Longitudinal Associations Among Executive Function, Visuomotor Integration, and Achievement: Timing Is Everything

• In Event: 72.032 - Data-Driven Approaches in Educational Neuroscience

Abstract

Executive function is an important predictor of academic achievement. More recently, spatial skills, including visuomotor integration, have emerged as foundational to early achievement. 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. The present study examines cross-lagged associations among executive function, visuomotor skills, and math and reading achievement across K-2. Participants were 259 students enrolled in elementary schools serving predominantly low income communities. Executive function at multiple time points predicted reading and math achievement in subsequent years. However, visuomotor integration in kindergarten alone predicted future achievement. Early intervention to improve visuomotor integration may bolster academic achievement more so than later remediation.

Authors

• Laura L Brock, College of Charleston

• Helyn Kim, The Brookings Institution

• Cara Adams