Poster #3 - Associations between Growth of Inhibitory Control from Head Start to Kindergarten and Academic Achievement

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Attention, Learning, Memory

Integrative Statement

Inhibitory control (IC) and approaches to learning (ATL) have been considered as two key domain-general indicators of school readiness that develop rapidly in early childhood (Sanchez-Perez, Fuentes, Eisenberg, & Gonzalez-Salinas, 2018). IC refers to the ability to inhibit a dominant behavior in deference to a more subdominant behavior (Rothbath, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001). It helps children maintain attention, focus on a teacher’s instructions, and engage in goal-directed tasks (Zhou, Main & Wang, 2010). ATL refers to a set of classroom-based learning-related behaviors, such as persistence, eagerness to learn, and motivation (Fantuzzo, McWayne, Perry, & Childs, 2004). While both capacities are directly associated with academic outcomes, ATL may also mediate the relationship between IC and academic outcomes (Sung & Wickrama, 2018). Given that academic gaps between children from disadvantaged homes and their affluent peers emerge in preschool years, it is critical to understand how these components are both uniquely and interdependently related to academic outcomes among children from low-income families (Harvey & Miller, 2016). However, research is limited and provides equivocal findings (Bohnlmann & Downer, 2016). Thus, this study investigated how the initial level of and growth in IC are associated with ATL, literacy and math outcomes in a sample of Head Start children, focusing on the mediational role of ATL.

Method

Using the Age 3 cohort from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 (FACES 2009), we utilized latent growth curve analysis in a structural equation framework to examine how both the initial level and growth of IC in HS years to Kindergarten were associated with children’s academic outcomes in Kindergarten. Further, we examined the mediational role of ATL between the initial level and growth of IC and academic outcomes. IC was assessed via pencil tap task, while ATL was measured through teacher-report. Children’s math scores were obtained using item response theory from the Woodcock Johnson Applied Problems and the ECLS-B Math, while the standardized score of the PPVT was utilized for literacy.

Results and Discussion

IC showed significant linear growth (b= 4.07, p<.001) from Head Start to Kindergarten. Results (Figures 1 & 2) showed that both intercept and slope of IC predicted children’s ATL, literacy, and math scores in Kindergarten. In addition, kindergarten ATL was significantly positively associated with math, but not literacy outcomes, suggesting that ATL may mediate associations between the intercept and slope of IC and academic outcomes for math (Indirect effect: 95% CI = .05 - .20; 95% CI = .10 -.45), but not literacy. These differences suggest that IC and its growth may account for math achievement more so than reading achievement in Kindergarten (Sung & Wickrama, 2018). This study provides evidence that both IC and ATL make unique contributions to children’s academic achievement. It is important for teachers in early childhood to consider how to best nurture both capacities, especially for low-income children, so that they will be ready to learn and grow in Kindergarten (Pancheco, Owen & Caughy, 2018).

Authors

• Amber Beisly, University of Oklahoma
  Presenting Author

• Shinyoung Jeon, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kyong-Ah Kwon, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author