This study investigated predictive relations between preschoolers' (N=310) behavioral regulation and emergent literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. Behavioral regulation was assessed using a direct measure called the Head-to-Toes Task, which taps inhibitory control, attention, and working memory, and requires children to perform the opposite of what is instructed verbally. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was utilized because children were nested in 54 classrooms at 2 geographical sites. Results revealed that behavioral regulation significantly and positively predicted fall and spring emergent literacy, vocabulary, and math skills on the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement (all ps<.05). Moreover, growth in behavioral regulation predicted growth in emergent literacy, vocabulary, and math skills over the prekindergarten year (all ps<.05), after controlling for site, child gender, and other background variables. Discussion focuses on the role of behavioral regulation in early academic achievement and preparedness for kindergarten.

Children's behavioral self-regulation and executive function (EF; including attentional or cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) are strong predictors of academic achievement. The present study examined the psychometric properties of a measure of behavioral self-regulation called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) by assessing construct validity, including relations to EF measures, and predictive validity to academic achievement growth between prekindergarten and kindergarten. In the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten, 208 children (51% enrolled in Head Start) were assessed on the HTKS, measures of cognitive flexibility, working memory (WM), and inhibitory control, and measures of emergent literacy, mathematics, and vocabulary. For construct validity, the HTKS was significantly related to cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control in prekindergarten and kindergarten. For predictive validity in prekindergarten, a random effects model indicated that the HTKS significantly predicted growth in mathematics, whereas a cognitive flexibility task significantly predicted growth in mathematics and vocabulary. In kindergarten, the HTKS was the only measure to significantly predict growth in all academic outcomes. An alternative conservative analytical approach, a fixed effects analysis (FEA) model, also indicated that growth in both the HTKS and measures of EF significantly predicted growth in mathematics over four time points between prekindergarten and kindergarten. Results demonstrate that the HTKS involves cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control, and is substantively implicated in early achievement, with the strongest relations found for growth in achievement during kindergarten and associations with emergent mathematics.

This study examined the contribution of executive function (EF) and multiple aspects of fine motor skills to achievement on six standardized assessments in a sample of middle-SES kindergarteners. 3- and 4-year-olds’ (N=213) fine and gross motor skills were assessed in a home visit before kindergarten; EF was measured at fall of kindergarten; and Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III) Tests of Academic Achievement were administered at fall and spring. Correlations indicated that EF and fine motor skills appeared distinct. Further, controlling for background variables, higher levels of both EF and fine motor skills, specifically design copy, predicted higher achievement on multiple subtests at kindergarten entry, as well as improvement from fall to spring. Implications for research on school readiness are discussed.

Children's ability to direct their attention and behavior to learning tasks provides a foundation for healthy social and academic development in early schooling. Although an explosion of research on this topic has occurred in recent years, the field has been hindered by a lack of conceptual clarity, as well as debate over underlying components and their significance in predicting school success. In addition, few measures tap these skills as children move into formal schooling. This article describes the aspects of self-regulation that are most important for early school success. It then discusses methodological challenges in reliably and validly assessing these skills in young children and describes recent advances in direct measures of self-regulation that are reliable and ecologically valid and that predict children's school success. It concludes by summarizing critical issues in the study of self-regulation in school contexts and discussing next steps.

Children need a range of skills to transition successfully to formal schooling. In early childhood classrooms, children must master their fine and gross motor skills. In this article, we review the evidence that links motor skills to diverse school outcomes, then describe three sets of cognitive processes-motor coordination, executive function, and visuospatial skills-that are tapped by motor assessments. We then use these processes to explain how motor skills are implicated in children's self-regulation and their emergent literacy and numeracy. We conclude by encouraging theoretical and methodological approaches to clarify the mechanisms that implicate motor skills in school performance and achievement.Motor skills are associated with a range of academic and behavioral skills, including decoding letters and words, solving quantitative problems, writing, and interacting effectively with peers and adults (1-3). However, researchers have not explained adequately how motor skills are linked to school performance and achievement. In this article, we summarize work on motor skills and identify three sets of underlying cognitive processes that are tapped by common motor assessments-motor coordination, executive function (EF), and visuospatial skills. We then describe how these cognitive processes combine and interrelate to underlie complex behavior in early childhood, such as classroom self-regulation and emergent academic skills. Finally, we suggest testing cognitive theories to explain links between motor skills and school outcomes, and encourage measurement to understand the interrelated cognitive processes measured by motor assessments. MOTOR SKILLS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LEARNING IN EARLY CHILDHOODMotor skills refer to the underlying internal processes responsible for moving the body or parts of the body in space. Motor skills are not only the movements themselves, but include the cognitive processes that give rise to movements (4). Motorrelated skills, including perceptual-motor, sensorimotor, and psychomotor skills, implicate sensory perception and the interaction of the movement systems (i.e., body parts) with the cognitive system (5). Whereas gross motor skills involve the body's large muscles and pertain to balance, orientation and movement of the trunk and limbs, and posture (4), fine motor skills involve coordinating small muscle movements needed for tasks like drawing, writing, speaking, and playing an instrument (6). While they are clearly related and develop together, correlations between fine and gross motor assessments are moderate, from r = .30 (7) to r = .60 (8).In concurrent and longitudinal studies, gross and fine motor skills are distinct in their predictive validity. Gross motor skills are a critical part of children's developing social competencies and physical well-being (9-11), and are a gateway to engagement in learning and social activities, including sports and games, throughout the school years (8, 12). In contrast, fine motor skills are associated more robustly with academic achievement. In ...

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Self-regulation is a key construct in children's healthy and adaptive development. In this chapter, the authors situate self-regulation in a theoretical context that describes its underlying components that are most important for early school success: flexible attention, working memory, and inhibitory control. The authors review evidence that supports substantive links between these aspects of self-regulation and academic achievement in young children. They also discuss methodological challenges in reliably and validly assessing these skills (involving measures that are biased, are not applicable across broad age ranges, or triangulated) and describe some recent advances in measures of self-regulation (involving the NIH Toolbox or the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders assessment) that are reliable, ecologically valid, and predictive of children's school achievement.

The concept of self‐regulation has received heightened attention as a key mechanism that predicts a variety of developmental outcomes throughout the life span. Although researchers have focused on self‐regulation from a diverse set of perspectives, it is clear that self‐regulation has important implications for individual health and well‐being starting early in life. In the fields of child psychology and developmental science, an emphasis on Relational‐Developmental‐Systems ( RDS ) illuminates how self‐regulation contributes to individual development. This chapter reflects the RDS theoretical orientation and focuses on major issues in the study of self‐regulation in childhood and adolescence. We start by situating the study of self‐regulation within the RDS context and discussing key conceptual issues that guide researchers’ understanding of the development of self‐regulation. We then define self‐regulation and reviews research on important correlates of self‐regulation including academic achievement, motor processes, intelligence, and risk factors. Next, we discuss cross‐cultural variation in these skills and person‐context relations. We conclude by discussing self‐regulation from the perspective of RDS and next steps for studying self‐regulation in context, improving intervention efforts, and advancing analytical and measurement methods.