ERIC Number: EJ1249675
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Apr
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0922-4777
EISSN: N/A
The Relationship of Teacher Ratings of Executive Functions to Emergent Literacy in Head Start
Hooper, Stephen R.; Costa, Lara-Jeane C.; Green, Melissa B.; Catlett, Stephanie R.; Barker, Alexandra; Fernandez, Edmund; Faldowski, Richard A.
Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, v33 n4 p963-989 Apr 2020
The purpose of this study was to investigate the concurrent relationships between selected teacher-rated executive function (EF) and a comprehensive array of emergent literacy skills in preschool children after adjusting for targeted covariates including at-risk status. The sample comprised 114 three-year-olds who were attending Head Start preschool. The teacher-completed Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool was used to generate three predictor variables: Inhibitory Self-Control, Flexibility, and Emergent Metacognition. The emergent literacy outcomes included the Teacher Ratings of Oral Language and Literacy Reading, Writing, and Language scales, Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale 5 Vocabulary Subtest, Test of Early Reading-3 Convention Subtest, and Print Knowledge and Phonological Awareness subtests from the Test of Preschool Early Literacy. Findings revealed that after controlling for selected covariates (age, gender, classroom) and at-risk status, when the three EF indices were included in the model the amount of variance significantly increased for all of the emergent literacy outcomes, with the total variance accounted for ranging from 32% (Phonological Awareness) to 59% (pre-Writing). Emergent Metacognition was a significant predictor for nearly every outcome except Phonological Awareness and Reading Conventions; Flexibility and Inhibitory Self-Control were significant predictors of Language. Significant interactions were present for at-risk status and teacher ratings of both Flexibility and Inhibitory on TERA-3 Conventions, but these findings appeared to be affected more by the not at-risk group than the at-risk group. Results reinforce the potential added importance of teacher ratings of EF, particularly with respect to the integrity of early developing EF, in the prediction of emergent literacy skills in young preschool children. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED603454.]
Descriptors: Correlation, At Risk Students, Preschool Children, Teacher Attitudes, Student Evaluation, Oral Language, Literacy, Cognitive Ability, Intelligence Tests, Preschool Education, Disadvantaged Youth, Metacognition, Vocabulary Development, Emergent Literacy, Rating Scales, Reading Tests, Phonological Awareness, Self Control, Prediction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A170529