Improving Self-regulation & School Readiness in Preschoolers

Study Summary

This project will develop and evaluate the initial effectiveness of an intervention training executive functioning, metacognition, and self-regulation in preschoolers attending certain high poverty Cincinnati preschools. Studies show that these skills are critical for school performance, and that children with better executive functioning have better long term outcomes. It is also important to intervene early when children are most likely to profit because their brains are rapidly developing. There are some promising programs targeting these skills in preschoolers, but few are available to teachers for implementation in the classroom setting. The specific aims of this study are: 1) to adapt a promising clinic-based program for the preschool classroom environment, and 2) to test the feasibility and initial impact of the adapted program on executive functioning and school readiness in schools with a high proportion of children from low income families.

Primary Outcome

Parents and teachers will complete this rating scale assessing executive function behaviors in the home and school environments, yielding T-scores on several subscales, including Inhibit, Shift, Emotional Control, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Inhibitory Self-Control Index, Flexibility Index, Emergent Metacognition Index, and a Global Executive Composite. The scale has adequate reliability and validity as assessed in two- to five-year-olds

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Classroom Intervention