Preschoolers’ vocabulary and inhibitory control: The role of classroom engagement

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

Background
The preschool years are a critical time when children make substantial growth in their language skills and self-regulation, both of which have been identified as cornerstones of children’s school readiness (Storch & Whitehurst, 2002; McClelland et al., 2007). However, individual differences in both of these domains exist before children enter preschool and can further explain later academic achievement (Fitzpatrick et al., 2014). It remains understudied how children’s initial language skills and self-regulation intersectionally shape their later skills (Cadima et al., 2019). One untested mechanism is through children’s engagement with their teachers, peers, and tasks. Both children’s language skills and self-regulation at the beginning of preschool lay the foundation for positive classroom engagement, which in turn, may contribute to skills growth. Accordingly, this study 1) explores the interrelations between preschoolers’ vocabulary and inhibitory control; and 2) examines how fall and spring vocabulary and inhibitory control are linked as a function of children’s individual engagement with their teacher, peers, and tasks.

Method
Participants were drawn from Phase 3 of the Teacher Professional Development Study conducted by the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education. A total sample of 895 ethnically diverse children (Mage=4.11, SD=0.50) across 223 classrooms were included in this analysis (for descriptive, see Table 1). During the fall and spring, children’s vocabulary was measured with the Woodcock-Johnson Picture Vocabulary subtest (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) and inhibitory control was assessed using the Pencil Tap test (Smith-Donald et al., 2007). During the school year, the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS) was used to observe children’s positive engagement with the teacher, peers, and tasks, in addition to their negative engagement with their teacher and peers (Downer et al., 2011). All analyses were performed in Mplus 7.0 within a path analytic framework, with a set of covariates included and clustering of standard errors at the classroom-level. Full information maximum likelihood estimation was used to address missing data.

Results
Vocabulary significantly predicted growth in inhibitory control (see Fig. 1). As shown in Fig. 1, children’s initial vocabulary was associated with positive engagement with their teacher and peers whereas initial inhibitory control was associated with greater task engagement and less conflict with teachers and peers. Children’s positive engagement with their teacher was associated with greater gains in vocabulary whereas negative engagement with teachers and peers predicted fewer gains in vocabulary and inhibitory control. Additionally, the association between fall inhibitory control and spring inhibitory control was partially mediated by conflict with their teacher and peers (βindirect=0.02, p<0.05; see Fig. 1).

Overall, these findings suggest that children’s inhibitory control shapes their experiences in preschool, which in turn, further shape their later development. Furthermore, they highlight the need to look at children’s individual classroom experiences as key processes in early skill development.

Authors

• Qingqing Yang, Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Kelly M Purtell, Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author