Kate Niehaus

Temperament in early childhood and peer interactions in third grade: the role of teacher-child relationships in early elementary grades.

Childrens interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to childrens success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher-child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine childrens early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher-child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The sample (N=1364) was drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results from structural equation models indicated that teacher-child conflict in early elementary grades mediated links between childrens temperament and later peer interactions. Findings underscore the importance of considering childrens temperament traits and teacher-child relationship quality when examining the mechanisms of the development of peer interactions.

Self-Efficacy, Intrinsic Motivation, and Academic Outcomes Among Latino Middle School Students Participating in an After-School Program

This longitudinal study examined how academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and participation in an after-school program contributed to the academic achievement of Latino middle school students over the course of one school year. Participants were 47 Latino students in sixth through eighth grades who attended two public middle schools in which an after-school program was held that was specifically for Latino students. Results from ordinary least squares regression revealed that intrinsic motivation was positively associated with students GPAs, self-efficacy was a positive predictor of students’ school attendance and standardized math achievement scores, and attendance at the after-school program also contributed positively to students’ math achievement. Results from multilevel growth modeling showed that students’ self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation remained stable across the school year and were not related to students’ degree of participation in the after-school program. Several avenues for future research within the Latino student population are discussed.

School Support, Parental Involvement, and Academic and Social-Emotional Outcomes for English Language Learners:

This study examined the relationships among school support, parental school involvement, and academic and social-emotional outcomes for children who are English language learners (ELLs). The sample included 1,020 third-grade ELLs who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K). Results from structural equation modeling showed that higher levels of school support predicted more parental involvement, more parental involvement predicted fewer social-emotional concerns for ELL children, and fewer social-emotional problems were linked to higher achievement scores. Contrary to expectations, results showed that ELL students had lower achievement and more social-emotional concerns when they attended schools that provided more support services. The authors discuss possible explanations for these findings as well as directions for future research and implications for policy and practice.

Changes in School Connectedness and Deviant Peer Affiliation Among Sixth-Grade Students From High-Poverty Neighborhoods

This longitudinal study examined associations between changes in School Connectedness and changes in Affiliation With Deviant Peers among students from high-poverty backgrounds during the year immediately following the transition to middle school. Sixth-graders (N = 328) attending two middle schools in a large school district completed measures of School Connectedness and Affiliation With Deviant Peers at three points across the year. Results from parallel process modeling showed that students’ reports of School Support significantly declined across the school year, School Support and Affiliation With Deviant Peers were negatively associated at the beginning of the school year, and students who reported more declines in School Support were more likely to report growth in Affiliation With Deviant Peers across sixth grade. Gender differences were also found. Findings suggest that School Connectedness may be important for high-poverty students following the transition to middle school.

Language Brokering and Self-Concept: An Exploratory Study of Latino Students' Experiences in Middle and High School.

This exploratory study examined the relationships among individual characteristics, language brokering experiences and attitudes, and multiple dimensions of self-concept among a sample of Latino adolescents. The sample was comprised of 66 Latino students in 6th through 11th grades who were proficient in both Spanish and English. Results from regression analyses and correlational analyses showed that language brokering frequency was negatively associated with academic self-concept and perceived popularity at school, language brokering difficulty was a positive predictor of academic self-concept, and language brokering attitudes were positively related to academic self-concept, perceived popularity with peers, and confidence in one’s physical appearance. Students who were first-generation immigrants not only reported brokering more frequently, brokering in more difficult situations, and feeling more positive about language brokering, but also reported lower emotional well-being as compared to students born in the United States. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

You don’t need to talk to throw a ball! Children’s inclusion of language-outgroup members in behavioral and hypothetical scenarios.

To investigate children’s inclusion of language-outgroup members, English-speaking children (8–9 years and 10–11 years of age, N = 57) made inclusion decisions while playing a simulated ball-tossing game, Cyberball, and while evaluating hypothetical scenarios involving language-outgroup members who wanted to play with their group. In the Cyberball game, the group norm was to exclude non-English-speaking peers, and participant tosses to a language-outgroup member (i.e., Spanish, Chinese, or Arabic speaking) were coded as a measure of behavioral inclusion. In the hypothetical scenarios, participants made prescriptive and descriptive judgments about their expectations regarding the inclusion of a language-outgroup member. They also evaluated their own and their group’s inclusion likelihood. Results revealed that participants’ evaluations of how acceptable exclusion was predicted their behavioral inclusion in the Cyberball game. Further, participants were more likely to think that the language-outgroup member should be included and less likely to think that the outgroup member would be included. They also differentiated between their own and their group’s likelihood of including a language-outgroup member and reasoned about this decision by focusing on group functioning and language. In addition, there were age-related differences, with participants demonstrating greater inclusivity with age. The findings suggest the complexity of children’s social cognition and the importance of providing them with a rich array of opportunities to play with language-outgroup members.

Native language background and academic achievement: Is socioemotional well-being a mediator?

ABSTRACT This study examined the extent to which socioemotional well-being mediated the relationship between language status and achievement, while exploring variability in this relationship based on informant (student versus teacher reports of socioemotional problems) and native language background (Spanish-speaking English language learners [ELLs] versus ELLs from Asian-language backgrounds). Participants included 9,046 fifth-grade students from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 1998. Results from structural equation modeling showed that Spanish-speaking ELLs reported more social-emotional problems as compared to English-monolingual (EM) and Asian-language ELL classmates in third grade, which partially explained their lower achievement levels in fifth grade. The model accounted for approximately 34% of the variance in students’ academic achievement in fifth grade (R2 = .343, p < .001). When comparing ELL and EM students, results differed when using teachers’ versus students’ reports of socioemotional well-being. For both Spanish-speaking and Asian-language ELLs, teachers perceived fewer social and emotional difficulties than the students themselves reported in comparison to their EM classmates.