Examining the Longitudinal Impact of an Executive Function-Focused Program on Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Student Achievement

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Executive Function and Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of Fueling Brains, an executive function-focused early childhood program, on young children’s literacy and mathematics skills over a 2-year period. A matched sample of Fueling Brains pre-kindergarten students, from an economically disadvantaged, high-minority district in Southeast Texas, were academically compared to students in a traditional academic-focused program. Findings indicated that students who participated in the Fueling Brains program academically outperformed those in the comparison group in rapid vocabulary and phonological awareness. By the end of kindergarten, the Fueling Brains students outperformed their peers on 86% of the literacy/mathematics subtests. Results suggest participation in an executive function-focused program, may reduce the achievement gap observed at preschool entry between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.

Authors

• Amber L. Brown, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Michelle L. Peters, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Susan Jackson, Goose Creek CISD