Early Executive Function as a Predictor of Later Academic Achievement

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Four
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT017 (Saturday)

Abstract

This study investigates the role of kindergarten executive function (EF) skills, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, in predicting fifth-grade academic achievement. We examine nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011). Building on Hillemeier et al. (2019), we extend prior research by testing the long-term influence of early domain-general EF on later domain-specific academic outcomes. We hypothesize that early EF skills significantly predict later academic achievement in fifth grade. A hierarchical multiple linear regression will be used to test the hypothesis and assess the extent to which early executive function skills predict fifth-grade academic achievement.

Authors

• Chase Haney, California State University - Fullerton

• Sue Sy, California State University - Fullerton