Children at Risk for Early Academic Problems: The Role of Learning-Related Social Skills

Transcription

1 Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, No. 3, (2000) ISSN: Elsevier Science Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. Children at Risk for Early Academic Problems: The Role of Learning-Related Social Skills Megan M. McClelland, Frederick J. Morrison and Deborah L. Holmes Department of Psychology, Loyola University College Increasing evidence suggests that aspects of children s learning-related social skills (including interpersonal skills and work-related skills) contribute to early school performance. The present investigation examined the association of work-related skills to academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade as well as characteristics of children with low workrelated skills. Children were selected from a sample of 540 children based on low work-related skills scores on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales, a teacher-rated scale. Results indicated that work-related skills predicted unique variance in academic outcomes at school entry and at the end of second grade, after controlling for kindergarten academic score and important background variables. In addition, children with poor work-related skills (n 82) were found to differ from the overall sample on a number of child, family, and sociocultural variables including: significantly lower IQs, more behavior difficulties, and more medical problems, such as hearing and language problems. Finally, children with low work-related skills scored lower on academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. Findings highlight the importance of early work-related skills in understanding successful school transition and early academic achievement. There has been increasing recognition over the last decade of the importance of early academic skills for later academic achievement (Mullis & Jenkins, 1990) and school adaptation (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993). National studies of children s achievement levels in reading, vocabulary and mathematics have revealed that significant numbers of U.S. children are not acquiring the academic skills required to succeed in school. Moreover, cross-cultural research has docu- Direct all correspondence to: Megan M. McClelland, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 6525 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626; Phone: (773) ; mmcclel@luc.edu 307

2 308 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes mented that children in this country lag behind children in other countries in mathematics, reading and problem-solving (Applebee, Langer & Mullis, 1989; Stevenson & Lee, 1990; Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993). In addition, mounting evidence suggests that important individual differences emerge quite early (e.g., Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993; Plomin, 1995; Stevenson et al., 1993; Stipek & Ryan, 1997). For example, Stevenson, Chen, & Lee (1993) found differences between U.S. and Japanese children by the end of first grade. In the search for possible causes for poor academic skills in American children, a number of child, family, and sociocultural factors have been identified. Not surprisingly, much of this research has focused on qualities of the home environment believed to stimulate cognitive growth and promote academic achievement. Findings support what one would intuitively suspect, namely that children who come from environments that stimulate cognitive growth, as reflected in measures such as overall social class (Stipek & Ryan, 1997) and quality of the family literacy environment (Griffin & Morrison, 1997), perform better academically. Similarly, individual differences in child characteristics, such as IQ, are also predictive of school performance (Plomin, 1995; Rowe, 1994). In contrast, less attention has been paid to other child factors that may influence school achievement. In particular, there is growing evidence that social behavioral characteristics of children contribute to adjustment to school and subsequent academic performance (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993; Cooper & Farran, 1988, 1991; Ladd, 1990). For example, teacher reports suggest that children come into school with differing levels of social skills and that these skills are critical to early school success (Foulks & Morrow, 1989). The present study explored more explicitly the nature of poor social skills and their implications for later academic success. CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Research relating children s social behavior to school adjustment and performance has focused on different aspects of social behavior. Some investigations have examined the importance of children s peer relations in school adjustment, finding that the consequences of peer rejection include aggressiveness, behavior problems, and academic failure (e.g., DeRosier, Kupersmidt, & Patterson, 1994; Dishion, 1990; Olson & Hoza, 1993; Pettit, Clawson, Dodge, & Bates, 1996; Vitaro, Tremblay, & Gagnon, 1992). Others have examined social behavior in terms of the child s social competence, which includes prosocial behavior, peer relations, and appropriate classroom behavior. This research points to an association between general social competence and achievement and school adjustment (Wentzel, 1991, 1993), without specifying those aspects of social skills that may be especially relevant. However, recently, some measures such as the Social Skills Rating Scales (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) and the Bronson Social and Task Skill Profile (Bronson, 1994, 1996) have differentiated between social behavior and learning-related skills. In addition, Cooper and Farran (1988, 1991) have developed both a conceptualization of social behavior and a behavior rating scale that distinguishes

3 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 309 two kinds of learning-related social skills, interpersonal skills and work-related skills. Interpersonal skills include behaviors such as interacting positively with peers, playing cooperatively, sharing, and respecting other children; whereas work-related skills encompass behaviors like listening and following directions, participating appropriately in groups (such as taking turns), staying on task, and organizing work materials. In general, work-related skills tap the domains of independence, responsibility, self-regulation, and cooperation (Cooper & Farran, 1991). Results of factor analyses indicated that the two scales are relatively independent (Cooper & Farran, 1988). Comparison of Cooper and Farran s behavior rating scale assessing learningrelated social skills with other similar instruments, such as the SSRS (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) and the Bronson Social and Task Skill Profile (Bronson, 1994, 1996), have demonstrated overlap among the different measures. In addition, the Bronson Social and Task Skill Profile has shown moderate correlations ranging from 0.24 to 0.31 with the social behavior subscale of the SSRS, pointing to the concurrent validity in the measures (Bronson, 1999). This similarity among instruments suggests that the conceptualization of learning-related social skills as including both work-related skills and interpersonal skills is a valuable differentiation of social behavior. LEARNING-RELATED SOCIAL SKILLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT Although an extensive body of literature has linked social behavior to school achievement, there is less research looking at particular aspects of social behavior specifically related to school achievement, namely learning-related or workrelated social skills. Nonetheless, the existing research does document the importance of social skills for early school success and school adjustment. For example, Ladd and Price (1987) and Ladd (1990) found that children s school adjustment (measured by indices of school perceptions, involvement, and performance) depended on a child s social behavior in preschool as well as on the child s early classroom peer relations in kindergarten. In turn, these interpersonal behaviors predicted school involvement and performance over the kindergarten year. Foulks and Morrow (1989) have shown that, according to teachers, work-related skills such as listening to instructions and directions, and compliance with teacher demands, were most important for success in kindergarten. Interestingly, other social and interpersonal skills were not found in this study to be as important for school success as work-related skills. Once children make the transition to school, work-related social skills continue to be linked to a child s academic success. 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, Entwisle and Dauber (1993) found that teacher-rated domains of Interest-Participation and Attention Span-Restlessness were significantly related to children s academic

4 310 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes performance in first grade and fourth grade. Children who were interested and involved in classroom activities, and were able to focus and pay attention, performed better academically. Similarly, Stott, Green, and Francis (1983), Green and Francis (1988), and Swartz and Walker (1984) all found that early learning skills, as measured by teacher ratings, were related to later academic achievement two and four years later. More recently, Agostin and Bain (1997) demonstrated that cooperation and self-control significantly predicted promotion and retention of kindergarten children. Finally, a study using a national sample of kindergarten teachers indicated that over one-third of teachers reported that at least half of kindergartners entered school with specific problems such as trouble following directions, working independently, and having adequate academic skills (Rimm- Kaufman, Pianta, & Cox, in press). THE ROLE OF WORK-RELATED SKILLS The importance of work-related skills has been documented in a number of studies. Cooper and Farran (1988) found that having low scores on their workrelated skills (WRS) subscale was associated more with being identified with a behavior problem than having low scores on the interpersonal (IPS) subscale for a sample of 650 kindergarten children. Children rated low on WRS by their teachers in the fall and spring of kindergarten were more at risk for being identified with behavior problems compared to children rated low on IPS in the fall and spring of kindergarten. Overall, boys were rated lower on both IPS and WRS than girls throughout the kindergarten year, and WRS were found to be a stronger predictor of academic achievement than IPS. In other words, having poor interpersonal skills was not seen to be as detrimental to performance by kindergarten teachers as was having poor work-related skills. The children rated low on WRS were more likely to be boys who were inattentive, disorganized, impulsive, and unable to follow directions. These findings highlight the importance of both work-related skills and interpersonal skills, but stress that work-related skills may be more predictive of later behavior problems in school. In a similar study, Cooper and Speece (1988) found that low WRS scores were the most important predictors of referral to special education and of school failure in first grade children, and in a follow-up study, Speece and Cooper (1990) found that all children with profiles describing atypical academic performance were also characterized by having low WRS scores. Additionally, children with the most severe academic problems, and who showed possible learning disabilities, were also characterized by the lowest ratings on both the WRS and IPS scales and the lowest performance in reading, math, and measures of intelligence. Children in this group were more likely to behave inappropriately and make fewer academically-oriented responses. In addition, there were five times more boys than girls in this extreme group. Finally, another study by Bronson, Tivnan, and Seppanen (1995) found that prekindergarten children who spent more time uninvolved in the classroom and had difficulty with rules or the teacher, had more risk indicators such as family

5 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 311 problems, lower parental education, and behavioral or emotional problems. These children also scored lower on a standardized cognitive achievement measure (Bronson, Tivnan, & Seppanen, 1995). Taken together, these studies suggest that poor work-related skills constitute an indicator of risk, which can be used to identify and develop profiles of children with possible academic and social problems in school. However, this research provides few insights into other characteristics that may be associated with the presence of poor work-related skills. What characteristics do these children share, and on what dimensions do they differ from their peers? The present study investigated the predictability of work-related skills, as well as a range of child, family, and sociocultural characteristics in children with poor work-related skills. CHILD, FAMILY, AND SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS AND LEARNING-RELATED SOCIAL SKILLS Relatively little empirical work has attempted to determine the degree to which work-related social skills reflect individual differences in the child or reflect characteristics of the family or sociocultural environment. Stott, Green, and Francis (1983) found more girls having a superior learning style score and performing at a higher level in reading at school entry compared to boys. These findings supported other investigations demonstrating that, in general, boys are more likely to have poor work-related skills than girls (Cooper & Farran, 1988; Speece & Cooper, 1990). There are fewer data available on other child characteristics, although one study found that children with poor learning-related skills were more likely to have lower than average IQ scores (Speece & Cooper, 1990). Even less research has been conducted on the relation of family and sociocultural characteristics to work-related skills. One study (Speece & Cooper, 1990) that examined this relationship showed no differences in maternal education between a high risk group of children (characterized by poor work-related and interpersonal skills, and low scores on reading, math, and measures of intelligence) and other more normative groups of children (Speece & Cooper, 1990). In addition, little research exists on work-related skills and ethnicity. However, in a recent study by Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox (in press), teachers reported that children in high minority composition schools had more problems adjusting to kindergarten, and were more likely to lack academic skills, than children in schools with lower minority levels. One aim of the present study was to investigate a broad range of child, family, and sociocultural factors and their relation to work-related skills in an attempt to gain more in-depth information on the characteristics of children with poor work-related skills. It was predicted that children with poor work-related skills would have significantly lower IQ scores, lower parental education levels, higher incidence of single mother households, more behavior problems, be younger in age, and be more likely to be male than female, compared to the overall sample of children.

6 312 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes EARLY WORK-RELATED SKILLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT The research reviewed here suggests that work-related skills are linked to children s social and academic performance as they enter and continue through school. Overall, however, few studies have intensively examined poor workrelated skills and academic achievement (Cooper & Speece, 1988; Speece & Cooper, 1990) and few studies have looked at kindergarten entry (Bronson et al., 1995) or followed children longitudinally to see if poor work-related skills continue to predict later academic achievement. A primary aim of the current study was to examine whether work-related skills predicted unique variance in academic outcomes above and beyond the influence of other important child, family, and sociocultural factors such as IQ, ethnicity, preschool experience, entrance age, family literacy environment, and parental education. It was hypothesized that work-related skills would uniquely predict academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. A final aim of the study was to examine the relationship of poor work-related skills to academic achievement at school entry and three years later, in the spring of second grade. It was hypothesized that children with poor work-related skills would perform more poorly on academic tests compared to the overall sample at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. METHOD Participants Five-hundred and forty children participated in a study of early individual differences conducted in Greensboro, NC (Christian, Morrison, & Bryant, 1998; Morrison et al., in preparation). The sample was 51% White, 49% Black, 51% male and 49% female. Children entered the study at the beginning of kindergarten and ranged in age from 4 years, 10 months to 5 years, 11 months (M 5 years, 5 months, SD 4.22). Sample size from the fall of kindergarten to the spring of second grade decreased from 540 to 295 due to attrition. This relatively high attrition rate resulted from difficulties in maintaining the original sample when the principal investigator (Dr. Frederick Morrison) moved from Greensboro, NC to Chicago, IL, USA. A comparison of the two groups revealed that children in the original sample were similar to those remaining in second grade on gender, but the group who left the study had proportionally more Black children, lower maternal education levels, and lower IQ levels (Griffin & Morrison, 1997). In the present study, 82 kindergartners were selected from the larger longitudinal sample of 540 children on the basis of poor work-related skills (as defined by scores of four or less on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales; Cooper & Farran, 1991) and were compared with the overall sample on a number of child, family, and sociocultural factors. The subset of 82 children was used for the analyses examining the characteristics of children with poor work-related skills, and the relation of poor work-related skills to academic skills, while the overall

7 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 313 sample of children was used for other analyses looking at the predictability of work-related skills to academic skills. For the low work-related skills (low WRS) group, sample size decreased from 82 children at the fall of kindergarten to 33 children at the end of second grade because of attrition. 2 analyses indicated that the attrition rate was significantly higher for the low WRS group than for the remaining sample of children, 2 (1, N 540) 8.29, p.05, suggesting that fewer children in the low WRS group remained in the sample at the end of second grade compared to children in the overall sample. Comparison of the low WRS children who left the study with those who remained in second grade indicated no significant differences between those who stayed and those who left, except that children who left the study had mothers who were younger in age (M years, SD 5.56) than children who stayed in the study (M years, SD 9.72). Materials The Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales (CFBRS) The CFBRS (Cooper & Farran, 1991) is a teacher-rated scale consisting of 37 items rated on 7-point Likert scales. The measure has been shown to have adequate reliability and validity. Examination of this scale compared to other scales such as the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) showed evidence of concurrent validity, but the use of a 7-point scale in the CFBRS recommended its use over the SSRS (which uses a 3-point scale) in order to capture more variability in scores. Cooper and Farran (1991) found that intra-rater reliability in the CFBRS ranged from 0.49 to 0.80, and inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.31 to 0.68, with 59% of the items reliable above Inter-rater reliability for the two subscales (work-related skills and interpersonal skills) showed a reliability of 0.78 for IPS and 0.79 for WRS. In addition, content and construct validity were measured. Content validity showed a Cronbach s alpha of 0.94 for the two subscales. Construct validity was assessed using factor analysis and the two factors that emerged accounted for 89% of the total variance. On the IPS subscale, Cronbach s alpha ranged between 0.95 and Items loading highly on the IPS subscale included physical interaction with peers, effect on other children, statements to peers, and behavior when others are speaking. On the WRS subscale, Cronbach s alpha ranged between 0.94 and Items loading highly on the WRS subscale included independent work, compliance with work instructions, memory for instructions, and completion of games and activities. Background Questionnaire A background questionnaire completed by parents gathered information on a number of child, family and sociocultural variables including ethnicity, gender, intellectual functioning, health, maternal and paternal education level, family organization, home literacy environment, maternal and paternal occupation, preschool experience, and school entrance age (see Table 1 for a list of variables examined). The home literacy environment score is a composite score measured by the nine

8 314 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes Table 1. List of Child, Family, and Sociocultural Variables Measured Child Variables Family Variables Sociocultural Variables Entrance age Home literacy environment Ethnicity IQ Guardian Maternal occupation Social emotional behavior prob a Maternal age Paternal occupation Gender Paternal age Maternal employment status Preschool experience Number of siblings at home Paternal employment status Birth complication Number of younger sisters Maternal education level Health Number of younger brothers Paternal education level Chronic problems b Number of older sisters Convulsions or seizures Number of older brothers Head injuries Number of sisters Hearing problems Number of brothers Language and speech problem Other children at home Vision problems Other adults at home Number of medical risk factors c a Social Emotional Behavior Prob refers to social, emotional, or behavior problems. b Chronic Problems include allergies, asthma, and ear infections. c Number of Medical Risk Factors refers to having any of the above medical problems except language and speech problems. literacy-related items on the background questionnaire. It includes the hours of television watched by the child per week, number of newspaper and magazine subscriptions, whether or not the family owns a library card, how often the mother and father read to themselves, who reads to the child and how often, and how many books the child owns (Griffin & Morrison, 1997). Intelligence The short version of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale - Revised was used to measure general intelligence (Thorndike, Hagen, & Sattler, 1986). This version includes six subscales: comprehension, vocabulary, sentence memory, pattern analysis, bead memory, and quantitative, and has been shown to have reliability coefficients of 0.95 to 0.97 with the entire scale (Thorndike, Hagen, & Sattler, 1986). Peabody Individual Achievement Test - Revised (PIAT-R) The mathematics, reading recognition, and general information subscales of the PIAT-R were used (Markwardt, 1989). The PIAT-R has shown superior reliability and validity for all subscales. The mathematics subscale measures children s math skills such as number recognition, addition, and multiplication. The test-retest reliability ranges from 0.86 to 0.89, and split-half reliability between 0.84 and The general information subscale assesses children s general knowledge about the world. It has a test-retest reliability ranging from 0.86 to 0.92, and split-half reliability of between 0.93 and The reading recognition subscale measures children s letter and word recognition, as well as reading ability. It has a test-retest reliability of 0.96 to 0.97, and split-half reliability ranging from 0.94 and 0.97.

9 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 315 The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R) The PPVT (Dunn & Dunn, 1981) was used to measure children s receptive vocabulary skills. The test requires children to identify a word from four pictures, and has demonstrated adequate reliability and validity. Split-half reliability ranges from 0.73 to Construct validity has been assessed by comparing the PPVT-R to other vocabulary tests and shows moderate to superior correlations: 0.20 to 0.89, with a median correlation of Alphabet Recognition An alphabet recognition task was administered to assess children s letter recognition skills. The task consists of asking children to name letters of the alphabet. The score is determined by the percentage correct out of 26 letters. Procedure In the current study, data from the fall of kindergarten and the spring of second grade were used. At each time point, children were tested in two sessions, each lasting approximately 30 min, on the following tests: the short version of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale - Revised (Thorndike, Hagen, & Sattler, 1986); the reading recognition, mathematics, and general information subscales of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test - Revised (Markwardt, 1989); the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (Dunn & Dunn, 1981); and an alphabet recognition test (administered only in the fall and spring of kindergarten). Testing and teacher ratings for the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales were collected two months after the beginning of school. Participants were selected as members of the low WRS group on the basis of their ratings on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Ratings Scales. A low score was defined as a skill rating of 4 or below (on a scale ranging from 1 to 7, where 1 signifies lowest performance and 7 signifies best performance), based on Cooper and Speece s finding (1988) that a score below 4 indexed an increasing degree of problem behavior in children. RESULTS This study attempted to examine the predictability of work-related skills 1 to academic achievement at school entry and at the end of second grade, identify characteristics of children with poor work-related skills, and investigate the relationship of poor work-related skills and academic achievement at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. Predictability of Work-Related Skills to Academic Outcomes The first goal of the study was to determine whether work-related skills predicted academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and three years later, at the end of second grade. For both time points, hierarchical regressions were used to test if work-related skills accounted for unique variance above and beyond the influence of other important variables. Based on regression analyses

10 316 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes from other research (Morrison et al., in preparation), seven variables have been found to be particularly important in predicting early academic skills: two child variables (IQ and school entrance age); two social variables (work-related skills and amount of preschool experience); and three family and sociocultural variables (ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment). Building on these findings, the current study used hierarchical regressions with the six predicting variables entered in the first step (IQ, school entrance age, amount of preschool experience, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment) and work-related skills entered in the second step for each of the academic variables measured: general information, receptive vocabulary, reading recognition, mathematics, and alphabet (measured at kindergarten only). At the beginning of kindergarten, work-related skills predicted modest but unique variance in all academic outcomes beyond the influence of IQ, entrance age, amount of preschool experience, parental education level, ethnicity, and home literacy environment (see Table 2). Work-related skills accounted for between one and six percent of the variance in all academic variables: one percent of the variance in general information, mathematics, and vocabulary; two percent of the variance in reading recognition; and six percent of the variance in alphabet. In the spring of second grade, a conservative series of hierarchical regressions were used to determine if work-related skills predicted second grade academic outcomes after controlling for kindergarten academic skills as well as for the six background variables. In this method, kindergarten academic score (reading, vocabulary, general information, or math) was entered in the first step of the regression equation; the six variables of IQ, entrance age, amount of preschool experience, parental education level, ethnicity, and home literacy environment were entered in the second step; and work-related skills was entered in the third step of the regression equation. Results indicated that work-related skills continued to predict some academic skills even after controlling for kindergarten academic skills and the influence of the other six predictor variables. Work-related skills predicted unique variance in reading (two percent), and mathematics (one percent), but not vocabulary or general information at the end of second grade (see Table 3). Taken together, results from school entry to the end of second grade revealed that work-related skills continued to predict reading and math skills. Children with Poor Work-Related Skills The second goal of the study was to look at characteristics of children with poor work-related skills. Children in the low WRS group (n 82) were compared to the larger sample of children (n 540) on a number of background variables and academic outcome measures. The descriptive statistics for work-related skills showed that the overall sample had a mean rating of 5.07 on the WRS subscale of the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales (SD 1.23), and the low WRS group had a mean rating of 3.20 on work-related skills (SD 0.71). The mean rating for the overall sample supports earlier research from a number of samples showing that the normative mean rating for WRS on the Cooper-Farran Behav-

11 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 317 Table 2. Hierarchical Regression Analyses Testing the Predictability of Work- Related Skills to Academic Outcomes at the Beginning of Kindergarten Step 2 Values B SE B General Information Variables entered in Step 1 Child IQ *** School entrance age *** Amount of preschool experience Parental education level ** Ethnicity ** Home literacy environment ** Variables entered in Step 2 Work-related skills * Mathematics Variables entered in Step 1 Child IQ *** School entrance age *** Amount of preschool experience Parental education level Ethnicity Home literacy environment Variables entered in Step 2 Work-related skills * Vocabulary Variables entered in Step 1 Child IQ *** School entrance age *** Amount of preschool experience Parental education level ** Ethnicity *** Home literacy environment *** Variables entered in Step 2 Work-related skills * Reading recognition Variables entered in Step 1 Child IQ *** School entrance age *** Amount of preschool experience Parental education level Ethnicity Home literacy environment ** Variables entered in Step 2 Work-related skills ** Continued

12 318 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes Table 2. Continued Step 2 Values B SE B Alphabet Variables entered in Step 1 Child IQ * School entrance age Amount of preschool experience *** Parental education level Ethnicity Home literacy environment ** Variables entered in Step 2 Work-related skills *** Note Valid n was 322 due to missing data. For General Information: R 2.51 for Step 1; R 2.01 for Step 2(ps.05). For Mathematics: R 2.45 for Step 1; R 2.01 for Step 2 (ps.05). For Vocabulary: R 2.57 for Step 1; R 2.01 for Step 2 (ps.05). For Reading Recognition: R 2.31 for Step 1; R 2.02 for Step 2 (ps.05). For Alphabet: R 2.26 for Step 1; R 2.06 for Step 2 (ps.05). p.10. *p.05. **p.01. ***p.001. ioral Rating Scales ranged from 4.70 (SD 1.40) to 4.90 (SD 1.30) (Cooper & Farran, 1988). The subsample of children who received low ratings on WRS was compared to the entire sample by z-tests and 2 analyses. These analyses indicated that the low WRS group differed from the total sample on many child, family and sociocultural measures. Although a number of these differences were anticipated, there were also some unexpected and surprising results. Child Factors Eight of the 14 comparisons yielded significant differences between the low WRS group and the overall sample (see Table 4). As expected, children low on WRS were more likely to be younger (M months, SD 4.21 vs. M months, SD 4.22); have a lower IQ (M 86.34, SD 11.65, vs. M 97.05, SD 15.27); and have more social/emotional/behavior problems reported by parents (6.67% vs. 1.40%), compared to the overall sample. A surprising finding was the failure to find that the low WRS group differed significantly from the total sample in the proportion of males and females, 2 (1, N 82) 1.81, p.05. The low WRS group was 58.54% male and 41.46% female, while the overall sample was 51.50% male and 48.89% female. A complex pattern of findings emerged for health and medical problems (see Table 4). One unexpected finding was that children with poor work-related skills were rated significantly lower than the larger sample on an overall health rating by their parents (M 4.27, SD 0.75) on a 5-point scale (M 4.44, SD 0.71). In addition, intriguing differences emerged in medical problems between the overall sample and the low WRS group. Data from the background questionnaire completed by parents were available on a number of different types of medical problems: Convulsions or Seizures, Head Injuries, Hearing Problems,

13 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 319 Table 3. Hierarchical Regression Analyses Testing the Predictability of Work- Related Skills to Academic Outcomes at the End of Second Grade Step 3 Values B SE B General Information Variables entered in Step 1 Fall Kindergarten General Information Score *** Variables entered in Step 2 Child IQ School entrance age Amount of preschool experience Parental education level *** Ethnicity Home literacy environment ** Variables entered in Step 3 Work-related skills Mathematics Variables entered in Step 1 Fall Kindergarten Mathematics Score *** Variables entered in Step 2 Child IQ *** School entrance age Amount of preschool experience Parental education level * Ethnicity Home literacy environment Variables entered in Step 3 Work-related skills * Vocabulary Variables entered in Step 1 Fall Kindergarten Vocabulary Score *** Variables entered in Step 2 Child IQ School entrance age Amount of preschool experience Parental education level Ethnicity ** Home literacy environment Variables entered in Step 3 Work-related skills Reading Recognition Variables Entered in Step 1 Fall Kindergarten Reading Score *** Continued

14 320 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes Table 3. Continued Step 3 Values B SE B Reading Recognition (continued) Variables entered in Step 2 Child IQ School entrance age Amount of preschool experience Parental education level ** Ethnicity Home literacy environment Variables entered in Step 3 Work-related skills ** Note Valid n was 233 due to missing data. For General Information: R 2.53 for Step 1; R 2.01 for Step 2(ps.05); R 2.00 for Step 3 (p.05). For Mathematics: R 2.34 for Step 1; R 2.16 for Step 2; R 2.01 for Step 3 (ps.05). For Vocabulary: R 2.54 for Step 1; R 2.06 for Step 2 (ps.05); R 2.00 for Step 3 (p.05). For Reading Recognition: R 2.24 for Step 1; R 2.16 for Step 2; R 2.02 for Step 3(ps.05). p.10. *p.05. **p.01. ***p.001. Language and Speech Problems, and Vision Problems. In addition, a category labeled Chronic Problems consisted of asthma problems, allergies or ear infections. Results showed significant differences in hearing problems, and a trend (p.06) for differences in language and speech problems between the overall sample and the low WRS group (see Table 4). Eleven percent of the children in the low WRS group were reported as having hearing problems compared to only 5% of the children in the overall sample. In addition, 17.81% of parents in the low WRS group reported their child having a language or speech problem compared to only 10.50% of parents in the larger sample. No significant differences between the two groups were found for the frequencies of other medical problems. A general question of interest was whether children in the low WRS group were more likely to have more medical risk factors present compared to children in the overall sample. To test this, a variable called number of medical risk factors was created that measured whether a child had any of the medical problems listed above except for language and speech problems. Language and speech problems were excluded because they were considered to be problems more likely to result from having a medical condition, rather than being a medical condition. Results revealed that children in the low WRS group had significantly more medical risk factors present compared to the overall sample (M 0.34, SD 0.53 vs. M 0.21, SD 0.44; see Table 4). Overall, children in the low WRS group had more hearing and language and speech problems, as well as more medical risk factors, as compared to children in the larger sample. Family and Sociocultural Factors Of the 13 family variables measured, only three revealed significant differences between the low WRS group and the overall

15 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 321 Table 4. Differences in Background Characteristics Between Overall Sample and Low WRS Group Child Variables: Overall Sample (n 540) Low WRS Group (n 82) M SD n c M SD n c z value Entrance age (in months) (4.22) (4.21) *** IQ (15.27) (11.65) *** Health score 4.44 (0.71) (0.75) * Num. med. risk factors a 0.21 (0.44) (0.53) * Percentages n c Percentages n c 2 Hearing problems 5.00% % * Language/speech probs 10.50% % Soc/emo/beh probs b 1.40% % *** Male 51.10% % Family variables: M SD n c M SD n c z value Home literacy score (3.62) (3.26) *** Number sibling home 1.28 (1.04) (1.14) * Percentages n c Percentages n c 2 Both birth parents 58.80% % *** Sociocultural Variables: M SD n c M SD n c z value Maternal occupation (14.20) (12.99) ** Maternal education (2.39) (2.04) *** Paternal education (2.72) (2.53) ** Percentages n c Percentages n c 2 Black 48.89% % *** Note Valid ns are different because of missing data. a Num. Med. Risk Factors refers to the number of medical risk factors and having any of the above medical problems except language and speech problems. b Soc/Emo/Beh Problems refers to social, emotional or behavior problems. c n refers to total number of subjects in total sample or WRS sample completing particular items. p.10. *p.05. **p.01. ***p.001. sample of children (see Table 4). As predicted, compared to the overall sample, children with poor work-related skills were more likely to come from homes with single mothers or homes without both parents (71.43% vs %); to come from homes with a poorer literacy environment (M 8.60, SD 3.26 vs. M 10.57, SD 3.62). Surprisingly, this group of children also had significantly fewer siblings at home (M 1.03, SD 1.14 vs. M 1.28, SD 1.04). Finally, differences in sociocultural factors were examined between the low WRS group and children in the overall sample. Of the seven sociocultural variables measured, four showed significant differences between the two groups (see Table 4). As expected, children in the low WRS group had mothers who

16 322 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes Table 5. Differences in Academic Outcomes Between Overall Sample and Low WRS Group at the Fall of Kindergarten Overall Sample (n 540) Low WRS Group (n 82) Outcome Variables: Fall K M SD M SD z value PIAT Reading Recognition 8.08 (5.67) 5.57 (3.79) 3.98*** PIAT Math (5.47) 8.18 (4.22) 5.61*** PIAT General Information (8.93) 9.22 (8.19) 4.79*** PPVT Receptive Vocabulary (18.73) (17.48) 5.67*** Alphabet a (33.58) (36.46) 5.71*** a Valid n for Alphabet for Overall Sample was 539. *p.05. **p.01. ***p reported a lower occupational status (M 36.49, SD vs. M 41.76, SD 14.20); and lower education level (M years, SD 2.04 vs. M years, SD 2.39); as well as having fathers with significantly lower education levels (M 13.07, SD 2.53 vs. M 14.56, SD 2.72); Finally, children in the low WRS group were more likely to be Black (75.60% vs %), compared to children in the overall sample 2. Differences in Academic Outcomes Results of hierarchical regressions on the entire sample of children established the overall predictability of work-related skills on academic achievement at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. However, these analyses did not definitively establish the source of the predictive relation. It is possible that the main source of the predictability lay in differences between children with high and average scores on work-related skills. Since our major interest was in children with poor work-related skills, we compared academic outcomes for the at-risk group with the no-risk sample. For both time points, z-tests were used to test for significant differences between the low WRS group and the total sample on academic outcome measures. Results indicated that children with low WRS had significantly lower scores on all academic measures at the beginning of kindergarten: lower reading recognition scores (M 5.57, SD 3.79 vs. M 8.08, SD 5.67); lower scores on mathematics (M 8.18, SD 4.22 vs. M 11.57, SD 5.47); lower general information scores (M 9.22, SD 8.19 vs. M 13.91, SD 8.93); lower receptive vocabulary scores (M 44.17, SD vs. M 55.89, SD 18.73); and lower scores on alphabet recognition (M 50.12, SD vs. M 71.30, SD 33.58; see Table 5). For the second grade comparison, sample sizes for both the low WRS group and the overall sample decreased due to attrition, making data available for only 33 children in the low WRS group, and 295 children in the overall sample at the end of second grade (see Table 6). Nevertheless, similar results were obtained for

17 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 323 Table 6. Differences in Academic Outcomes Between Overall Sample and Low WRS Group in the Spring of Second Grade Overall Sample (n 295) Low WRS Group (n 33) Outcome Variables: Spring 2 nd M SD M SD z value PIAT Reading Recognition (14.79) (14.57) 4.65*** PIAT Math (13.03) (11.51) 4.54*** PIAT General Information (15.97) (16.15) 3.24** PPVT Receptive Vocabulary (14.88) (15.63) 3.60*** *p.05. **p.01. ***p.001. the spring of second grade as for the fall of kindergarten. Compared to the overall sample, children in the low WRS group performed significantly worse on all academic outcomes (see Table 6): lower scores on reading recognition (M 35.15, SD vs. M 47.14, SD 14.79); lower scores on mathematics (M 27.64, SD vs. M 37.94, SD 13.03); lower scores on general information (M 31.33, SD vs. M 40.35, SD 15.97); and lower scores on receptive vocabulary (M 84.36, SD vs. M 93.69, SD 14.88). Taken together, results from the beginning of kindergarten and the end of second grade demonstrated that children with poor work-related skills began school performing worse on academic measures and continued to lag three years later compared to children in the overall sample. DISCUSSION The present study had three central goals: to examine the predictability of work-related skills to academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade; to identify characteristics of children with low workrelated skills; and to investigate the relationship between poor work-related skills and academic achievement at school entry and at the end of second grade. Findings unearthed a broad array of characteristics linked to children with poor work-related skills and demonstrated the importance of work-related skills to academic achievement at school entry and beyond. Predictability of Work-Related Skills to Academic Outcomes At the beginning of kindergarten, work-related skills contributed to children s reading, mathematics, vocabulary, general information and alphabet skills, beyond the influence of other important child, social, and family and sociocultural variables such as a child s IQ, entrance age, amount of preschool experience, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment. This finding has also been replicated in other analyses in our laboratory (Morrison et al., in preparation), and in previous research examining the importance of a child s

18 324 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes work-related skills (Cooper & Farran, 1988; Cooper & Speece, 1988; Speece & Cooper, 1990). Moreover, work-related skills continued to be predictive of academic achievement at the end of second grade. Regression analyses demonstrated that workrelated skills remained stable in predicting children s reading and mathematics skills at the end of second grade, after the influence of kindergarten reading and mathematics skills had been controlled as well as the six child, social, and family and sociocultural variables. In contrast, work-related skills did not continue to predict a child s receptive vocabulary or general information skills at the end of second grade. This may be because vocabulary and general information skills are not specifically emphasized in early elementary school classrooms while more instructional time is spent on reading and mathematics skills. Although the actual variance accounted for by work-related skills at kindergarten and at the end of second grade is small, it is both educationally and practically significant, especially given the conservative nature of the regressions conducted at both time points (Ecols, West, Stanovich, & Zehr, 1996). Workrelated skills predicted all academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten after partialing out the influence of powerful background variables such as child s IQ, entrance age, amount of preschool experience, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment. Moreover, at the end of second grade, the relationship between work-related skills and reading and mathematics skills remained strong even after accounting for kindergarten reading and mathematics scores and the six background variables. This demonstrates that work-related skills predict academic skills at school entry and also predict the gains made in math and reading skills between kindergarten and second grade after controlling for fall kindergarten scores. Children with Poor Work-Related Skills An interesting pattern of results emerged for child, family, and sociocultural factors. Work-related skills were significantly associated with a number of important child variables. As expected, children with low WRS tended to be younger, have lower IQ s, and have more behavior problems. Significant differences in the proportion of males and females were not obtained between the low WRS group and the total sample, although the actual number of males was somewhat higher in the low WRS group. This lack of a significant finding was unexpected, based on earlier research showing that, in general, boys have lower WRS than girls do (Cooper & Farran, 1988; Cooper & Speece, 1990). However, analyses of the overall sample in this study supported and replicated earlier research in that boys had significantly lower WRS (M 4.89, SD 1.25) than girls (M 5.25, SD 1.18). In contrast, the low WRS group did not contain significantly more boys than girls and there were not significant differences in work-related skills scores between girls (M 3.32, SD 0.55) and boys (M 3.11, SD 0.80) in the low WRS group. Taken together, the results suggest that boys overall had poorer work-related skills, but

19 Children at Risk for Academic Problems 325 in the high risk sample the extent and nature of gender differences was not entirely clear. An intriguing set of findings was obtained regarding medical and health variables. Children low on WRS were rated significantly lower by their parents on ratings of overall health, and also had more hearing problems and somewhat more language and speech problems compared to the overall sample. In addition, children low in work-related skills had significantly more medical risk factors present than did children in the larger sample. These results tentatively suggest that having specific medical problems such as hearing and language problems may be a risk factor for low work-related skills and a precursor to later learning problems. In fact, a number of studies have linked language problems and attentional difficulties (Beitchman, Hood, Rochon, & Peterson, 1988; Beitchman et al., 1996; Cantwell & Baker, 1987; Humphries, Koltun, Malone, & Roberts, 1994), while other research (e.g.,vaughn, Hogan, Kouzekanani & Shapiro, 1990) has revealed a relation between attentional difficulties and both lower social skills and poorer academic achievement. A meta-analysis (Horn & Packard, 1985) on the early identification of learning problems found that the best predictors of later school achievement were ratings on attention/distractibility, internalizing behavioral problems, language variables, and overall cognitive functioning. Sensory measures including auditory-perceptual abilities were somewhat weaker predictors. In addition, recent analyses based on the results of the current study found that work-related skills mediated the relationship between a child s language problems and academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten. This supports the notion that language problems may lead to poor work-related skills which then lead to poor academic achievement early in school (McClelland, 1999). Overall, these studies suggest that children low on work-related skills who have language problems or possibly hearing problems, may be especially at risk for later learning problems. Children with poor work-related skills also demonstrated differences on a host of family variables compared to children in the overall sample: poorer home environments as measured by a lower home literacy environment, and more single mother households. There were also significantly fewer siblings at home in the low WRS group, which was surprising because they did not have significantly fewer numbers of children overall in the family. The meaning of this pattern is not entirely clear, however, one possibility is that it indexes more family disruption and instability in the low WRS group. Additional differences also emerged on sociocultural factors between the two groups. As expected, children in the low WRS group were more likely to have mothers and fathers who reported lower education levels. While no predictions were made about occupational status and ethnicity, both were found to be relevant factors. The low WRS group had more mothers reporting a lower occupational status, and more children with poor work-related skills were Black. Notably, these differences in ethnicity between the low WRS group and the overall sample were found even after additional analyses controlled for parental education. It is possible however, that teacher ethnicity may contribute to whether or not

20 326 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes children are viewed as having poor work-related skills since the ratings were done by teachers. Recent research by Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox (in press) suggests that minority children may be seen by non-minority teachers as having more problems with some important skills needed for kindergarten, than when minority children are rated by minority teachers. Since the ethnicity of teachers in the present study was not recorded, it is not clear to what extent the differences observed here are a function of teacher/child ethnicity differences. Differences in Academic Outcomes Children with poor work-related skills performed significantly worse on all academic measures compared to children in the overall sample at the fall of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. This pattern of results suggests that poor work-related skills are a risk factor for low academic achievement at the beginning of school and continuing into the early school years. The Profile of the At-Risk Child Taken together, from the pattern of findings it is possible to construct the following profile of the child with poor work-related skills: This child is either a boy or girl who is younger than his/her classmates, has a lower IQ, has behavior problems, has more medical risk factors present, and more medical problems such as hearing and language problems. In addition, this child comes from a disruptive and poor home environment classified by living with only one parent and whose parents have lower levels of education and occupational status. This child is also more likely to be Black. Finally, this child performs worse academically at school entry and continues to perform at low levels at the end of second grade compared to his/her classmates. The extent of this child s difficulties in reading and mathematics are likely to increase as he or she moves through the school system, at least out to second grade. Implications for Educational Policy and Intervention There are important implications for policy and intervention based on this study. The findings presented here indicate that the early acquisition of social skills and particularly work-related skills prior to school entry is very important. Therefore, families and child-care providers should be educated about the need for socialization in this area. It is also important for families to be aware of teacher expectations and that social, ethnic, or cultural differences may create a mismatch between children and what teachers may expect, which could influence a child s development of positive work-related skills (Rimm-Kaufman et al., in press). In the classroom, teachers can emphasize the domains of work-related skills to improve a child s ability to be independent, responsible, cooperative and selfregulated. This includes teaching children to complete tasks, work independently, comply with teacher instructions, and remember instructions (Cooper & Farran, 1991). In addition, it may be that children with poor work-related skills are especially disadvantaged in those areas where development is based on direct