This study examined self-regulation in preschool children (mean age=51 months; 47% boys) using three situational assessments tapping delay of gratification and motor control. Assessments represented a novel adaptation for use with both individual (N=116) and groups (N=44) of four familiar peers in ecologically valid settings. Results suggest that preschoolers demonstrate an increasing ability to self-regulate with age, as well as some evidence for girls performing better than boys on the Gift Wrap situational assessment. Children were less able to demonstrate self-regulation in the peer group context as compared to individual assessments. Differences between age groups and gender were not significant when children were assessed with their peers. The influence of peers on self-regulation behavior is a complex relationship with no clear patterns identified in this research. Implications for future research and assessment efforts are discussed.

This chapter examines how the previously distinct worlds of early childhood education (ECE) and K-12 public school education are being drawn together through the recent and rapid advances of prekindergarten programming in the United States. Tensions around teaching philosophies, teacher qualifications, and financing are presented to illustrate the complexities involved in bridging the ECE and K-12 worlds. Common theories from the Politics of Education, including Policy Innovation Diffusion Theory, Institutional Theory, and Micropolitics are used to further understand current trends and issues around prekindergarten implementation, as well as to identify areas for future investigation. Despite the inherent tensions, prekindergarten has the potential to serve as a bridge between these two historically distinct systems, resulting in a better overall education system for young children.

No abstract

Self-regulation represents one of the key developmental tasks faced by preschool children. In the Games As Measurement for Early Self-Control (GAMES) study, the goal was to create a battery of self-regulation assessments appropriate for use with ethnically diverse children from low-income families in ecologically valid contexts. Respondents were 71 English- and/or Spanish-speaking children who participated in a variety of assessments adapted from laboratory and clinical settings for use in homes and classrooms. Individual measures are described and used to highlight issues related to the administration of self-regulation assessments in the field (e.g., pragmatic considerations, importance of standardized administration, need for variability in children's responses, differentiating between challenge and confusion, cultural sensitivity, recruitment). Findings suggest that many laboratory and clinical assessments are appropriate for home and classroom administration (with some tasks coded from videotape and some coded “live”). The inclusion of self-regulation measures in a variety of new large-scale research projects is discussed.