Of all elementary school years, absenteeism is at its peak during kindergarten. Although much has been established about the effects of missing kindergarten school days on achievement, nothing has yet been established on absenteeism and executive function (EF) skills. Yet developing EF skills early in school is critical, and missed in-school time…

Executive function skills are crucial for children in the 21st century, serving as indicators of their readiness for learning. Children with well-developed executive function skills can effectively accomplish various tasks, solve problems using diverse strategies, and collaborate with others happily. This research aims to: 1. Identify the…

The current study provides new evidence on the sustained benefits of preschool attendance on a broader range of skills--both academic and executive functioning (EF)--than many prior studies have examined. Using propensity score methods, we predicted children's (N = 920, M age at 1st = 6.5 years) literacy, language, math, and EF skills in…

The current review of the role of executive function (EF) in reading provides a brief summary of analyses with a large-scale longitudinal dataset and a meta-analysis, along with proposing a framework for designing EF training studies. The 1st study, based on latent growth models with structured residuals, demonstrated a longitudinal reciprocal…

The current review of the role of executive function (EF) in reading provides a brief summary of analyses with a large-scale longitudinal dataset and a meta-analysis, along with proposing a framework for designing EF training studies. The 1st study, based on latent growth models with structured residuals, demonstrated a longitudinal reciprocal…

The presented study focuses on children aged from 5 to 6.5 who attend Czech kindergartens. Its purpose is to explore a potential positive impact of an educational game application on malleability of children's spatial skills through the application usage. The research was conducted as a pedagogical experiment in which the pre-test and post-test…

The current study examined the effect of children's positive relationships and interactions with their teachers and the development of executive function (EF) skills in first grade. A primary objective was to examine externalizing behaviour problems (EBPs) as a potential moderator of the link between teacher-child relationships and interactions…

The present study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort of 2011 (N = 15,827; 51.1% male; 48.4% White, 13.5% Black/African-American, 24.3% Hispanic/Latino, 7.5% Asian, and 6.3% other ethnicity) to examine the unique contribution of specific executive function processes (working memory and cognitive flexibility)…

Despite substantial cross-national interest in remedial programming as a way to support low-achieving students, evidence of its effectiveness is rare, particularly in low-income and/or crisis-affected contexts. In this article, we present experimental evidence of the impact of a remedial tutoring program on academic outcomes from a two-level…

Children living in poverty frequently enter kindergarten lacking critical cognitive, academic, and social-emotional skills, and this gap predictably widens through 12th grade. Several researchers have developed intervention programs intended to close the academic gap by building foundational curricular skills. These interventions may not be the…

Although most early-childhood educators agree on the value of play in child development, they find it increasingly harder to advocate for play given today's pressure for academic achievement. Using the theoretical work of Lev Vygotsky, the authors discuss how make-believe play among children helps them develop skills critical for success in school…

A considerable body of research indicates that children's executive function (EF) skills and related school readiness constructs are important for early learning and long-term academic success. This review focuses on EF and a related construct, motor skills with a focus on visuo-motor integration, as being foundational for learning, and describes…

This paper shares the results of an exploratory study that measured the change in Executive Function (EF) skills of At-Risk third-grade students with varying Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) before and after an Arts-Integration (AI) program. Student EF skills were measured using the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and a statistically…

Research has illuminated contributions--usually modeled separately--of both executive functioning (EF) and visuomotor integration (VMI) to mathematical development in early elementary school. This study examined simultaneous associations of EF and VMI, measured at the beginning of the school year, with concurrent and later mathematics performance…

Background: Primary school math skills form a basis for academic success down the road. Different math skills have different antecedents and there is a reason to believe that more complex math tasks require better self-regulation. Aims: The study aimed to investigate longitudinal interrelations of calculation and problem-solving skills, and…