CSRP's Impact on low-income preschoolers' preacademic skills: self-regulation as a mediating mechanism

Abstract

Based on theoretically driven models, the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) targeted low-income children's school readiness through the mediating mechanism of self-regulation. The CSRP is a multicomponent, cluster-randomized efficacy trial implemented in 35 Head Start-funded classrooms (N = 602 children). The analyses confirm that the CSRP improved low-income children's self-regulation skills (as indexed by attention/impulse control and executive function) from fall to spring of the Head Start year. Analyses also suggest significant benefits of CSRP for children's preacademic skills, as measured by vocabulary, letter-naming, and math skills. Partial support was found for improvement in children's self-regulation as a hypothesized mediator for children's gains in academic readiness. Implications for programs and policies that support young children's behavioral health and academic success are discussed.

© 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Figures

Figure 1

A mediating model of Chicago School Readiness Project’s (CSRP) impact on low-income children’s preacademic skills Note. Tk = CSRP treatment; Yijk = preacademic outcomes; Mijk = mediators (i.e., self-regulation measures); γc = effects of treatment on preacademic outcomes; γa = effects of treatment on mediators; πb = effects of mediators on preacademic outcomes.