{"id":84,"date":"2012-12-21T14:57:40","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T19:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/cogselfregulation\/?page_id=84"},"modified":"2013-12-04T17:13:37","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T22:13:37","slug":"project-overview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/cogselfregulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Self-Regulation Measurement Study<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Learning-Related Cognitive Self-Regulation School Readiness Measures for Preschool Children Study<\/em> (which we call the Self-Regulation Measurement Study), was designed to identify measures of learning-related cognitive self-regulation for Pre-K children that are 1) predictive of their achievement gains and 2) easily used in Pre-K settings (portable, did not require computer administration). Such measures are in great need for screening Pre-K children to identify those\u00a0with weak cognitive self-regulation skills that put them at risk for poor academic achievement and for tracking improvements in cognitive self-regulation that result from classroom practices aimed at facilitating those skills.<\/p>\n

This project consisted of two phases or waves. The goal of Phase One was to develop\u00a0a child assessment battery and parallel teacher rating instrument that best meet the above criteria. For\u00a0this phase, children from 58 classrooms in 38 Middle Tennessee public schools and United Way funded preschool centers were assessed using the candidate measures of self-regulation. These schools and centers included a mix of urban, suburban, and rural preschool settings and provided an ethnically diverse sample of preschool children. Children were directly assessed in 3 sessions during the\u00a0fall (mean age 54.56 months) and spring (mean age 60.67 months) of the Pre-K school year on 10 measures of self-regulation along with 5 subtests\u00a0from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ-III). Participants\u2019 teachers also provided behavioral ratings of self-regulation for each participating child\u00a0concurrently with these assessments.<\/p>\n

These children\u00a0were assessed again at the end of kindergarten on a refined set of 6 measures of self-regulation and a condensed version of the behavioral ratings completed by their teachers.\u00a0 Due to the reduction in self-regulation measures utilized during this follow-up, the number of assessment sessions with each child was reduced from\u00a03 to 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The goal of Phase Two\u00a0was to cross-validate the refined child assessment battery and the parallel teacher rating instrument developed in Phase One. Phase Two\u00a0involved a new sample of children drawn from\u00a0a subset of the\u00a0classrooms used in Phase One. After all consents were\u00a0received, the study sample was randomly selected at the classroom level.\u00a0 Children were directly assessed in the fall and spring of the Pre-K year with the refined battery of 6 measures of self-regulation\u00a0and\u00a0all\u00a0Phase One WJ-III subtests.\u00a0 Likewise, teachers were asked to complete the condensed version of the behavioral ratings developed in Phase\u00a0One.\u00a0 In addition, during the fall of the Pre-K year, we also retested all children\u00a0two weeks after their initial testing date\u00a0using only the 6 self-regulation measures (test-retest reliability).\u00a0 We also asked teachers to complete the behavioral ratings again\u00a0two weeks after their initial set of fall ratings were complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is Self-Regulation?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Self-regulation is the ability of children and adults to exert control over their attention, thoughts, and behaviors in order to achieve a goal. Children control their behavior to achieve goals in two ways: 1) by inhibiting behaviors that will impede a goal and 2) by performing behaviors that align with the goal. In school everyday children are required to exert self-regulation if they are to benefit from the learning experiences in the classroom. For example, children must inhibit their desire to continue with one activity when it is time to shift to something else, but they must also fully engage their attention in each learning activity as it occurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of particular interest to the Self-Regulation Measurement Study was cognitive<\/em> self-regulation, which includes the ability to deliberately control the quality, sequence, and persistence of task-related behavior and thoughts. Some research evidence suggests that cognitive self-regulation among Pre-K children may be second only to emergent literacy and math skills as predictors of later reading and math achievement.<\/p>\n

The Self-Regulation Measurement Study was designed around six key cognitive skills: \u00a0<\/p>\n