Classroom-Level Measure of Students' Regulatory Behaviors and Its Association With Child Development

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Individual and Contextual Factors Affecting Child and Adolescent Development

Abstract

The present study validates the use of a novel classroom-level measure of students’ regulatory behaviors to understand whether the classroom regulatory environment is predictive of individual elementary students’ executive function (EF) and social-emotional (SE) development. We found validity for the use of this measure at the classroom-level in the Brazilian context. Moreover, the regulatory environment was associated with student gains in EF and SE over the school year. Results also showed that student gains in EF and SE did not vary by student-level characteristics. Collectively, these results suggest the promise of a quick, inexpensive measure of the classroom regulatory environment and build on prior research demonstrating the importance of peers and the classroom environment for EF and SE development.

Authors

• Wendy Wei, Harvard University

• Dana Charles McCoy, Harvard University

• Emily Hanno, Harvard University