A model of mastery motivation for at-risk preschoolers.

Abstract

The authors empirically tested a theoretical model of mastery motivation with 169 4-year-old African American at-risk children and their parents. The authors hypothesized that (a) parent characteristics (exogenous variables of education, income, and global self-efficacy) would predict parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships, (b) parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships would predict children's mastery, and (c) children's mastery would predict academic gains from pretest to posttest. The results showed that parents' education predicted parenting beliefs, parents' global self-efficacy predicted parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships, parenting beliefs predicted parent-child relationships, parent-child relationships predicted children's mastery, and children's mastery predicted children's performance on achievement tests controlling for pretest differences. This research provides support for the contention that motivational patterns develop early as a function of family variables and have the potential to influence academic success.

Professional Development to Support Parent Engagement: A Case Study of Early Childhood Practitioners

“…The quality of relationships that children experience early on with parents sets the stage for later competence in preschool and school settings (Bornstein & Tamis-LeMonda, 1989;de Ruiter & van IJzendoorn, 1993;Raver & Knitzer, 2002;Shonkhoff & Phillips, 2000;Thompson, 2002). Parental engagement specifically has been linked to school readiness skills, including young children's academic performance and achievement (Foster, Lambert, Abbott-Shim, McCarty, & Franze, 2005;Hill, 2001;McWayne, Hampton, Fantuzzo, Cohen, & Sekino, 2004;Weigel, Martin, & Bennett, 2006), their prosocial behaviors (McWayne et al, 2004), and positive approaches to learning (Turner & Burke, 2003). Given these important associations, professional development efforts must also extend beyond the early childhood classroom.…”

Longitudinal relations of maternal supportiveness and child task-approach behavior to early cognitive development of children with developmental risks

“…Turner and Johnson (2003) found concurrent relations between parentchild relations and children's mastery motivation and cognitive competence. Further, Kelley et al (2000) and Maslin-Cole et al (1993) have found longitudinal relations between earlier parental interactive behavior and children's later mastery motivation.…”

“…Baker and Baker (1987) pointed out the importance of parental sensitivity for the maturation of emotional regulation, motivation, and self-esteem. Some research has supported social influences on mastery motivation (e.g., Kelley, Brownell, & Campbell, 2000;Maslin-Cole, Bretherton, & Morgan, 1993;Turner & Johnson, 2003). Johnson (2003) tested several hypothesized models with the concurrent variables.…”

“…Other researchers have focused on children's mastery motivation in samples of children with disabilities (e.g., Hauser-Cram, 1996;Niccols, et al, 2003;Vlachou & Farrell, 2000) or facing risk factors (e.g., Turner & Johnson, 2003). Hauser-Cram (1996) found that there were not statistically significant differences in mastery motivation between toddlers with motor impairment (n = 25), developmental delay (» = 25), and typical development (% = 25) when matched for mental age.…”

“…Other researchers have restricted their participants by controlling for possible compounding variables related to children's disability status or risk factors. Niccols, et al (2003), and Turner and Johnson (2003) have investigated mastery motivation only with a sample of children with disabilities or children facing risk factors. Even though Niccols et al used only children with disabilities in their study, they argued that the scores of mastery motivation of children with Down syndrome were lower than those of children in the norm group.…”