ERIC Number: EJ1464666
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-5984
EISSN: EISSN-1554-8279
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Early Skills Predict Fourth-Grade Post-COVID-19 Academic, Inhibitory Control, and Social-Emotional Outcomes for Students from Diverse Home Language Backgrounds
Robert C. Pianta; Arya Ansari; Jessica E. Whittaker; Virginia Vitiello; Margaret Burchinal
Elementary School Journal, v125 n3 p445-467 2025
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 collected on students (N = 785) who were linguistically diverse (85% home language other than English) and from families with low-income backgrounds. Adjusting for covariates, students' achievement and executive function skills at entry to kindergarten and gains in these skills across K-1 predicted their proficiency in reading, math, and language in fourth grade. Executive function skills at kindergarten entry and across K-1 predicted inhibitory control in fourth grade, and kindergarten-entry social adjustment predicted school engagement and connectedness to teachers in fourth grade. Early skills or gains were not differentially predictive of fourth-grade outcomes for English-language learners versus English speakers.
Descriptors: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Student Development, Grade 4, COVID-19, Pandemics, Student Diversity, English Learners, Low Income Students, Academic Achievement, Executive Function, Predictor Variables, Inhibition, Self Control, Learner Engagement, Teacher Student Relationship, Social Development, Emotional Development
University of Chicago Press. Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637. Tel: 877-705-1878; Tel: 773-753-3347; Fax: 877-705-1879; Fax: 773-753-0811; e-mail: subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; Web site: http://www.press.uchicago.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Grade 1; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A