings are prevalent throughout the United States. Although readiness encompasses a multitude of components, readiness assessments generally focus on measuring and predicting children's pre-academic skills and behaviors and are often the basis for placement and programming decisions. However, no quantitative estimates of effect sizes exist for the relations between preschool or kindergarten academic/cognitive and social/behavioral assessments and early school outcomes. This review presents the results of a meta-analysis of cross-time relations of academic/cognitive and social/behavioral assessments from preschool to second grade. Results from 70 longitudinal studies that reported correlations between academic/cognitive and social/behavioral measures administered in preschool or kindergarten and similar measures administered in first and second grade were included in the analysis. Academic/cognitive assessments predicting similar outcomes showed moderate effect sizes across both time spans; effect sizes were small for social/behavioral predictors of early school social outcomes. Effect sizes varied considerably across individual studies and samples. Findings are discussed in terms of assessment and conceptualization of school readiness, the role of school and classroom experiences in contributing to individual differences in school outcomes, and the importance of a quantitative estimate of effect size for early education policy and practice.
An analytic and computer strategy is introduced and demonstrated for multistage Euclidean grouping (MEG). The procedure sequentially produces first-stage clusters for independent data blocks; second-stage, higher order clusters based on a full similarity matrix for fist-stage clusters; and third-stage clusters that allow case migration to relocate prior misassignments and to optimize within-cluster homogeneity. The process is facilitated by special SAS computer codes and, in addition to conventional SAS cluster output, produces special fusion statistics, plots of all fusion statistics, and indices of homogeneity within clusters and within profile variables. The program also reports replication rates for final clusters.
discusses [the] areas of overlap between the terms attention and executive function / [the 4 areas are]: conceptual, neuropsychological, neuroanatomical, and theoretical
attention briefly revisted / executive functions revisited [critical conditions of an executive function] / delayed responding and executive functions [separation of affect, prolongation, internalization of language, reconstitution, 4 processes as executive functions, neuroanatomical considerations, developmental considerations] / linkages between attention and executive function (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Hypothesized that children characterized by deficits in narrative skills, relative to other language skills (e.g., syntactic and semantic), would be most at risk for general academic problems, especially in reading comprehension. Using data from a previous longitudinal study by the 1st author and J. D. McKinney (see record
1985-02522-001), different subtypes of language disability were identified in 63 6- and 7-yr-old learning disabled (LD) children. Comparison data had been obtained from 66 non-LD children matched to the LD sample on age, race, and sex. Results, obtained with hierarchical cluster analysis, indicate that 6 language subtypes were derived and that these were both internally consistent and externally valid, being differentially linked to reading and math achievement over a 3-yr period. Narrative ability was shown to be relatively important in predicting academic outcomes. The 3 subtypes showing the poorest academic outcomes had the highest relative scores in syntax and semantics. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
63 1st and 2nd graders recently identified as having a learning disability (LD) and 66 normally developing Ss matched by grade, sex, and race with LD Ss were rated by teachers on the 60-item Classroom Behavior Inventory and observed using a time-sampling schedule of classroom activity norms. Analysis identified 7 distinct behavioral subtypes of LD Ss. In Cluster 1, 28.6% Ss had deficiencies in task-oriented behavior and independence. In Cluster 2 (25.4% of Ss) and Cluster 5 (9.5% of Ss), 2 variations of normal classroom behavior were represented. In Cluster 2, Ss had slightly elevated ratings on considerateness and introversion, while in Cluster 5, Ss were seen as slightly less considerate and more hostile. In Cluster 3, mild attention deficits in 14.3% of Ss were combined with high ratings on distractibility and hostility and low ratings on considerateness. In Cluster 4, 11% of Ss were withdrawn and overly dependent with low ratings on independence and extraversion and high ratings on dependence and introversion. In Cluster 6, 6.3% of Ss showed a pattern of a mild version of a global behavior disorder. In Cluster 7 (3 males), Ss were impaired on all classroom behaviors. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Aims to provide school psychologists, child psychologists, and other mental health professionals working with children with the theoretical and technical basis for designing interventions that enhance relationships between children and teachers. The author draws on research in social development and relationship-systems theory to describe the role of child–adult relationships in the development of social and academic competencies and the potential of child–teacher relationships to promote healthy development. It is explicitly focused on the use of child–teacher relationships as a
preventive intervention and the role of the psychologist as a consultant to the classroom teacher, the school, and the school district. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
the overall taxonomy was based on the entire sample of 2,200 children and adolescents used in the WISC-III's standardization study / Ss were selected according to a stratified quota system including 200 children at each of 11 age levels from 6 [through 16], with equal numbers of males and females at each level / quotas for distributions of children's race, education level of parents, geographic region, and educational placement . . . were arranged to approximate distributions identified in the 1988 US Census (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Summarizes the 9 experiments presented in the Monograph
The development of executive function in early childhood (see records
2003-10549-001;
2003-10549-002;
2003-10549-003;
2003-10549-004;
2003-10549-005 and
2003-10549-007). The following topics are discussed: (1) implications for alternative accounts of the development of executive function (memory accounts, inhibition accounts, redescription accounts); (2) implications for complexity theories (circumstances in which 3-4 yr olds perseverate, criteria for determining when a higher order rule is required, activation and inhibition processes, taking intentionality seriously); (3) revised CCC theory; (4) remaining questions and challenges (How could children learn the rules the CCC theory claims children use? CCC theory analyzes task complexity in an arbitrary way; the abulic dissociations predicted by CCC theory are only apparent; CCC theory cannot account for task manipulations that improve children's performance; even adults have difficulty with task switching and surely they can use higher order rules; children only have difficulty on the DCCS when there is conflict between rules); (5) future directions (development of executive function in older children; development of "hot" executive function). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
47 school-identified learning disabled (LD) students (aged 6 and 7 yrs at the beginning of the study) who had been classified into 6 behavioral subtypes by a technique of hierarchical cluster analysis were followed longitudinally for 3 yrs to determine their educational outcomes and examine the stability of subtype membership. Classroom and special-education teachers rated children each year on measures of independence–dependence, task orientation–distractibility, extraversion–introversion, and considerateness–hostility. Measures of reading and mathematics achievement were taken each year. Ss with attention problems and those who presented problem behaviors in the classroom during the 1st and 2nd grades showed poorer achievement outcomes in later grades, compared with those who did not present atypical behaviors and those who presented a withdrawn pattern of behavior. Although children tended to switch subtype membership over 3 yrs, the proportion of LD children in adaptive and maladaptive subtypes was similar at Years 1 and 3, as determined by classroom teachers' ratings in subsequent years. Developmental changes in subtype membership are discussed with respect to the effects of special-education services and the social-emotional sequelae that have been associated with school failure. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Discusses the uses and abuses of developmental screening and school readiness tests of children that can be traced to the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test by F. L. Ilg and L. B. Ames (1972) and similar tests. The implications of using readiness tests to assign children to particular school programs are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Children's experiences with their parents and teachers were related to the acquisition of academic skills from preschool through second grade. Individual and group growth curves were estimated, and individual patterns of change were predicted from selected demographic, family, and classroom characteristics to identify multiple pathways to early academic competence. Standardized assessments of language and academic skills and parent and teacher surveys were collected on 511 children beginning in the second-to-last year of child care through the third year of elementary school. As expected, children tended to show better academic skills across time if their parents had more education and reported more progressive parenting beliefs and practices. Statistical interactions between family background and teacher–child relationships indicated that a closer relationship with the teacher was positively related to language skills for African-American children and to reading competence for children whose parents reported more authoritarian attitudes. These results provide further evidence that social processes in classrooms are important for academic competence for children considered at risk for academic problems.
This article examined teachers’ judgments of the prevalence and types of problems children present upon entering kindergarten. A large, national sample of teachers (N = 3,595) was surveyed by using the National Center for Early Development and Learning’s Transition Practices Survey (1996). Teachers reported they perceived that 16% of children had difficult entries into kindergarten. Up to 46% of teachers reported that half their class or more had specific problems in any of a number of areas in kindergarten transition. Rates of perceived problems were related to school minority composition; district poverty level; and, for certain behaviors, school metropolitan status. The effects of these demographic characteristics were independent and additive. Teachers’ ethnicity showed a significant relation to their rates of reported problems. Results are discussed in terms of risk factors that predict transition problems and the match between children’s competencies and teacher’s expectations. These findings confirm the view that entering kindergarten is indeed a period of transition for children.
A procedure for forming hierarchical groups of mutually exclusive subsets, each of which has members that are maximally similar with respect to specified characteristics, is suggested for use in large-scale (n > 100) studies when a precise optimal solution for a specified number of groups is not practical. Given n sets, this procedure permits their reduction to n − 1 mutually exclusive sets by considering the union of all possible n(n − 1)/2 pairs and selecting a union having a maximal value for the functional relation, or objective function, that reflects the criterion chosen by the investigator. By repeating this process until only one group remains, the complete hierarchical structure and a quantitative estimate of the loss associated with each stage in the grouping can be obtained. A general flowchart helpful in computer programming and a numerical example are included.
Cluster analysis was employed to classify speech/language impairment in a sample of 347 children 5 years of age. Based on scores on a variety of speech and language tests, four groups of children with similar linguistic profiles were identified. These groups were labeled high overall, low overall, poor auditory comprehension, and poor articulation. Differences among these groups according to cognitive, developmental, demographic, and audiometry variables were examined. The low overall group was most disadvantaged on all measures, the high overall group was most advantaged, and the poor articulation and poor auditory comprehension groups were intermediate. The implications of these findings for the development of a theory of the relationship between speech/language and psychiatric disorders are discussed.
This report presents a selective overview of the cluster analysis literature and its potential uses in neuropsychology. In addition, an actual problem involving data from the Florida Longitudinal Project is presented to provide a practical example of many of the processes and problems involved in cluster analytic techniques. It is hoped that the reader will gain a theoretical and practical understanding of such methods and their potential usefulness in neuropsychology and other related areas.
Close links between children's capacities to store and manipulate information over brief periods have been found with achievements on standardised measures of vocabulary, language comprehension, reading, and mathematics.
The study aimed to investigate whether working memory abilities are also associated with attainment levels in the national curriculum assessments at 7 years of age.
Eighty-three children aged 6 and 7 years attending local education authority schools participated in the study.
Working memory skills were assessed by a test battery designed to tap individual components of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) working memory model. Children were assigned to normal and low achievement groups on the basis of their performance on national curriculum tasks and tests in the areas of English and mathematics.
Children with low levels of curriculum attainment showed marked impairments on measures of central executive function and of visuo-spatial memory in particular. A single cut-off score derived from the test battery successfully identified the majority of the children failing to reach nationally expected levels of attainment.
Complex working memory skills are closely linked with children's academic progress within the early years of school. The assessment of working memory skills may offer a valuable method for screening children likely to be at risk of poor scholastic progress.
This study followed a sample of 179 children from kindergarten through eighth grade to examine the extent to which kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students predict a range of school outcomes. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behavior and the quality of the teacher-child relationship. Follow-up data from first through eighth grade were organized by epoch and included academic grades, standardized test scores, work-habit ratings, and discipline records. Relational Negativity in kindergarten, marked by conflict and dependency, was related to academic and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade, particularly for children with high levels of behavior problems in kindergarten and for boys generally. These associations remained significant after controlling for gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings. The results have implications for theories of the determinants of school success, the role of adult-child relationships in development, and a range of early intervention and prevention efforts.
The author examines the construct of emotionality, developmental relations between cognition and emotion, and neural plasticity and frontal cortical functioning and proposes a developmental neurobiological model of children's school readiness. Direct links are proposed among emotionality, use-dependent synaptic stabilization related to the prefrontal cortex, the development of executive function abilities, and academic and social competence in school settings. The author considers research on the efficacy of preschool compensatory education in promoting school readiness and recommends that programs expand to include curricula directly addressing social and emotional competence. Research should focus on the ontogeny of self-regulation and successful adaptation to the socially defined role of student, the development of prevention research programs to reflect this orientation, and interdisciplinary collaborations that integrate scientific methods and questions in the pursuit of comprehensive knowledge of human developmental processes.
Hypotheses, subtypes and individual differences in dyslexia: Some reflections
- P Satz
- R Morris
- J M Fletcher
Satz, P., Morris, R., & Fletcher, J. M. (1985). Hypotheses, subtypes and individual differences in dyslexia: Some reflections. In D.
The preschool PATHS curriculum. Unpublished curriculum
- C E Domitrovich
- M T Greenberg
- C Kusche
- R Cortes
Domitrovich, C. E., Greenberg, M. T., Kusche, C., & Cortes, R. (2004). The preschool PATHS curriculum. Unpublished curric-ulum, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA.
Assessing the development of executive functions. International Society for the Study of
- C Klein
Klein, C. (2003, May). Assessing the development of executive functions. International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development Newsletter, 43, 8–11.
Contempo-rary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests, and issues (pp. 349–372) Social skills rating system
- J L Flanagan
- P L Genshaft
- Harrison
Flanagan, J. L. Genshaft, & P. L. Harrison (Eds.), Contempo-rary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests, and issues (pp. 349–372). New York: Guilford. Gresham, F., & Elliott, S. (1990). Social skills rating system. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Teaching task rating scales
- B Egeland
- M Hiester
Egeland, B., & Hiester, M. (1993). Teaching task rating scales. Twin Cities: University of Minnesota, Institute of Child Develop-ment.
WJ-R tests of cognitive ability standard and supplemental batteries: Examiner's manual
- R W Woodcock
- N Mather
Woodcock, R. W., & Mather, N. (1989). WJ–R tests of cognitive ability—standard and supplemental batteries: Examiner's man-ual. Chicago: Riverside.
Assessing readiness The transition to kindergarten
- S Meisels
Meisels, S. (1999). Assessing readiness. In R.C. Pianta & M. Cox (Eds.), The transition to kindergarten (pp. 39–66). Baltimore: Brookes.
From neurons to neighbor-hoods: The science of early childhood development. Washing-ton, DC: National Academy Press Classi-fication and validation of behavioral subtypes of learning-dis-abled children
- J P Shonkoff
- D A Phillips
Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From neurons to neighbor-hoods: The science of early childhood development. Washing-ton, DC: National Academy Press. Speece, D. L., McKinney, J. D., & Appelbaum, M. I. (1985). Classi-fication and validation of behavioral subtypes of learning-dis-abled children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 67–77.
Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery: Examiner's manual
- R W Woodcock
Woodcock, R.W. (1997). Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery: Examiner's manual. Chicago: Riverside.
Child assessment at the preprimary level: Expert opinion and state trends
- C Horton
- B T Bowman
Horton, C., & Bowman, B. T. (2002). Child assessment at the preprimary level: Expert opinion and state trends (Occasional Paper No. 3). Chicago: Erikson Institute.
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sci-ences Assessing similarity between profiles
- J Cohen
Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sci-ences. New York: Academic. Cronbach, L., & Gleser, G. (1953). Assessing similarity between profiles. Psychological Bulletin, 50, 456–473.