Kaisa Aunola

Developmental Dynamics of Math Performance From Preschool to Grade 2

This study investigated the developmental dynamics of mathematical performance during childrens transition from preschool to Grade 2 and the cognitive antecedents of this development. 194 Finnish children were examined 6 times according to their math performance, twice during each year across a 3-year period. Cognitive antecedents, that is, counting ability, visual attention, metacognitive knowledge, and listening comprehension, were tested at the first measurement point. The results indicated that math performance showed high stability and increasing variance over time. Moreover, the growth of math competence was faster among those who entered preschool with an already high level of mathematical skills. The initial level of math performance, as well as its growth, was best predicted by counting ability.

Development of reading skills among preschool and primary school pupils

This study investigated the trajectories of preschool and first-grade childrens development of reading skills, as well as the cognitive and social antecedents of that development. One-hundred and ninety-six 5- to 6-year-old children were tested in October and April of their preschool year and again in the first grade. Data included measures of reading ability and its cognitive and social antecedents, which were analyzed using Simplex and Piecewise Growth Curve Modeling. The results showed that during the preschool year individual differences in reading grew larger and that this growth was faster among those who entered preschool with well-developed skills. However, during the first grade individual differences in reading diminished. The results suggest that systematic reading instruction in primary school education is more beneficial for children with less developed literacy skills, whereas children with more developed reading skills gain relatively less from reading instruction in the first grade. ESTE ESTUDIO investigo el curso evolutivo de las habilidades de lectura en ninos de pre-escolar y escuela primaria, asi como los antecedentes cognitivos y sociales de dicho desarrollo. Ciento noventa y seis ninos de 5 a 6 anos fueron evaluados en octubre y abril en pre-escolar y nuevamente en primer grado. Los datos incluyeron medidas de habilidad de lectura y sus antecedentes cognitivos y sociales y fueron analizados usando el metodo “Simplex and Piecewise Growth Curve Modeling.” Los resultados mostraron que, durante el ano de pre-escolar las diferencias individuales en lectura aumentaron y que este crecimiento fue mas rapido entre aquellos que entraron a preescolar con habilidades bien desarrolladas. Sin embargo, durante el primer grado, las diferencias individuales en lectura disminuyeron. Los resultados sugieren que la ensenanza sistematica de la lectura en la educacion primaria es mas beneficiosa para los ninos con habilidades de lectoescritura menos desarrolladas; en tanto que los ninos con habilidades de lectura mas desarrolladas obtienen relativamente menos beneficios de la ensenanza de la lectura en primer grado. DIESE STUDIE untersuchte die Gedankenbahnen bei der Entwicklung von Leseleistungen von Kindern in der Vorschule und der ersten Klasse, sowie die kognitiven und sozialen Antezedentien dieser Entwicklung. Einhundertsechsundneunzig funf bis sechs Jahre alte Kinder wurden im Oktober und im April wahrend ihres Vorschuljahres und dann nochmals in der ersten Klasse gepruft. Die Daten umfassten das Ermessen der Lesefahigkeit und deren kognitiven und sozialen Antezedentien, die mittels Nutzung der “Simplex- und Piecewise” Wachstumsmodellkurven analysiert wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, das sich wahrend des Vorschuljahres individuelle Differenzen im Lesen verbesserten und das dieser Zuwachs bei jenen, die mit bereits gut entwickelten Leistungen in der Vorschule begannen, schneller vonstatten ging. Jedoch verringerten sich individuelle Differenzen wahrend der ersten Klasse. Die Ergebnisse empfehlen, das systematische Leseanweisungen in der Grundschulerziehung fur Kinder mit geringer entwickelten Leseleistungen vorteilhafter sind, wohingegen Kinder mit besser entwickelten Leseleistungen relativ geringfugig von den Leseanweisungen in der ersten Klasse profitieren.

Development of individual differences in reading : Results from longitudinal studies in english and finnish

The authors examined individual differences in reading development in English and Finnish. English-speaking Canadian children were assessed once per year in Grades 1-5, and Finnish children were assessed twice per year in Grades 1-2. Results from latent growth curve and simplex analyses showed that initial status was generally negatively associated with subsequent growth and that, although stable, individual differences were more likely to significantly decrease than to increase across the measurement points. Growth mixture models identified multiple groups of children whose reading development followed distinct patterns. The results indicate that it is possible for educational systems to significantly reduce individual differences in basic reading skills during early reading development.

The association between mathematical word problems and reading comprehension

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between mathematical word problem skills and reading comprehension. The participants were 225 children aged 9–10 (Grade 4). The children’s text comprehension and mathematical word problem‐solving performance was tested. Technical reading skills were investigated in order to categorise participants as good or poor readers. The results showed that performance on maths word problems was strongly related to performance in reading comprehension. Fluent technical reading abilities increased the aforementioned skills. However, even after controlling for the level of technical reading involved, performance in maths word problems was still related to reading comprehension, suggesting that both of these skills require overall reasoning abilities. There were no gender differences in maths word problem‐solving performance, but the girls were better in technical reading and in reading comprehension. Parental levels of education positively predicted children’s maths word problem‐solving performance and reading comprehension skills.

Development of Reading and Spelling Finnish From Preschool to Grade 1 and Grade 2

This study had two aims: first, to investigate how emerging reading and spelling are interlinked when children move up from preschool to primary school and, second, to examine the antecedents of these skills. The study is part of the Jyvaskyla Entrance into Primary School Study in which 196 children 5 to 6 years of age were followed up every half a year during their transition from preschool to Grade 1 and Grade 2. The results show, first, that reading skills at the end of preschool and Grade 1 predicted subsequent spelling skills and, second, that the level of spelling skills at the beginning of preschool predicted the level of reading skills at the end of the preschool year and at the end of Grade 1. These results suggest that emerging reading and spelling form a recursive developmental pattern. The results show further that phonological awareness predicts reading and spelling in preschool, whereas letter knowledge contributes to both skills during Grade 1.

Peer Group Influence and Selection in Adolescents' School Burnout: A Longitudinal Study

The present study investigated the extent to which peer group similarity in school burnout is due to peer group influence and the extent to which it is due to peer group selection. Moreover, the roles of academic achievement and gender in school burnout were examined. A total of 611 ninth graders were examined at the beginning of the final term of comprehensive school, and 614 were examined at the end of the final term. The results of the Multilevel Latent Growth Modeling showed that peer group influence was responsible for peer group similarity, but no evidence was found for peer group selection. The results showed further that high academic achievement protected group members against an increase in school burnout.

Predicting reading performance during the first and the second year of primary school

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the developmental antecedents of reading performance and its subcomponents from the beginning of the first year to the end of the second year of primary school. One-hundred-and-fourteen seven-year-old Finnish-speaking children were tested on reading-related skills during their first week of school using a test battery designed for school entrants. Following this they were examined six times on word reading and reading comprehension skills. The results showed that the reading-related variables predicting reading performance varied according to the phase of reading development. Moreover, partially different antecedents predicted word reading and reading comprehension. Word reading was associated with letter knowledge and listening comprehension, whereas initial word reading skill and listening comprehension were highly associated with the development of reading comprehension. The results support the development of reading instructional methods that take into account these differences in the components of reading performance and their development.

Linguistic and Spatial Skills Predict Early Arithmetic Development via Counting Sequence Knowledge

Utilizing a longitudinal sample of Finnish children (ages 6-10), two studies examined how early linguistic (spoken vs. written) and spatial skills predict later development of arithmetic, and whether counting sequence knowledge mediates these associations. In Study 1 (N = 1,880), letter knowledge and spatial visualization, measured in kindergarten, predicted the level of arithmetic in first grade, and later growth through third grade. Study 2 (n = 378) further showed that these associations were mediated by counting sequence knowledge measured in first grade. These studies add to the literature by demonstrating the importance of written language for arithmetic development. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that linguistic and spatial skills can improve arithmetic development by enhancing childrens number-related knowledge.

The role of success expectation and task-avoidance in academic performance and satisfaction: Three studies on antecedents, consequences and correlates☆

Abstract To investigate the prospective relationships between individuals’ success expectation and task-avoidance, and their academic achievement and satisfaction, 231 students were examined yearly throughout their university careers in Study 1. It was found that students’ success expectation predicted academic achievement and satisfaction; which, in turn, increased their subsequent success expectation. Moreover, task-avoidance predicted low academic achievement and dissatisfaction, which again was predictive of subsequent task-avoidance. In Study 2, the task-avoidant behavior, and pre-examination anxiety, of 198 students who had participated in Study 1 were examined, and compared with their subsequent grades. Students’ dispositional task-avoidance predicted their grades only to the extent to which it was reflected in their task-avoidant behavior. In Study 3, 249 students were investigated to determine their achievement beliefs and strategies, causal attributions, and academic achievement. Students who reported a high level of task-avoidance frequently also referred to a lack of effort after failure, whereas students who reported success expectation often mentioned their abilities as a reason for their success.

Job resources and flow at work: Modelling the relationship via latent growth curve and mixture model methodology

The aim of the present three-wave follow-up study ( n ¼ 335) among employees of an employment agency was to investigate the association between job resources and work-related flow utilizing both variable- and person-oriented approaches. In addition, emotional exhaustion was studied as am oderator of the job resources–flow relationship ,a nd as ap redictor of the development of job resources and flow .T he variable-oriented approach, based on latent growth curve analyses, revealed that the levels of job resources and flow at work ,a sw el la sc hanges in these variables, wer e positively associated with each other .T he person-oriented inspection with the growth mixture modelling identified four trajectories based on the mean levels of job resources and flow and on the changes of these mean levels ove rt ime: (a) moderate work-related resources ( n ¼ 166), (b) declining work-related resources ( n ¼ 87), (c) high workrelate dr esources ( n ¼ 46), and (d) low work-related resources ( n ¼ 36). Exhaustion was found to be an important predictor of job resources and flow ,b ut it did not moderate their mutual association. Specifically ,al ow level of exhaustion was found to predict high levels of job resources and flow .O verall, these results suggest the importance of ap erson-oriented vie wo fm otivational processes at work. In addition, in order to fully understand positive motivational processes it seems important to investigate the role of negative well-being states as well.