Task-oriented kindergarten behavior pays off in later childhood.
OBJECTIVE
: Research has traditionally neglected child-learning skills as important when entering kindergarten. In this article, we consider a novel dimension of school readiness by examining prospective associations between early classroom engagement skills, reflecting self-regulation and the ability to remain on task, and later academic adjustment in emerging adolescence.


METHODS
: Kindergarten teachers rated classroom engagement skills of 960 children from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Outcomes measured at 10-years-old children include a direct assessment of achievement in mathematics and fourth-grade teacher ratings of academic achievement, teacher-child conflict, inattention, victimization, proactive and indirect aggression, and antisocial behavior in the classroom.


RESULTS
: Multiple regression analyses revealed that kindergarten classroom engagement skills were associated with better fourth-grade math test scores and teacher-rated academic success. Early classroom engagement also predicted less teacher-child conflict, inattention, victimization by peers, proactive and indirect aggression, and antisocial behavior in fourth grade.


CONCLUSIONS
: Easily measurable, context-based assessments of task orientation and focus represent robust components of children's readiness to learn at school entry.
le Centre de Recherche de l'Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal and le Groupe de Recherche sur les Environnements Scolaire, Montréal, Canada. caroline.fitzpatrick@umontreal.ca
Caroline
C
Fitzpatrick
Linda S
LS
Pagani
D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011792:Quebec; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012917:Social Adjustment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires