The primary goal of this study was to examine developmental patterns among the relations between components of executive function (EF; working memory WM, inhibitory control, shifting), and academic ...outcomes (reading, mathematics, language) in elementary school-age children. These relations were examined within the context of the development of EF and of academic skills utilizing an extension of the unity and diversity, intrinsic cognitive load, and dual process theories. Using meta-analytic methods, we summarized results from 299 studies from 293 articles/dissertations, representing 65,605 elementary school-age children (42-191 months old M = 101 months, SD = 24.49 months). Results indicated that accounting for general EF (by including the correlations among EF tasks in meta-analytic path models and accounting for effects between all three EF components and academic outcomes simultaneously) produced weaker relations between EF and academic skills than the bivariate relations which have been reported in prior meta-analytic reviews. However, although reduced, all relations between EF and academic outcomes remained significant throughout elementary school. Whereas WM was consistently moderately associated with reading, math, and oral language across development, the developmental trends for the relations between inhibitory control and shifting with academic outcomes varied based upon the academic skill examined. On the academic side, whereas the relations between reading and language skills with EF components varied throughout elementary school, few developmental changes were found in the relations between EF components and math skills across elementary school. Future directions and implications of findings for the conceptualization of the impact of EF on academics are discussed within the context of relevant theoretical models.
Public Significance StatementThis study demonstrated that executive function skills have moderate relations with reading, oral language, and mathematics. These relations are strongest for working memory. Results suggest that to better understand the relations between EF and academics and how these relations vary across development, a more complex and nuanced model, which takes into account developmental trajectories of EF and academics and specific task demands, is needed.
This article aims to investigate effect of 360-degree leadership performance appraisals on organizational outcomes at the elementary school level. The research design employed was causal-comparative ...& cross-sectional survey constituted data collection method. Over multi-staged sampling techniques, a sample of 576 teachers was thus selected from Lahore district. Two self- developed questionnaires, i.e., 360 º Leadership Appraisal Questionnaire (α =.82) and Organizational Outcomes Questionnaire (α =.81), were used as data collection instruments. The study results revealed that 360 º leadership performance appraisal positively affected the organizational outcomes at elementary schools. Both (360º performance appraisal and organizational outcomes) were correlated positively with coefficient (r=.25; p<0.01). The findings highlight importance of multi-dimensional and inclusive approach to performance appraisals, involving feedback from multiple perspectives, for effective leadership development as well as improved organizational performance. Further research is necessary to explore the long-term effects of 360-degree leadership performance appraisals in the diverse educational settings and to address the potential challenges and limitations of the said approach.
A meta-analytic approach was used to investigate the associations between affective qualities of teacher-student relationships (TSRs) and students ' school engagement and achievement. Results were ...based on 99 studies, including students from preschool to high school. Separate analyses were conducted for positive relationships and engagement (k = 61 studies, N = 88,417 students), negative relationships and engagement (k = 18, N = 5,847), positive relationships and achievement (k = 61, N = 52,718), and negative relationships and achievement (k = 28, N = 18,944). Overall, associations of both positive and negative relationships with engagement were medium to large, whereas associations with achievement were small to medium. Some of these associations were weaker, but still statistically significant, after correction for methodological biases. Overall, stronger effects were found in the higher grades. Nevertheless, the effects of negative relationships were stronger in primary than in secondary school.
With modern information technology widely applied to school teaching in all aspects, blended teaching based on SPOC is increasingly popular with colleges and universities. However, it’s still rare to ...see the applied research into it for English teaching in primary schools. In order to explore the application of SPOC in English teaching of primary schools, this paper analyzed the current situation of English teaching in primary schools in China in detail, and then proposed a blended teaching model based on the SPOC platforms of Cloud Class and 17zuoye.com. We also conducted an experiment that lasts about one year by tracking and recording the performance of two groups of classes in Zhongwu Primary School with an experimental class and a control class in each group. After analyzing the experimental data, we found that the SPOC-based teaching model proposed in this paper can achieve good practical results, and can be applied and promoted for future teaching in other schools.
A growing literature documents the myriad penalties for children of incarcerated fathers, but relatively little is known about how paternal incarceration contributes to educational outcomes in early ...and middle childhood. In this article, we use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to provide the first estimates of the relationship between paternal incarceration and children's grade retention in elementary school. Propensity score matching models indicate that children of incarcerated fathers are more likely to experience early grade retention than their counterparts. This relationship is not driven by test scores or behavior problems; preliminary evidence suggests this relationship may be driven by teachers' perceptions of children's academic proficiency. These findings suggest that elementary school teachers may play an important role in the lives of children experiencing paternal incarceration and, more generally, highlight yet another way in which the large-scale incarceration of men limits their children's potential.
The present study examined associations between the quality of teacher-child relationships and behavior problems among elementary school students using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care ...and Youth Development, a study of 1,364 children from birth through adolescence. There were two main findings. First, high-quality teacher-child relationships predicted low levels of externalizing behaviors. Second, high-quality relationships acted as protective factors, helping to prevent children with high levels of internalizing behaviors in early childhood from developing trajectories of long-term internalizing behavior problems. Teacher-child relationships may be proximal phenomena that can be targeted in interventions to help prevent behavior problems in middle childhood.
A culture of engagement may help to build and sustain young children's motivation to learn a new language. In this study, we sought to investigate the link between engagement and motivation over the ...course of a semester in a naturally occurring Japanese elementary school classroom environment. Four-hundred and twenty-three fifth-year students in public elementary schools in western Japan agreed to participate in the research. Students completed surveys at two time points, first at the beginning of the semester regarding their in-class engagement, and again at the end of the semester regarding their motivation. A structural equation model was constructed using engagement and gender as predictors and motivational regulations as outcome variables. Observer rating of each class was used to triangulate. Engagement strongly predicted more adaptive intrinsically regulated motives and negatively predicted more extrinsic motives. Male students showed a tendency toward lower engagement, lower internally regulated motives, and higher externally regulated motives. Observer rating showed that students' reported engagement was visible to outside observers. Findings indicate that students' in-class engagement may be an important variable when investigating the long-term dynamics of foreign language learning in a classroom setting. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Background
Although spatial ability and mathematics performance are highly correlated, there is scant research on the extent to which spatial ability training can improve mathematics performance.
...Aims
This study evaluated the efficacy of a visuospatial intervention programme within classrooms to determine the effect on students’ (1) spatial reasoning and (2) mathematics performance as a result of the intervention.
Sample
The study involved grade six students (ages 10–12) in eight classes. There were five intervention classes (n = 120) and three non‐intervention control classes (n = 66).
Methods
A specifically designed 10‐week spatial reasoning programme was developed collaboratively with the participating teachers, with the intervention replacing the standard mathematics curriculum. The five classroom teachers in the intervention programme presented 20 hr of activities aimed at enhancing students’ spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation skills.
Results
The spatial reasoning programme led to improvements in both spatial ability and mathematics performance relative to the control group who received standard mathematics instruction.
Conclusions
Our study is the first to show that a classroom‐based spatial reasoning intervention improves elementary school students’ mathematics performance.
We examined the age of onset, over-time dynamics, and mechanisms underlying science achievement gaps in U.S. elementary and middle schools. To do so, we estimated multilevel growth models that ...included as predictors children's own general knowledge, reading and mathematics achievement, behavioral self-regulation, sociodemographics, other child- and family-level characteristics (e.g., parenting quality), and school-level characteristics (e.g., racial, ethnic, and economic composition; school academic climate). Analyses of a longitudinal sample of 7,757 children indicated large gaps in general knowledge already evident at kindergarten entry. Kindergarten general knowledge was the strongest predictor of first-grade general knowledge, which in turn was the strongest predictor of children's science achievement from third to eighth grade. Large science achievement gaps were evident when science achievement measures first became available in third grade. These gaps persisted until at least the end of eighth grade. Most or all of the observed science achievement gaps were explained by the study's many predictors. Efforts to address science achievement gaps in the United States likely require intensified early intervention efforts, particularly those delivered before the primary grades. If unaddressed, science achievement gaps emerge by kindergarten and continue until at least the end of eighth grade.
Previous research has demonstrated that teacher-child relationship quality and classroom emotional climate are each related to children's social-emotional and academic development, yet work examining ...interactional quality at both child and classroom levels simultaneously is limited. The current study examines whether teacher-child relationship quality as perceived by both teachers and children is associated with child social-emotional and academic outcomes over one school year and whether these associations are moderated by the quality of classroom emotional climate. Participants included 526 Grade 3-5 students and their 35 teachers from six urban public elementary schools. Higher child-reported relationship quality with teachers predicted lower child-reported depressive symptoms in spring, controlling for fall levels. Higher teacher-reported conflict was related to higher child-reported and teacher-reported aggression and lower ELA achievement. A significant cross-level interaction between classroom-level emotional support and teacher-reported conflict in predicting teacher-reported aggression indicated that higher quality classroom emotional climate may mitigate risk of aggression for children with poor-quality teacher relationships. Yet an overall lack of significant interaction effects indicates that classroom-level emotional support did not compensate for low-quality dyadic relationships, suggesting that teachers in upper elementary school should be trained and supported in developing and maintaining positive relationships with each of their students.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
Elementary school students experience varying levels of closeness and conflict with their teachers on an individual level as well as varying levels of quality in the overall emotional climate of their classrooms. This study investigated the effects of both individual-level and classroom-level emotional support on third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders' social-emotional and academic development over one school year (their levels of depression, anxiety, aggression, attendance, and math and reading test scores), and whether overall classroom emotional support could serve a buffering or protective function for children with low-quality individual relationships with teachers. Measures of teacher-child relationship quality were found to be related to children's depressive symptoms, aggressive behavior, and reading achievement in spring. Overall, classroom-level emotional support did not compensate for low-quality dyadic relationships, suggesting that teachers in upper elementary school should be trained and supported in developing positive relationships with each of their students individually as opposed to relying solely on the general emotional climate in the classroom to benefit all students.
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