The emergence of learning-related social skills in preschool children

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Abstract

Recent research has pointed to the role of learning-related social skills in academic achievement and school success [Cooper & Farran, 1988; McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000]. Learning-related social skills tap the domains of independence, responsibility, self-regulation, and cooperation. The present study examined the nature and stability of teacher ratings of early learning-related social skills in 72 preschool children at 3–4 years and 1 year later. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that a construct labeled “learning-related social skills” emerged in ratings of preschool children and showed moderate variability. Further, ratings of children’s early learning-related social skills were relatively stable over a 1-year period. Discussion focused on the emergence of learning-related social skills during the preschool period and possible role of these skills for early school success.

Section snippets

Conceptualizations of social behavior

Research examining children’s social behavior in school adjustment and performance has historically focused on a single category of behavior. For instance, a number of researchers have demonstrated the importance of children’s peer relations and social competence for school adjustment (e.g., Coie & Dodge, 1998, DeRosier et al., 1994, Dishion, 1990, Olson & Hoza, 1993; Pettit, Clawson, Dodge, & Bates, 1996; Rose-Krasnor, 1997; Vitaro, Tremblay, & Gagnon, 1992). Although this body of research

Recent interest in learning-related social skills

In addition to research differentiating learning-related social skills from other aspects of social behavior, there has been an increased interest in how to define learning-related social skills. For example, some of the terms used include executive functioning skills (Bronson, 2000, Karmiloff-Smith, 1993); self-regulation (Bronson, 2000, Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000); mastery skills (Bronson, 1994, Bronson et al., 1995), and social competence (Rose-Krasnor, 1997, Wentzel, 1991, Wentzel, 1993).

The importance of learning-related social skills

Existing research has pointed to the importance of children’s learning-related social skills for early school success and school adjustment. For example, a recent study by Ladd et al. (1999) found that children’s classroom participation and their ability to be cooperative and independent in kindergarten was an important predictor of early school achievement. Foulks and Morrow (1989) have also shown that according to teachers, learning-related skills such as listening to instructions and

Learning-related skills and academic achievement

Once children make the transition to school, learning-related social skills continue to be linked to school adjustment. These early skills can be said to “set the stage” for later social behavior and academic performance by providing the foundation for positive classroom behavior. In a study examining the relationship between classroom behavior and school performance, Alexander et al. (1993) found that children’s interest, participation, and attention were statistically significantly related to

Goals of the present study

These studies examining the importance of learning-related skills for early school achievement raise questions of when a coherent construct of learning-related skills emerges and how early differences in children’s learning-related skills can be discerned. Addressing these two questions has theoretical and practical implications. The theoretical implications include the importance of learning-related skills for early literacy and academic development. It is critical to build a research base

Participants

Children, parents, and teachers were part of a larger study investigating factors related to the emergence of learning-related social skills in preschool. Initially, letters inviting parents to participate in the study were sent home with 200 children from six preschools in the North Chicago area and 75 families (or 37.5%) agreed to participate. The sample of 75 children aged 3–4 years and their families were studied at two time points: during the winter of the preschool year when children were

Analytic strategy

The analytic strategy for the present study used CFA using structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine if a learning-related skills construct was present in children as young as 3 years of age. CFA are methodologically stronger than using other exploratory methods such as exploratory factor analyses because they test a specific set of hypotheses rather than finding the strongest statistical solution (Kline, 1998). In addition, repeated measures ANCOVAs were employed to compare the mean

Discussion

The present study examined the nature of early learning-related social skills (based on teacher ratings), the extent of individual differences in ratings of learning-related social skills, and the stability of these skills in terms of mean change over time and relative ranking stability in preschool children. A coherent construct was revealed that varied across preschool children and showed stability over a 1-year period.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Deborah L. Holmes and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. The research presented in this paper was completed with funding from a Loyola University Chicago Dissertation Fellowship to Megan M. McClelland and grant NICHD R01-HD27176 to Frederick J. Morrison.

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