Self-efficacy has been associated with benefits to everyday life such as resilience to stress and adversity, healthy behaviours, improved performance, and academic achievement. Research into self-efficacy development is scarce in early childhood, yet self-efficacy is associated with numerous skills and competencies taught in the early years of…

Interpreting change in Body mass index (BMI) among youth by comparison to growth charts can be difficult because of maturation-related changes. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the utility of several alternative methods for assessing change in BMI among children. Participants included 1,615 children measured for stature and body mass in first…

The modern Russian school is focused on the active socialization and individualization of children with disabilities. Inclusive education determines the possibility of teaching children with disabilities varying severity in the conditions of primary general education, outside correctional classes. This situation dictates the need to study and…

The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs of Jordanian kindergarten and 1st-grade teachers regarding six child-based dimensions of school readiness: academic knowledge, basic thinking skills, socioemotional maturity, physical well-being and motor development, self-discipline, and communication skills. Questionnaires were used to collect…

The low achievement of students from non-English-speaking households living in low socioeconomic contexts is associated with academic skill gaps evident at kindergarten entry. Yet, few cost-effective, valid instruments are available to assess these students' school readiness. To examine this topic, this longitudinal study followed 1,069 primarily…

Cognitive skills, engagement in school, social skills, and physical well being are all important for children's early success in school. However, some groups of children begin kindergarten less ready for school than others and, by the end of first grade, still haven't "caught up" with their more successful peers. This CrossCurrents brief reports…

This study investigates the relationship of selected measures of proprioception to measures of physical growth, motor performance, and academic achievement in young children. Measures were obtained from 321 boys and girls attending kindergarten and first and second grade. Sample correlation matrices were computed on all variables at each grade…

Describes a special help program at the Roosevelt Elementary School in South Plainfield, New Jersey, involving the development of physical skills, with social and academic aspects as well. (NL)

Although there were significant maturity differences between races among discrepant achievers in work knowledge, reading and arithmetic, these differences did not occur for achievement levels in either of these domains. Maturity differences between achievement levels were only observed for reading achievement. (Author/AM)

This document reviews research findings on criteria used to determine age of entry into first grade. Criteria discussed include chronological age, mental age, I.Q., sex, and physical development (teething, visual development, etc.). In general, the research reviewed supports later entry, especially for children with below average intelligence. For…

This first-grade curriculum guide for health education (Duval County Public Schools, Jacksonville, Florida) is designed according to a comprehensive program (K-12) to assist the student in gaining an intelligent understanding of health as a unity of man's physical, mental, and social well-being. Included in the guide are a course outline, primary…

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) is beginning a comprehensive longitudinal study of the cognitive, personal, and social development of disadvantaged children from age 3 to grade 3. ETS hopes to identify the antecedents of favorable intellectual and social development and to suggest what kinds of educational programs might help to bridge the…

This study was designed to determine whether chronological age, the number of permanent teeth erupted, or the combination of the two would predict a child's readiness for formal arithmetic work. Sixty-four children were randomly chosen and three phases of testing conducted. The findings did not support the use of the number of teeth erupted as a…

The efficacy of second dentition, the number of erupted teeth, as an index in assessing school readiness was examined. A series of cognitive, achievement, and social-emotional instruments were administered to a group of 41 first- and 43 second-grade children. The tests used in this study were: Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale,…