The Relationship Between Self-Regulation, Classroom Behaviors, and Literacy in Kindergarten

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Recent educational research studies have shown that self-regulatory skills are an important factor in predicting academic outcomes of young children entering school (Denham, Bassett, Way, Mincic, Zinsser, & Graling, 2012). Most studies of this relationship have measured self-regulation in a laboratory. In this study we examined the relationship between literacy outcomes in kindergarten and dimensions of self-regulation measured in the classroom, thus making our results more applicable for early childhood teachers. Analyses were conducted using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) data set, a nationally representative sample of children born in the United States in 2001. Specifically, we examined to what extent do cognitive, behavioral, and prosocial measures of self-regulation predict children’s early literacy skills in kindergarten?
The study of self-regulation is not new but thinking about it in the context of school readiness is (Liew, 2012). Research on self-regulation has been conducted in the fields of developmental and cognitive psychology, and studies have heavily relied on parent report or lab-based direct assessment and observation of the child. Only recently have researchers began to incorporate multiple aspects of self-regulation by measuring it in educational settings (McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2006). Moreover, self-regulatory behaviors likely manifest differently at home, in a laboratory, and in the classroom. Indeed, there is evidence that self-regulation of preschoolers in one context is weakly correlated with self-regulation in another context (Blair, 2003; Bulotsky-Shearer, Fantuzzo, & McDermott, 2008).
Evidence supports the effectiveness of interventions in influencing self-regulatory behaviors in children, particularly through interventions using scaffolding techniques (Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, & Munro, 2007; Rueda, Rothbart, McCandliss, Saccomanno, & Posner, 2005). These interventions provide evidence that, despite the biological and environmental contributions (whether serving as protective or risk factors), children can benefit from educational opportunities to improve their self-regulatory capacities.
Literacy continues to be a major focus of school readiness research, policy, and interventions (see for example, the Head Start Statute of No Child Left Behind, 2001, Early Reading First, 2002). According to the Nation’s Report Card only 34% of fourth graders score at or above proficiency on reading achievement measures (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011).

Authors

• Jaime Dice, University of Rhode Island

• Minsuk Kim Shim, University of Rhode Island