"And when they woke up... they were monkeys!" Using classroom games to improve preschoolers's behavioral self-regulation

Behavioral self-regulation has emerged as an important predictor of academic success as early as preschool. Few studies, however, have examined ways to improve children's behavioral self-regulation in preschool, prior to formal school entry. This dissertation includes two studies examining a pilot intervention using classroom games to improve behavioral self-regulation with 65 prekindergarteners. Study 1 examined if participating in the intervention group significantly improved behavioral self-regulation and early academic outcomes. Results indicated that participation in the intervention predicted significant gains on a direct measure of behavioral self-regulation for children beginning the year with low levels of these skills. Additionally, intervention participation predicted significant reading gains in the overall sample of children. Study 2 examined quantitative and qualitative factors related to intervention effectiveness. Results suggest that low maternal education significantly predicted that children would begin the year with low behavioral self-regulation and thus be in the group most likely to benefit from intervention participation. Moreover, qualitative analyses indicated that children from low-income families had more difficulty paying attention and exhibited more off-task behaviors during intervention sessions, which may have contributed to the smaller behavioral self-regulation gains they experienced in comparison to their more-advantaged peers. Together these studies support the effectiveness of a pilot behavioral self-regulation intervention and provide implications for future applications of the intervention, including increasing the number of intervention sessions and embedding behavioral self-regulation activities into prekindergarten classrooms as a means of facilitating academic achievement

Strengthening school readiness for Head Start children: Evaluation of a self-regulation intervention

The present study examined the efficacy of a self-regulation intervention for children experiencing demographic risk. Utilizing a randomized controlled design, analyses examined if children (N = 276 children in 14 Head Start classrooms; M age = 51.69, SD = 6.55) who participated in an 8-week self-regulation intervention demonstrated greater gains in self-regulation and academic achievement over the preschool year compared to children in a control group. In addition, indirect intervention effects on achievement outcomes through self-regulation were explored and differential intervention effects for English language learners within a sample of children from low-income families were tested. Results indicated that children in the intervention group demonstrated stronger levels of self-regulation compared to the control group in the spring of the preschool year. Group comparisons also revealed that the intervention was related to significantly higher math skills for children who were English language learners. In other words, English language learners who participated in the intervention demonstrated stronger levels of math in the spring of preschool in comparison to children in the control group and relative to English speakers who also participated in the intervention. The present study provides support for the efficacy of a school readiness intervention in promoting self-regulation and achievement in young children, especially English language learners.This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/early-childhood-research-quarterly/Keywords: Academic achievement, Self-regulation, Intervention, School readines

Quantitative and Qualitative Factors Related to the Effectiveness of a Preschool Behavioral Regulation Intervention

The present study examined quantitative and qualitative factors related to the effectiveness of a behavioral regulation intervention using classroom games with 65 prekindergarteners. Previous research (reference omitted for blind review) indicated that participation in an intervention was related to behavioral regulation gains for children who started the year with low levels of these skills and significant letter-word identification gains for all children in the intervention. Children from low-income families experienced smaller intervention-related gains than their peers. In the present paper, we examined how child and family factors predicted children’s initial levels of behavioral regulation. Additionally, we analyzed qualitative fieldnotes looking for behaviors that could explain the reduced intervention effects experienced by children from low-income families. Results of a logistic regression indicated that maternal education significantly predicted behavioral regulation at the beginning of the prekindergarten year. Moreover, qualitative analyses revealed relations between off-task behaviors exhibited during intervention sessions (including spillover effects) and children’s family income level. Findings underscore the importance of targeting children from low-income families and those with low levels of maternal education for behavioral regulation interventions. Implications for future applications of the intervention include increasing the number of intervention sessions and embedding behavioral regulation activities into prekindergarten classrooms

Improving Behavioral Regulation in Preschool

In this study, we share findings from a preschool intervention program using circle time games to help children practice behavioral regulation, a set of skills that lays the foundation for school readiness and academic success.  We looked at how children’s behaviors during intervention playgroup sessions was related to how much they benefited from the intervention and examined whether children’s behaviors “spilled over†to other children’s participation.  Developing programs that help preschoolers practice behavioral regulation skills may help lay the foundation for early learning and later academic success