Christine P. Li-Grining

CSRP’s Impact on Low-Income Preschoolers’ Preacademic Skills: Self-Regulation as a Mediating Mechanism

Based on theoretically driven models, the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) targeted low-income childrens school readiness through the mediating mechanism of self-regulation. The CSRP is a multicomponent, cluster-randomized efficacy trial implemented in 35 Head Start-funded classrooms (N = 602 children). The analyses confirm that the CSRP improved low-income childrens self-regulation skills (as indexed by attention/impulse control and executive function) from fall to spring of the Head Start year. Analyses also suggest significant benefits of CSRP for childrens preacademic skills, as measured by vocabulary, letter-naming, and math skills. Partial support was found for improvement in childrens self-regulation as a hypothesized mediator for childrens gains in academic readiness. Implications for programs and policies that support young childrens behavioral health and academic success are discussed.

Children's early approaches to learning and academic trajectories through fifth grade.

Childrens early approaches to learning (ATL) enhance their adaptation to the demands they experience with the start of formal schooling. The current study uses individual growth modeling to investigate whether childrens early ATL, which includes persistence, emotion regulation, and attentiveness, explain individual differences in their academic trajectories during elementary school. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), the present investigation examined the association between ATL at kindergarten entry and trajectories of reading and math achievement across 6 waves of data from kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade (n = 10,666). The current study found a positive link between early ATL and individual trajectories of reading and math performance. Overall, childrens early ATL was equally beneficial for children regardless of their race/ethnicity and dimensions of their socioeconomic background. However, links between early ATL and academic trajectories differed by their gender and initial levels of math and reading achievement.

Child Care and the Development of Behavior Problems Among Economically Disadvantaged Children in Middle Childhood

Research examining the longer term influences of child care on childrens development has expanded in recent years, but few studies have considered low-income childrens experiences in community care arrangements. Using data from the Three-City Study (N=349), the present investigation examines the influences of child care quality, extent and type on low-income childrens development of behavior problems during middle childhood (7-11 years old). Higher levels of child care quality were linked to moderate reductions in externalizing behavior problems. High-quality child care was especially protective against the development of behavior problems for boys and African American children. Child care type and the extent of care that children experienced were generally unrelated to behavior problems in middle childhood.

A Developmental Perspective on Full- Versus Part-Day Kindergarten and Children’s Academic Trajectories Through Fifth Grade

Childrens kindergarten experiences are increasingly taking place in full- versus part-day programs, yet important questions remain about whether there are significant and meaningful benefits to full-day kindergarten. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Studys Kindergarten Cohort (N= 13,776), this study takes a developmental approach to examining associations between kindergarten program type and academic trajectories from kindergarten (ages 4-6 years) through 5th grade (ages 9-12 years). Full-day kindergarten was associated with greater growth of reading and math skills from fall until spring of kindergarten. Initial academic benefits diminished soon after kindergarten. The fade-out of the full-day advantage is in part explained by differences in the children who attend part- and full-day kindergarten as well as school characteristics.

Dosage Effects on School Readiness: Evidence from a Randomized Classroom-Based Intervention

Variations in the dosage of social interventions and the effects of dosage on program outcomes remain understudied. This study examines the dosage effects of the Chicago School Readiness Project, a randomized, multifaceted classroom-based intervention conducted in Head Start settings. Using a principal score matching method to address the issue of selection bias, the study finds that high-dosage levels of teacher training and mental health consultant class visits have larger effects on children’s school readiness than the effects estimated through intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses. Low-dosage levels of treatment are found to have effects that are smaller than those estimated in ITT analyses or to have no statistically significant program effects. Moreover, individual mental health consultation services provided to high-risk children are found to have statistically significant effects on their school readiness. The study discusses the implications of these findings for research and policy.

Executive functions as predictors of syntactic awareness in English monolingual and English–Spanish bilingual language brokers and nonbrokers

Executive function (EF) skills (cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory) and syntactic awareness of monolingual (English) and bilingual (English–Spanish) language brokers and nonbrokers were examined. EF skills may be salient for brokers, who must not only inhibit interference from another language but also exhibit EF skills when translating. The brokers displayed better cognitive flexibility when compared to the other groups. For the bilingual groups, cognitive flexibility was also a predictor of English syntactic awareness when accuracy was taken into account. Cognitive flexibility and inhibition were important factors on a Spanish syntactic awareness measure. These results are discussed in terms of how linkages between EF skills and syntactic awareness may be moderated by language group.