Research Findings: This study investigated children's feelings about school and their adaptation to primary school after leaving kindergarten. Altogether, 28,334 Chinese children (ages 6-8 years) were sampled and surveyed online. The descriptive statistic, latent class analysis (LCA) approach, and logistic regression analysis indicated that: (1)…

Research Findings: With a sample of 390 non-Chinese speaking first-grade primary school students and their parents in Hong Kong, this study examines associations between parental support and students' ideal selves, motivation, engagement, and Chinese reading test performance. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four groups of students (low-,…

Research Findings: Greater self-regulation has been identified as a protective factor for low-income children's academic achievement. However, we know less about the long-term protective nature of specific aspects of self-regulation. Data were drawn from predominantly African American and Latino children in low-income communities in Boston,…

Research Findings: The present study examines the unique and joint effects of individual teacher-child relationships and overall quality of teacher-child interactions on the motivation of 2,745 kindergarten children (51% girls; ages 5--6) from an ethnically and linguistically diverse county. Teachers reported the closeness and conflict in their…

Research Findings: Two hundred and sixty-seven Chilean children from grades 1-3, their fathers and their mothers completed measures of implicit and explicit math-related beliefs (math-gender stereotypes, math self-concepts) and feelings (math anxiety), as well as tests of mathematical achievement. Children, fathers, and mothers exhibited…

Social-behavioral functioning during early childhood is associated with children's academic and social success concurrently and over time. This study explored how concurrent, year-to-year, and sustained parent--teacher and student--teacher relationships predicted children's social skills and problem behaviors across the preschool to Grade 1…

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships between effortful control and early literacy and mathematics achievement. A total of 181 children (85 girls and 96 boys) from rural China were assessed when they were in Grades 1 and 2. Path analyses controlling for maternal education indicated that effortful control at the beginning of…

Research Findings: The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which the quality of teacher-child interactions and teachers' self-reported curriculum emphases are related to children's reading skill development during their 1st school year. To accomplish this, we assessed the reading skills of 1,029 Finnish children (M…

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine associations between parental socialization values (including inconsistency in values), parenting practices, and parental involvement in their children's education. Altogether 242 Estonian mothers and fathers of first-grade children participated in the study. We found that mothers were…

Research Findings: The goal of the present study was to provide empirical evidence for the importance of mastering reading fluency in early schooling. Study participants were 1,322 students in 3rd grade in 42 schools in a northwestern state. These students were assessed using a battery of reading skill tests as well as comprehensive tests of more…

Research Findings: This study investigates contributions of the preschool classroom interpersonal environment to students' social competence in 1st grade. Participants were 862 ethnically/racially diverse children who attended public preschool classrooms serving low-income families. Systematic observations of 60 classrooms occurred across the…

Research Findings: This study investigated the long-term interrelations among children's language competencies, their home literacy environment (HLE), and 3 aspects of socioemotional development from ages 3 to 8, controlling for characteristics of the child and family. For this sample of 547 typically developing German children, parents and…

Research Findings: Several recent studies carried out in the United States and abroad (i.e., Asia and Europe) have demonstrated that the ability of young children to regulate their behavior (including inhibitory control, working memory, attentional control) significantly predicts their academic achievement. The current study examined the…

Research Findings: Racial/ethnic minority low-income children with temperaments high in negative reactivity are at heightened risk for developing disruptive behavior problems. Teacher-child relationships characterized by high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict may protect against the development of disruptive behaviors in school. The…

Research Findings: Research on teacher-child relationships is important, as the quality of this relationship is linked to numerous child outcomes in the areas of academic and social functioning. In addition, parent involvement has been identified as a significant factor in the successful development of a child. This study attempted to join these…