The study examines students' skills at kindergarten entry and gains in skills across the kindergarten through first-grade period (pre-COVID-19) for predicting literacy, language, math, inhibitory control, and social-adjustment outcomes in the spring of fourth grade, after schools reopened. In a large US school district, longitudinal data were…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) characteristically experience academic difficulties. There is growing evidence that the continuum from academic competence to underachievement is partially explained by executive function (EF; neurocognitive attention-regulation processes) and stress. Yet, there is scarce research…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) characteristically experience academic difficulties. There is growing evidence that the continuum from academic competence to underachievement is partially explained by executive function (EF; neurocognitive attention-regulation processes) and stress. Yet, there is scarce research…

The study examines students' skills at kindergarten entry and gains in skills across kindergarten through first grade (pre-COVID) predicting literacy, language, math, inhibitory control, and social adjustment in the spring of 4th grade, after schools re-opened. Longitudinal data were collected on students (N=785) who were linguistically diverse…

Spanking and parental verbal aggression are potentially toxic stressors that can negatively affect children's academic achievement by disrupting mental skills like executive function. Yet little empirical evidence has been provided for this mediating pathway. This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of…

Considerable research has documented the impact of teacher perceptions on students' academic-related outcomes (e.g., classroom performance). This body of literature clearly shows that teacher perceptions (resulting from direct interactions with students) can have both positive and negative effects with respect to student behaviors and experiences…

We investigated whether the cool and hot executive functions (EFs) exhibited by kindergarteners could predict their academic achievement in the middle grades of elementary school. The study assessed the cool and hot EF of 48 Japanese kindergartners (M = 78.12 months) and then measured these same children's academic achievement in language and…

Multiple regression data from a teacher-completed one-minute rating scale (i.e., the Brief Behavior, Academic, and Social Screener; B-BASS) predicted academic risk of 198 third- through fifth-grade rural elementary students; teacher ratings across 16 B-BASS items within cognitive, social/emotional, socioeconomic/family, and executive functions…

Executive function (EF) is a term used to describe the processes responsible for purposeful, goal-directed behavior and has been described as the "air traffic controller" or "CEO" of the brain. EFs are an important factor in overall quality of life, including school and job success. EFs are measured predominately through two…

Individual characteristics of neighborhood context, like concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage, are associated with children's cognitive development, including their academic skill development and executive functions. However, questions remain regarding how neighborhood structural, process, and physical features uniquely predict children's…

This study examined relations between intentional self-regulation (ISR) and executive functions (EFs) among 84 Icelandic youth in Grade 6 (mean age 11.7 years; 51% girls) and their contributions to healthy and problematic outcomes a year later. ISR was indicated by the Selection, Optimization and Compensation model (SOC) and Self-Regulated…

Objective: Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of interventions to reduce organizational skills deficits and homework problems, including the clinic-based Organizational Skills Training (OST-C) program (Abikoff et al., 2013). In this study, OST-C was adapted for schools as a small-group (Tier 2) intervention delivered by school partners…

Nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 14,370) were used to examine the grade-level and cumulative outcomes of school absenteeism between kindergarten and fifth grade for students' school performance in the United States. Students who were more frequently absent in any year of…

Students' executive functions (EFs) are linked to school success. Although school-age children spend much of their time interacting with peers, few studies have explored how children's classmates may promote EF development in elementary school. In this study, we test whether mean levels and variability in classmates' EF skills are associated with…

Background: High volumes of school-based sedentary time may impact academic achievement and executive function negatively. This study evaluated a multimodal classroom program's (POWER) effect on fifth graders' physical activity (PA) and executive function. Methods: Six 5th grade classes (3 = intervention [POW]; 3 = waitlist control [CONT]) in 2…