Abstract
Extensive evidence has suggested that early academic skills are a robust indicator of later academic achievement; however, there is mixed evidence of the effectiveness of intervention on academic skills in early years to improve later outcomes. As such, it is clear there are other contributing factors to the development of academic skills. The present study tests the role of executive function (EF) (a construct made up of skills complicit in the achievement of goal-directed tasks) in predicting 5th grade math and reading ability above and beyond math and reading ability prior to school entry, and net of other cognitive covariates including processing speed, vocabulary, and IQ. Using a longitudinal dataset of N = 1292 participants representative of rural areas in two distinctive geographical parts of the United States, the present investigation finds EF at age 5 strongly predicts 5th grade academic skills, as do cognitive covariates. Additionally, investigation of an interaction between early math ability and EF reveals the magnitude of the association between early math and later math varies as a function of early EF, such that participants who have high levels of EF can “catch up” to peers who perform better on assessments of early math ability. These results suggest EF is pivotal to the development of academic skills throughout elementary school. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.
Highlights
Children’s success in schooling has long been a central focus of research, policy, and practice
For over 20 years, the United States has made it a national priority to make every child a proficient reader by the end of 3rd grade, and yet still over 50% of children test below the level of proficiency on reading assessments as recently as 2015 (U.S Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, 2015)
The objective of the present study is to investigate the unique role of executive function (EF) measured in early childhood in predicting academic achievement in late elementary school, an important transition time in children’s academic career
Summary
Children’s success in schooling has long been a central focus of research, policy, and practice. Still 6.5% of all students entering high school, and 11.6% of students who are born to families from the lowest income quartile drop out of high school These dropout rates are highest in the American South, and in rural areas across the country (U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2016). An even greater proportion of children from low-income families (as measured by eligibility for free/reduce price lunch) test below proficient on reading assessments This is important because nearly three-quarters of students who test below proficient in 3rd grade remain below proficient in high school (Shaywitz et al, 1992), and are four times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers who test proficient (Hernandez, 2011). More research examining early individual-level predictors of later reading ability and reading difficulty is needed
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