The Timing of Executive Function Development is Associated with Growth in Math Achievement from Preschool through Second Grade

We examined whether the timing of executive function (EF) development was associated with growth in children’s math achievement across eight measurement occasions from preschool through second grade. Using a prospective longitudinal sample of 351 children, we found that children who developed EF later, entered preschool with the lowest levels of math performance and did not catch-up to their intermediate or early EF developing counterparts despite exhibiting a similar math growth rate through second grade. This trend was also observed after controlling for children’s biological sex, early language skills, and socioeconomic background. These findings suggest that developing EF late might place children at a unique risk for math difficulties independent of important child and family level characteristics and can provide insights for instructional strategies that take into account differences in children’s EF development

Building a Real-World Evidence Base for Improving Child and Family Outcomes

Early childhood, including the infant and toddler years, is a critical developmental period providing the foundation for lifelong relationships, skills, behaviors, and health outcomes. The importance of the adult-child relationships during this period is well established. There are a number of research-based interventions promoting responsive and supportive relationships at home as well as in early childcare programs. However, there are very few rigorously studied interventions that use aligned and/or integrated models supporting coordinated and consistent experiences across the home and early education environments. Additionally, there is a need for implementation evidence in typical home and classroom settings where young children spend much of their time. As part of a federally funded Early Head Start-University Partnership initiative, four research teams from across the U.S. were funded to contribute to the evidence-base regarding how Early Head Start and other early education programs can promote child development by supporting both parenting and center-based care. In this paper, we describe the many contextual, practical, and empirical realities and challenges encountered by the research teams and offer a conceptualization for how research-practice partnerships can provide an avenue for building “real world” evidence in these contexts