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Educators and researchers have been fighting the reading wars for the last century, with battles see-sawing literacy instruction in American schools from phonics to whole language and, most recently, back [...]

This study extended existing work on the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS), established as a measure of preschool-age children's observed interactions in the four domains of Teacher Interactions, Peer Interactions, Task Orientation, and Negative Engagement. Our sample included kindergarten-age children (N = 117; mean age = 5.53 years) in 11 classrooms in four schools from a low-income community. We had three aims: (a) examine the inCLASS' applicability in this new sample, (b) examine associations with teacher reports of children's social skills and learning behaviors, and (c) identify characteristics at the time point, child, and classroom levels that contribute to inCLASS scores. We found limited variability in scores for each of the four inCLASS domains, with scores related to teacher reports of children's skills as expected. Children's inCLASS scores were highly variable from one observation time point to the next, and time point, child, and classroom characteristics differentially contributed to their scores. Implications for observational assessment are discussed.

Executive function (EF) describes a complex set of skills, including flexible attention, inhibitory control, and working memory, that coordinate to achieve behavioral regulation. Visuospatial skills (VS) describe the capacity to visually perceive and understand spatial relationships among objects. Emerging research suggests VS skills are associated with classroom functioning, including behavioral adjustment. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to enter school with EF and VS deficits, with consequences for classroom adjustment. In response, we developed and experimentally tested an after-school intervention that incorporates fine and gross motor activities targeting EF and VS skills in a sample of 87 kindergarten and first-grade students from low-income communities. The aim of the present study was to preliminarily explore whether EF and VS skills were bolstered by the intervention and subsequently whether EF and VS skills mediate or moderate intervention impacts on learning-related and problem behaviors in the classroom. Intent-to-treat analyses confirm intervention effects for EF and VS skills. Using full information maximum likelihood and bias-corrected bootstrapping, results indicate that improvements in EF mediated the impact of assignment to the treatment condition on improvements in learning-related behaviors and reductions in problem behavior. Taken together, findings suggest out-of-school contexts are a reasonable point of intervention for improving daytime classroom behavior.

Research has illuminated contributions--usually modeled separately--of both executive functioning (EF) and visuomotor integration (VMI) to mathematical development in early elementary school. This study examined simultaneous associations of EF and VMI, measured at the beginning of the school year, with concurrent and later mathematics performance on several mathematics assessments in kindergartners (n = 89, M[subscript age] = 5.5 years) and first graders (n= 73, M[subscript age] = 6.6 years) of low socioeconomic status. Both skills were related to concurrent performance on all assessments, as well as improvement through the end of the school year for all but a geometry subtest, which was predicted only by VMI. No significant influence of an interaction between the skills was present, except for concurrently on the geometry subtest and longitudinally on an assessment with a relatively strong emphasis on informal skills. Findings are discussed in the context of supporting mathematics development in early childhood.

This study explored transactional associations among visuomotor integration, attention, fine motor coordination, and mathematics skills in a diverse sample of one hundred thirty-five 5-year-olds (kindergarteners) and one hundred nineteen 6-year-olds (first graders) in the United States who were followed over the course of 2 school years. Associations were dynamic, with more reciprocal transactions occurring in kindergarten than in the later grades. Specifically, visuomotor integration and mathematics exhibited ongoing reciprocity in kindergarten and first grade, attention contributed to mathematics in kindergarten and first grade, mathematics contributed to attention across the kindergarten year only, and fine motor coordination contributed to mathematics indirectly, through visuomotor integration, across kindergarten and first grade. Implications of examining the hierarchical interrelations among processes underlying the development of children's mathematics skills are discussed. [This article was published in "Child Development" (EJ1172408).]

Delayed, as opposed to immediate, gratification is generally understood to indicate adaptive development. The present study investigates performance on a choice-based delay of gratification measure and its relations with other outcomes in a sample of children of color from low-income families, who are underrepresented in delayed gratification research. The 6-item choice delay of gratification task, administered at the start of kindergarten (M[subscript age] = 5.5 years), exhibited good reliability. Items were largely equal in difficulty, but not equally discriminant. Children who chose immediate gratification had better executive function and were rated higher than their peers by their kindergarten teachers on behavioral measures; patterns in relations with first grade classroom behavior were similar, but weaker and not robust to controls. Choosing immediate gratification was also positively related to concurrent and later achievement, but not after controlling for executive function. These observations reinforce a need to clarify constructs underlying delay of gratification choices within groups of children underrepresented in this line of research.

The short-term emphasis engendered by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused research predominantly on unraveling the complexities and uncertainties in assessing short-term results, rather than developing methods and assessing results over the longer term. In this paper we focus on estimating long-term gains and address questions important to evaluating schools and identifying educational policies and practices that produce long-term sustained gains. Estimates are made of annual pass rates on state exams using fixed effect models for six years of pass rates at grades 3, 6, 8 and 10; the percentages of schools making statistically significant gains, gains, losses, and statistically significant losses in pass rates are determined. Estimates are contrasted using models that include and exclude demographic characteristics. The percentages of schools with statistically significant gains varied markedly from 38 to 6 at grades 6 and 10, respectively; the percentage of schools with statistically significant declines ranged from less than 8 percent at grades 3, 6, and 8, to 23 percent at grade 10. Including demographics increased the percentages of schools with statistically significant gains and lowered the percentages with statistically significant declines. The results suggest that schools with higher proportions of free-reduced lunch and minority students are more likely to have statistically significant gains with demographic controls. Estimates of pass rate trends are made using Monte Carlo simulations; from these simulations the percentages of schools that may be mislabeled as having statistically significant gains and losses are determined. Even with six years of trend data, results suggest that chance can still play a significant role in mislabeling school performance, especially in grades having weak overall trends.

Theory of mind describes the ability to engage in perspective-taking, understand intentions, and predict actions and emotions. Theory of mind typically achieves major developmental milestones around age of 5, coinciding with the transition to kindergarten, and is associated with a verbal ability (receptive and expressive vocabulary), executive function (inhibitory control and working memory), and emotion knowledge. Less is known about how the theory of mind operates in low-income samples, where foundational skills (i.e., verbal ability, executive function, and emotion knowledge) tend to be delayed. Applied to classrooms, the theory of mind may support the transition to kindergarten by facilitating relationships, learning-related behaviors, and socioemotional skills that require perspective-taking. In a low-income sample of 140 kindergarteners across 21 classrooms, the theory of mind was directly associated with teacher-ratings of social and emotional skills, behavioral and academic adjustment, and closeness within the teacher-child relationship, beyond the contribution of foundational skills. Moreover, verbal ability, executive function, and emotion knowledge were indirectly associated with outcomes through the theory of mind. Findings suggest the theory of mind facilitates the transition to kindergarten and is built upon a complex set of foundational skills.

Theory of mind describes the ability to engage in perspective-taking, infer mental states, and predict intentions, behavior, and actions in others. Theory of mind performance is associated with foundational cognitive and socioemotional skills, including verbal ability (receptive and expressive vocabulary), executive function (inhibitory control and working memory), and emotion knowledge. In a sample of 354 children from low-income households, theory of mind and foundational skills were directly assessed before and after kindergarten. Results indicate emotion knowledge, inhibitory control, and expressive language predicted improvement in theory of mind. Expressive language also served as a moderator such that children with low expressive language failed to improve in theory of mind regardless of initial theory of mind performance.

The present study examines cross-lagged associations among executive function, visuomotor skills, and math and reading achievement from kindergarten to second grade. Both executive function and visuomotor integration tend to be delayed in socioeconomically disadvantaged children and can explain nearly half the achievement gap at kindergarten entry. Participants were 259 students enrolled in elementary schools serving predominantly low-income communities with multiple sociodemographic risk factors. Executive function at multiple time points predicted reading and math achievement. However, visuomotor integration in kindergarten alone predicted later reading and math. Initially, math predicts later reading. Subsequently, reading predicts later math.

Research Findings: This study examined the contribution of several classroom experience measures (classroom characteristics, teacher characteristics, and teacher-child interactions) to preschoolers' improvement in visuomotor integration. Children (N = 467) ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old and were enrolled in 115 classrooms in 5 U.S. states. Children's visuomotor integration was measured twice (on average 5.2 months apart) using the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (visuomotor integration subtest). Hierarchical linear models controlling for background characteristics and inhibitory control showed that children improved more in visuomotor integration when they were in classrooms with fewer 3-year-olds, when their teacher had at least a bachelor's degree, and when teachers demonstrated high quality in their interactions. Practice or Policy: Visuomotor integration, and specifically the ability to copy designs with a writing utensil, is a robust indicator of children's school readiness and longitudinal achievement. U.S. preschoolers gained more on visuomotor integration in classrooms with fewer 3-year-old children that were taught by a college-educated teacher and when such classrooms provided high-quality organizational and instructional interactions. These results expand the outcomes linked to early childhood education experiences and emphasize the need for well-prepared early childhood teachers who interact with children effectively.

Visuomotor integration (VMI), or the ability to copy designs, and 2 measures of executive function were examined in a predominantly low-income, typically developing sample of children (n = 467, mean age 4.2 years) from 5 U.S. states. In regression models controlling for age and demographic variables, we tested the interaction between visuomotor integration (design copying) and inhibitory control (pencil-tap) or verbal working memory (digit span) on 4 directly assessed academic skills and teacher-reported approaches to learning. Compared with children with both poor visuomotor integration and low inhibitory control, those on the higher end of the continuum in at least 1 of these 2 skills performed better across several dependent variables. This compensatory pattern was evident for longitudinal improvement in print knowledge on the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL), with similar though marginally significant findings for improvement in phonological awareness (TOPEL) and teacher-rated approaches to learning on the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS). Of note, the same compensatory pattern emerged for concurrently measured receptive vocabulary on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), expressive vocabulary on the Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ), TOPEL phonological awareness, and teacher-rated approaches to learning. The consistent pattern of results suggests that strong visuomotor integration skills are an important part of school readiness, and merit further study.

Children's early motor competence is associated with social development and academic achievement. However, few studies have examined teacher reports of children's motor skills. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Motor Skills Rating Scale (MSRS), a 19-item measure of children's teacher-reported motor skills in the classroom. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) support the validity of the three-factor structure of MSRS. The subscales of the MSRS were also associated with child academic and behavioral outcomes, with differences in the associations depending on the subscale. Only the "Classroom Fine Motor" skills subscale was uniquely associated with academic knowledge and mathematics achievement, whereas "Body Awareness" and "Shapes and Letters" were not significantly associated with either of the academic outcomes. Implications of the findings are discussed.

This study examined achievement trajectories in mathematics and reading from school entry through the end of middle school with linear and nonlinear growth curves in 2 large longitudinal data sets (National Longitudinal Study of Youth--Children and Young Adults and Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort [ECLS-K]). The S-shaped Gompertz model showed best fit in both data sets and decomposed individual changes in terms of 3 interindividual difference parameters that represented "total growth", "rate of approach" (instantaneous approach to total growth), and "timing of accelerated growth". The fastest rates of approach were observed for both mathematics and reading before 3rd grade. In ECLS-K, demographic predictors of the 3 parameters of change were consistent with prior work showing socioeconomic status and race/ethnic gaps that widen over time in both subjects and a female advantage in reading and a male advantage in mathematics. Results indicate a new shape of development for both domains, with implications for research, policy, and practice to understand and support students especially in the early years of schooling.

Psychometric properties of 24 items from the fifth grade Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire were investigated in a sample of 5,181 participants. These items asked teachers to report how often they had their classroom students engage in different mathematics content, skills and instructional practices. Exploratory factor analyses were employed to evaluate the underlying factor structure of the selected items. Results suggest that these items effectively measure three distinct latent constructs that are specific to mathematics instruction: Instructional Practices for Teaching Mathematics, Developing Number Sense, and Beyond Number Sense. These results support the use of this instrument as a guide for research and policy, or to inform teacher curriculum decisions.

This study uses a large nationally representative data set (ECLS-K) of 5,181 students to examine the extent to which exposure to content and instructional practice contributes to mathematics achievement in fifth grade. Using hierarchical linear modeling, results suggest that more exposure to content beyond numbers and operations (i.e., geometry, algebra, measurement, and data analysis) contribute to student mathematics achievement, but there is no main effect for increased exposure on developing numbers and operations. Two significant interactions between exposure to specific content and racial composition of the classroom emerge. Specifically, as exposure to more diverse content increases, the classroom mathematics achievement gap among students in predominately Caucasian classrooms and those composed predominately of students of color appears to narrow. Findings are discussed with regard to promoting increased opportunities to learn mathematics for students in racially diverse classrooms.

This study examined psychometric properties of the Motor Skills Rating Scale (MSRS), a questionnaire designed for classroom teachers of children in early elementary school. Items were developed with the guidance of two occupational therapists, and factor structure was examined with an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The resulting model showed good fit with 19 items that loaded on 3 subscales: Shapes and Letters, Classroom Fine Motor, and Body Awareness. In tests of concurrent criterion validity, each scale was correlated in the expected direction with direct assessments of children's (N = 242) visuospatial processing, sensorimotor functioning, and executive function (EF) obtained using a direct neuropsychological assessment. Children with higher ratings on the Classroom Fine Motor scale of the MSRS also had higher teacher-rated and directly assessed mathematics achievement. Study findings provided preliminary support for the utility and validity of a brief teacher report of elementary children's motor skills. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

This study examined the contribution of executive function (EF) and multiple aspects of fine motor skills to achievement on 6 standardized assessments in a sample of middle-socioeconomic status kindergarteners. Three- and 4-year-olds' (n = 213) fine and gross motor skills were assessed in a home visit before kindergarten, EF was measured at fall of kindergarten, and Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Academic Achievement were administered at fall and spring. Correlations indicated that EF and fine motor skills appeared distinct. Further, controlling for background variables, higher levels of both EF and fine motor skills, specifically design copy, predicted higher achievement on multiple subtests at kindergarten entry, as well as improvement from fall to spring. Implications for research on school readiness are discussed. (Contains 8 tables.)

Research Findings: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, were used to examine the relation between parenting, sociodemographic characteristics, and school readiness among (N = 1,136) African American boys in kindergarten. Parenting was defined as parenting style (i.e., warmth and control), home learning stimulation, and culturally relevant parenting. Two child outcomes previously linked to school readiness were examined: kindergarten reading and approaches to learning. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to address 2 research questions. First, does parenting predict kindergarten reading above and beyond the contribution of sociodemographic characteristics? Second, does parenting predict kindergarten approaches to learning above and beyond the contribution of sociodemographic characteristics? Practice or Policy: Children with parents who set consistent bedtimes, provided more books in their homes, and read to them more frequently had better kindergarten reading scores after socioeconomic status, environmental safety, and maternal education were controlled. Similarly, children with parents who provided more books in their home and read to their children more frequently had more positive teacher-rated approaches to learning scores in kindergarten. Implications for future research are discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

Knowing whether time spent in formal schooling increases student achievement, and by how much, is important for policymakers interested in determining efficient use of resources. Using the ECLS-K, we exploit quasi-randomness in the timing of assessment dates to examine this question. Conservative estimates suggest a year of school results in gains of about one standard deviation above normal developmental gains in both reading and math test scores. The results are statistically significant and extremely robust to specification choice, supporting quasi-randomness of test dates. Estimates of skill accumulation due to formal schooling do not vary based on socioeconomic characteristics. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

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