Poster #75 - Examining the Influence of Kindergarteners' Self-Regulation Skills on Teacher Decision-Making

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Background. Research has established the importance of self-regulation, or executive function (EF) skills for children’s early academic success (e.g., McClelland et al., 2007). These skills are typically identified as working memory, attention, and inhibitory control (Blair, 2002). However, work has largely focused on assessment of children’s individual skills as opposed to development of these skills in a classroom context, including teachers’ explicit understanding of children’s self-regulation skills in the social context and their subsequent decision-making (e.g., grouping students for daily activities). Furthermore, there is an increasing focus on peer ecologies in the classroom and the ways they may influence classroom outcomes (e.g., Gest & Rodkin, 2011). The current study explored how teachers’ decision-making reflected their beliefs on grouping children in the classroom (e.g., seating charts) and how this related to children’s actual self-regulation skills. This study builds on the existing work by integrating data on children’s regulatory abilities and their peer connections with the teacher perspective.
Participants. Participants included 11 kindergarten teachers from four different elementary schools. All teachers were female and Caucasian. Mean number of total years of teaching experience was 12.54 (range = 2 to 28 years). There were 117 students included in the study. Mean age of all child participants was 73.1 months (6 yr., 1 mo.; SD = 4.1). The sample was 54% male and 88% Caucasian.
Methods. During classroom visits, researchers assessed children on their self-regulation skills – both individually and in pairs – as well as on academic achievement. Researchers also asked teachers to rate which factors they consider most important when creating seating charts. Seating chart data were collected.
Measures. Children completed the Head-Toe-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS; Ponitz et al., 2009). Researchers assessed children individually and in pairs during separate visits to assess self-regulation/EF skills. Children completed Woodcock-Johnson III Letter-Word Identification and Applied Problems subtests (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Teachers completed a grouping strategy rating scale by rating the importance of various factors when creating seating charts and grouping students in the classroom, adapted from Gest and Rodkin (2011). Teachers rated importance of the following considerations: academic, friendship, classroom management, gender, race/ethnicity, and special needs. Teachers also identified children’s close friendships in the classroom and researchers noted classroom seating charts at time of study.
Results. Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for the eight items on the grouping strategy rating scale. Teachers in this sample described classroom management (e.g., identifying potential behavior problems), accommodating special needs, and creating gender diversity as strong considerations. Table 2 indicates that students’ higher individual self-regulation scores were related to them being seated at tables with at least one close friend (r = .19, p < .05). No other variables were significant correlates.
Discussion. This study has strong implications for how teachers make decisions on pairing children in the classroom on a daily basis for academic tasks, particularly with regard to their understanding of self-regulation/EF skills. Clearly, teacher decisions on grouping students in the classroom are highly influenced by the need to separate behavior problems, which implicates self-regulation/EF skills.

Author

• Noah Neidlinger, Eastern Kentucky University
  Presenting Author