Differential Effects of Prekindergarten Practices on Executive Function Development

• In Event: 3-125 - Self-regulation in school: Classroom and child influences

Integrative Statement

With calls for prekindergarten (preK) to help support children at early academic risk, it is critical to identify specific, and potentially malleable, features that impact learning. Moreover, it is vital that we understand the conditions under which different aspects of quality impact learning.
In a diverse sample of 1103 prekindergartners (56% female, 34% ELL, 41% White, 36% Black, 25% Hispanic/Latino) from 80 public classrooms predominantly serving economically disadvantaged families, the current study examined relations among classroom-level aspects of quality (quality driven by the teacher) and child-level aspects of engagement with children’s executive function (EF) skills. Furthermore, we explored whether relations between quality and development were moderated by children’s EF at the onset of preK.
Three times during the preK year (fall, winter, spring), a full-day observation was conducted using a snapshot system to capture children’s and teachers’ behaviors along with a running-record of how time was spent in the classrooms. Quality delivered included classroom emotional tone (teacher tone, amount behavior approving and disapproving), instructional quality, and the proportion of time spent in teacher-directed instruction versus child-directed experiences. Quality received included children’s level of involvement in learning, participation in sequential/goal-directed activities, and social learning interactions. EF skills (Backward Digit Span, Copy Design, Dimensional Change Card Sort, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Task, Peg Tapping) were assessed in the fall and spring of the preK year. Descriptive statistics are provided in Table 1. As children’s mathematics have been previously associated with EF skills, standardized measures of mathematics were examined to check for consistency across outcomes.
Analyses conducted in Mplus adjusted for nesting of children within classrooms. Separate models were run for each outcome and separately for classroom and child-level predictors. Models also included pretest scores, gender, age, and ELL status, as well as the interaction between pretest EF and the target predictor of quality.
As seen in Table 2, EF gains were uniquely associated with both quality as delivered and received. At the classroom-level, EF gains were associated with greater instructional quality and emotional tone. Unexpectedly, based on the supposition that having the opportunity to self-direct would lead to greater gains in internal regulation, results indicate that more teacher-directed instruction, and less child-direct, was associated with greater gains. Moreover, significant moderation of teacher-directed instruction (Table 2) suggests that prekindergartners with lower entering EF benefited significantly from direct instruction. Exploration of these somewhat surprising findings will be further examined in the presentation. For quality as received, children’s level of involvement, sequential activities engagement, and social-learning interactions were associated with greater gains. Significant moderating effects for sequential and social-learning interactions also suggest that these classroom behaviors are particularly important for children who may enter with lower EF.
Mathematics gains were influenced by these as well as different factors. Quality as received effects for mathematics gains were also found to be particularly pronounced for children with lower entering EF skills. For the presentation, implications of these findings for early childhood education practice and policy will be discussed.

Authors

• Kimberly T Nesbitt, University of New Hampshire
  Presenting Author

• Dale C Farran, Vanderbilt University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mary Fuhs, University of Dayton
  Non-Presenting Author