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The role of executive function and motor skills in academic success among children in the U.S.

Thu, March 21, 12:30 to 2:00pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 345

Integrative Statement

Introduction: A considerable body of research indicates that children’s executive function (EF) skills and related school readiness constructs are important for early learning and long-term academic success (McClelland & Cameron, 2018; Cameron, 2018). Research also has demonstrated that EF and a related construct, motor skills (specifically visuo-motor integration), are foundational for learning. Moreover, these skills may co-develop in young children in bidirectional and synergistic ways (Becker et al., 2014; Cameron et al., 2015). The present study reviews research on EF and motor skills as foundational learning skills, which co-develop in young children and are especially important as children make the transition to formal schooling. Definitional and conceptual issues and discussed, and EF and visuo-motor integration are connected to relevant theoretical perspectives. Measurement issues are examined as is evidence that supports the malleability of these skills in young children. Data from a recent study is also presented from young children in two U. S. states, which examined associations among four cognitive and academic skills: executive function (EF), visuo-motor integration, applied number problems, and letter-word knowledge. The study examined if initial levels and gains in four cognitive and academic skills predicted gains in other skills using cross-lagged panel models and fixed effects models.

Methods: Data for the study were collected from children at two time points (before (T1) and after kindergarten (T2)) from two sites in the U.S. (Oregon and South Carolina). The combined sample (see Table 1) included N = 555 children of average age 5.28 years at T1 and 6.28 at T2. The sample was 48% male; 80.7% of children’s mothers finished high school, and 7.7% of children (Oregon only) were Spanish-speaking and assessed in Spanish. Children were assessed using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) EF task (McClelland et al., 2014), the Beery-Buktenica test of Visuo-motor Integration (VMI; Beery, 1997), and Woodcock-Johnson III subtests of Applied problems and Letter-word identification (Woodcock & Mather, 2000).

Results: Bidirectional analyses supported hypotheses by showing that all T1 skills predicted at least one other skill, with T1 HTKS and Applied problems predicting all alternate skills. In addition, improving from T1 to T2 in Applied problems was associated with improvements in all alternate skills using random effects analyses, based on differences between children nested in kindergarten classrooms (see Table 1). This overall pattern of results was confirmed using fixed effects analyses, which examined only within-child variability (see Table 2).

Discussion: Results from the research review and the two-site study support and extend previous research by suggesting that EF and motor skills are foundational skills that develop together in young children. Evidence from the two-site study supported early math skills being intertwined with EF and visuo-motor integration and emergent literacy skills during kindergarten. The pattern of results was largely consistent using random and fixed effects models. Overall, previous research and data from the present study suggest that research examining children’s learning from a co-development perspective can help promote children’s health and well-being.

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