Instructional support predicts children's task avoidance in kindergarten

This study examined the role of observed classroom quality in children's task-avoidant behavior and math skills in kindergarten. To investigate this, 1268 children were tested twice on their math skills during their kindergarten year. Kindergarten teachers (N = 137) filled in questionnaires measuring their professional experience and also rated the children on their task-avoidant versus task-focused behaviors. Trained observers used the CLASS instrument (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) to observe 49 kindergarten teachers (out of 137) on their emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. The results of multilevel modeling showed that kindergarten classrooms differed in terms of children's task-avoidant behavior and math skills. Moreover, the more instructional support was evidenced in the classroom, the less children were rated as showing task-avoidant behavior. Task-avoidant behavior then predicted children's low levels of math skills. The findings of the present study emphasize the importance of quality of instructional support for children's adaptive classroom behaviors.     

The developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance in kindergarten and elementary school

Besides cognitive factors, children's learning at school may be influenced by more dynamic phenomena, such as motivation and achievement-related task-avoidant behavior. The present study examined the developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance from kindergarten to Grade 4. A total of 225 children were tested for their arithmetic skills in kindergarten and in Grades 1, 2, and 4 of elementary school. Children's task-avoidant behavior in learning situations was rated by their teachers. The results of latent growth curve analyses showed that math performance and task-avoidant behavior develop in tandem: an increase in task-avoidant behavior was related to less improvement in math performance. Furthermore, a high initial level of task-avoidant behavior predicted less improvement and slower improvement in math later on.     

Teacher Judgments of Student Reading and Math Skills: Associations With Child- and Classroom-Related Factors

The purpose of the study was to examine whether students’ linguistic skills and task-avoidant behavior (i.e., the child-related factors) and the mean level of academic skills (reading comprehension and math) of classmates (i.e., the class-related factor) are associated with teacher judgments of children’s reading comprehension and math skills. The participants were third-grade Estonian-speaking students (n?=?656; age 9?11 years) and their classroom teachers (n?=?51). The results of the structural equation modeling path analyses indicated that teachers tend to judge students showing higher academic and linguistic skills and lower avoidance behavior as higher on the reading comprehension and math skills. In contrast, the classmates’ higher academic skill level was related to lower judgments of individual children’s reading comprehension and math skills by teachers.     

The role of achievement strategies on literacy acquisition across languages

We examined the importance of children’s achievement strategies in different literacy outcomes in three languages varying in orthographic consistency: Chinese, English, and Greek. Eighty Chinese-speaking Taiwanese children, 51 English-speaking Canadian children and 70 Greek children were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, reading fluency, and spelling. The children’s use of a task-focused versus task-avoidant achievement strategy in the classroom context was rated by their teachers. The results indicated that the teacher-rated task-focused behavior was a significant predictor of spelling and to a lesser extent of reading fluency and that its effects were comparable across languages.     

The cross-lagged relations between children’s academic skill development, task-avoidance, and parental beliefs about success

This longitudinal study investigated the cross-lagged associations between children’s academic skill development, task-avoidant behaviour in the context of homework, and parental beliefs about their child’s success from kindergarten to Grade 2. The participants were 1267 children. The children’s pre-skills were assessed at the end of the kindergarten year, and math and reading skills at the end of Grade 1 and Grade 2. Parents provided ratings of their beliefs about their children’s school success and task-avoidant behaviour with regard to homework at the end of Grades 1 and 2. The results showed that children’s math and reading skills predicted children’s task-avoidant behaviour regarding homework as rated by mothers, but not by fathers, when autoregressive effects were taken into account. In addition, task-avoidant behaviour predicted the mothers’ subsequent beliefs about their children’s school success but not vice versa. A reciprocal effect was found between fathers’ beliefs about success and children’s task-avoidance.     

The Roles of Achievement-Related Behaviours and Parental Beliefs in Children's Mathematical Performance

This study aimed to investigate the developmental dynamics between children's mathematical performance, the task-focused versus task-avoidant behaviours they show in the classroom, and their parents' beliefs concerning their school competence. The mathematical performance of 111 six- to seven-year-old children was tested, and their task-focused versus task-avoidant behaviours were rated by their teachers four times during their first school year. Parents filled in questionnaires measuring their skill-specific and general beliefs about their children's school competencies at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The results showed that parents' beliefs in their children's general school competence increased their children's task-focused behaviours at school, which further predicted the child's high level of maths performance. Parents' beliefs in their children's competence in mathematics, in turn, contributed directly to the children's high mathematical performance. Moreover, children's high performance increased parents' subsequent beliefs in their children's mathematical competence, whereas children's task-focused behaviours predicted parents' beliefs in their children's overall school performance.     

The Role of Gender and Reading Competence in the Development of Motivational Orientations from Kindergarten to Grade 1

This longitudinal study examined gender differences in motivation and the role of reading prerequisites, that is phonemic and comprehension skills, in the formation of motivational tendencies from kindergarten up to grade 1. The longitudinal sample consisted of 157 Finnish-speaking children. Teachers rated children's adaptive goals, (i.e. task orientation and social dependence orientation) at four points of time, kindergarten-spring, preschool-fall, preschool-spring and in the fall of grade 1. Children's phonemic awareness and language comprehension skills were assessed in kindergarten at the initiation of the study (i.e. initial phoneme identification, rhyming, writing of the alphabet, listening and instruction comprehension). Word reading and reading comprehension skills were assessed at the end of grade 1 in the three groups of children at risk for reading failure and in children with high reading prerequisites. The results showed that gender and early phonemic and language comprehension differences were associated with divergent motivational-developmental trajectories. Children with low phonemic or low language comprehension skill showed higher social dependence and lower task orientation over time than children with high initial reading prerequisites. In particular, boys with low reading prerequisites underwent a negative motivational change. The group of children who had poor phonemic and poor language comprehension skills showed most unfavorable development of motivation and reading. Findings concerning motivational trajectories are discussed with regard to the lack of fit between child's competence and curriculum demands.     

The cross-lagged associations between classroom interactions and children’s achievement behaviors

This study examined the cross-lagged associations between the quality of classroom interactions and children’s behaviors in achievement situations. The achievement behaviors in challenging test situations of 166 Finnish children from 70 classrooms were rated by trained testers in grades 1 and 2. The quality of classroom interactions in terms of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were observed in 25 classrooms (out of 70) in grades 1 and 2. The results of multilevel modeling showed that classroom teachers’ low emotional support predicted children’s subsequent high passive avoidance, whereas high classroom organization and instructional support predicted children’s high social dependence. Furthermore, the more children showed active task avoidance, the more emotional and instructional support and classroom organization teachers showed later on in the classroom. The findings emphasize the importance of warm and supportive classroom interactions for children’s adaptive achievement behaviors. The results also suggest that teachers adapt their classroom interactions with respect to children’s active task avoidance.     

The precursors of double dissociation between reading and spelling in a transparent orthography

Research and clinical practitioners have mixed views whether reading and spelling difficulties should be combined or seen as separate. This study examined the following: (a) if double dissociation between reading and spelling can be identified in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and (b) the cognitive and noncognitive precursors of this phenomenon. Finnish-speaking children (n?=?1963) were assessed on reading fluency and spelling in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Dissociation groups in reading and spelling were formed based on stable difficulties in grades 1–4. The groups were compared in kindergarten phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, home literacy environment, and task-avoidant behavior. The results indicated that the double dissociation groups could be identified even in the context of a highly transparent orthography: 41 children were unexpected poor spellers (SD), 36 were unexpected poor readers (RD), and 59 were poor in both reading and spelling (RSD). The RSD group performed poorest on all cognitive skills and showed the most task-avoidant behavior, the RD group performed poorly particularly on rapid automatized naming and letter knowledge, and the SD group had difficulties on phonological awareness and letter knowledge. Fathers’ shared book reading was less frequent in the RD and RSD groups than in the other groups. The findings suggest that there are discernible double dissociation groups with distinct cognitive profiles. This further suggests that the identification of difficulties in Finnish and the planning of teaching and remediation practices should include both reading and spelling assessments.     

Age and Gender Differences in Children's Self- and Task Perceptions during Elementary School

We examined the development of children's self- and task perceptions during the elementary school years. 865 first-, second-, and fourth-grade children (ages 7–10) completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of competence in, and valuing of, activities in several activity domains (math, reading, sports, and instrumental music). Factor analyses showed that even the first graders had differentiated self-beliefs for the various activities. These analyses also indicated that children's competence beliefs and subjective task values formed distinct factors. Analyses assessing age and gender differences in children's beliefs showed that for all the activities except sports, younger children's (particularly the first graders) perceptions of competence and subjective task values were more positive than the beliefs of the older children. Boys had more positive competence beliefs and values than did girls for sport activities, and more positive competence beliefs for mathematics. Girls had more positive competence beliefs and values than did boys for reading and music activities.     

Effects of mathematics learning through children's literature on math achievement and dispositional outcomes

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of using children's literature to promote mathematics learning. Fifty-seven kindergarteners were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group. The experimental group received mathematics related storybook reading and discussion time and played with mathematics materials that were related to the storybook content during free play. The control group had ordinary storybook reading time and played with mathematics materials unrelated to the storybook content. The Learning Readiness Test and the Early Mathematics Achievement Test were administered. Four mathematics tasks were also given to compare the mathematics achievement of the two groups. The children's choice of favorite corners, the time spent, and the number of children who played in the mathematics corner were investigated also to measure children's disposition toward doing mathematics. The results showed that more children in the experimental group liked the mathematics comer, chose mathematics tasks, and spent more time in the mathematics corner. Furthermore, the experimental group did significantly better than the control group in the classification, number combination, and shape tasks, and there were qualitative differences in the content analysis.     

离异家庭儿童行为问题与母亲教养方式的研究

本研究采用父母养育方式评价量表和Rutter儿童行为问卷,对226名幼儿的行为问题与其母亲的教养方式进行了调查。结果发现,离异家庭幼儿的行为问题检出率高,其行为问题与母亲的教养方式显著相关,且离异家庭与正常家庭母亲的教养方式也存在显著差异。说明母亲不良的教养方式是影响幼儿行为问题的重要因素。因此,对离异家庭幼儿行为问题的干预,关键是对母亲教养方式的干预。改善不良的教育方式,是减少幼儿行为问题发生的根本措施。     

Characteristics of Children with Moderate Mathematics Deficiencies: A Longitudinal Perspective

The reading and mathematics achievement and specific mathematical competencies of 74 children were followed over four time points during second and third grades. At the beginning of the study, children were classified into one of four groups: moderate mathematics deficiencies but normal reading (MMD‐only); moderate mathematics and reading deficiencies (MMD/MRD); moderate reading deficiencies but normal mathematics (MRD‐only); and normal achievement in reading and mathematics (NA). Although the MMD‐only and the MMD/MRD groups started out at the same level in mathematics, the MMD‐only group surpassed the MMD/MRD group over time. A parallel pattern in reading was not observed for the MRD‐only and MMD/MRD groups, with children in both groups performing at consistently low levels. Weaknesses in fact retrieval and estimation characterized children with MMD, with or without RD. The MMD‐only group showed an advantage over the MMD/MRD group in problem solving. Reading and language strengths help children compensate for deficiencies in selected areas of mathematics.     

Failure-to-thrive, maltreatment and the behavior and development of 6-year-old children from low-income, urban families: a cumulative risk model

OBJECTIVE: A cumulative risk model was used to examine the relationship among failure-to-thrive (FTT), maltreatment, and four aspects of children's development: cognitive performance (standardized testing), adaptive functioning at school, and classroom behavior (teacher report), and behavior at home (maternal report). METHOD: The sample included 193 6-year-old children and their families, recruited from pediatric clinics serving inner-city, low-income, primarily African-American families, who were part of a longitudinal investigation of child development and maltreatment. Four risk groups were formed based on their growth and maltreatment history: neither FTT nor Maltreatment, FTT Only, Maltreatment Only, and both FTT and Maltreatment. FTT was defined as a deceleration in weight gain (weight-for-age below the 5th percentile) prior to 25 months of age among children born at term with birth weight appropriate for gestational age. Maltreatment was defined as having at least one report to CPS for neglect, physical abuse and/or sexual abuse. RESULTS: Risk status was negatively associated with each of the four developmental outcomes. Children with a history of both FTT and maltreatment had more behavior problems and worse cognitive performance and school functioning than children with neither risk factor. Children with only one risk factor (either FTT or maltreatment) achieved intermediate scores. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support a cumulative risk model as being more detrimental to children's development than the presence of a single risk factor alone, consistent with theories linking the accumulation of environmental risks to negative consequences. These results underscore the importance of interventions to prevent both FTT and maltreatment during children's early years.     

Kindergarten children's growth trajectories in reading and mathematics: who falls increasingly behind?

The authors used a large sample of children (N ≈ 7,400) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to estimate kindergarten children's academic achievement growth trajectories in reading and mathematics. The authors were particularly interested in whether the growth trajectories of children with learning disabilities (LD) or speech language impairments (SLI)--as well as those of other groups of children--were consistent with a cumulative or compensatory developmental cycle. Both LD and SLI children displayed significantly lower levels of kindergarten reading achievement than nondisabled children. However, and over the subsequent 5 years of elementary school, only children with SLI lagged increasingly behind nondisabled peers in their reading skills growth. The authors observed a different pattern for mathematics achievement. Children with LD, but not SLI, lagged increasingly behind nondisabled children in their mathematics skills growth. The authors also observed some consistency in "poor-get-poorer" effects across reading and mathematic achievement for additional population subgroups. Those kindergarten children who were from lower socioeconomic status families, who were African American, and who more frequently displayed learning-related behavior problems initially had lower levels of reading and mathematics achievement and also lagged increasingly behind in their acquisition of these skills over time. Some groups of children, including those with SLI, experience a cumulative rather than a compensatory cycle of achievement growth.     

The impact of kindergarten learning-related skills on academic trajectories at the end of elementary school

Recent research indicates that children's learning-related skills (including self-regulation and social competence) contribute to early school success. The present study investigated the relation of kindergarten learning-related skills to reading and math trajectories in 538 children between kindergarten and sixth grade, and examined how children with poor learning-related skills fared throughout elementary school on reading and math. Latent growth curves indicated that learning-related skills had a unique effect on children's reading and math scores between kindergarten and sixth grade and predicted growth in reading and math between kindergarten and second grade. In addition, children with poor learning-related skills performed lower than their higher-rated peers on measures of reading and mathematics between kindergarten and sixth grade, with the gap widening between kindergarten and second grade. Between third and sixth grade, this gap persisted but did not widen. Discussion focuses on the importance of early learning-related skills as a component in children's academic trajectories throughout elementary school and the need for early intervention focusing on children's self-regulation and social competence.     

父母养育方式对初中生问题行为的影响

使用多元逐步回归分析的方法研究父母养育方式对子女问题行为的影响。结果发现:母亲拒绝、否认、过干涉、过保护能正向预测子女内隐、外显问题行为;父母情感温暖理解能负向预测子女内倾、外显问题行为。     

A tale of two representations: the misinformation effect and children's developing theory of mind

The present research investigates representational ability as a cognitive factor underlying the suggestibility of children's eyewitness memory. The misinformation effect is used as an index of children's suggestibility, and performance on the false belief task is used as an assessment of children's representational abilities (N = 117). Analyses that considered the effect of representational ability and general memory ability on children's susceptibility to misleading information showed that differences in representational ability and general memory ability predicted participants' susceptibility to misleading information. These results demonstrate that the eyewitness memory of children who lack either multirepresentational abilities, sufficient general memory abilities, or both (i.e., most 3- and 4-year-olds) is less accurate than the eyewitness memory of children with both multirepresentational abilities and sufficient memory abilities (i.e., most 6-year-olds and adults). Thus, it appears that the earliest age at which children's eyewitness memory can be considered to be similar to that of adults is 6 years of age, when children's mental representational abilities are similar to those of adults. These results suggest that one factor underlying children's vulnerability to misleading information is the number of representations of an event that they can simultaneously hold and compare.     

Children''s Housework and Psychosocial Functioning: The Mediating Effects of Parents'' Sex-Role Behaviors and Attitudes

We examined sex-typed housework of children from dual- and single-earner families and its implications for children's adjustment as a function of congruencies between children's work and parents' sex-role behaviors and attitudes. Participants were 152 firstborn 9-12-year-olds (85 girls, 67 boys) and their parents. All fathers and 50% of mothers were employed. In home interviews parents rated their sex-role attitudes, and children rated their competence, stress, and parent-child relationships. In 7 nightly telephone interviews, children and parents described their household tasks for that day. Analyses revealed sex and earner-status differences in children's and parents' involvement in traditionally feminine and masculine tasks. Correlations between levels of parents' and children's task involvement were significant only in the case of fathers and sons in single-earner families. Regarding the connections between task performance and child adjustment, we found that incongruency between boys' sex-typed tasks and their fathers' sex-role behaviors and attitudes was linked to poorer psychosocial functioning, a pattern that did not hold for girls.     

Parents' and Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs About the Effects of Child Care

Parents' and kindergarten teachers' beliefs about the effects of child care on children's adjustment to school were investigated. Using a standardized behavioral rating scale, both groups were asked to rate two hypothetical children just entering kindergarten; one with full-day child care experience and one who had only experienced care in the home by a parent or relative. There was an interaction between the experience of the believer and their ratings of the two hypothetical children. Parents who had used child care for their own children rated the 'day care child' most positively. Parents who had kept their own children at home rated the 'home care child' most positively. Kindergarten teachers rated both hypothetical children equally, but more negatively than parents. Implications of the findings are discussed.