Children as mediators of their own cognitive development in kindergarten

Abstract

The Opportunity-Propensity (O-P) model was created to explain individual and group differences in achievement and cognitive development. In this paper, we continued to revise and expand the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the O-P model to better meet this goal. In a secondary analysis of the ECLS-K 2011 dataset (n = 15,595), path analyses showed that children’s propensities (i.e., prior knowledge, self-regulation, and executive function) largely mediate the role of family and classroom factors in promoting cognitive development in the areas of literacy and mathematics. These findings suggest that whereas family factors and exposure to academic content are necessary for promoting knowledge growth, they are not sufficient. Rather, children with more advanced knowledge and abilities (e.g., prior knowledge and working memory capacity) are more likely to process new information effectively than their less advanced peers. However, these propensities can increase through certain types of opportunities. Implications for theories and practice are discussed.