Children at Risk for Early Academic Problems: The Role of …people.oregonstate.edu/~mcclellm/ms/lrss article ECRQ 00.pdf · 2005-08-30 · behavior problem than having low scores

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

Megan M. McClelland, Frederick J. Morrison andDeborah L. Holmes

Department of Psychology, Loyola University College

Increasing evidence suggests that aspects of children’s learning-related socialskills (including interpersonal skills and work-related skills) contribute to earlyschool performance. The present investigation examined the association ofwork-related skills to academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and atthe end of second grade as well as characteristics of children with low work-related skills. Children were selected from a sample of 540 children based on lowwork-related skills scores on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales, ateacher-rated scale. Results indicated that work-related skills predicted uniquevariance in academic outcomes at school entry and at the end of second grade,after controlling for kindergarten academic score and important backgroundvariables. In addition, children with poor work-related skills (n 5 82) were foundto differ from the overall sample on a number of child, family, and socioculturalvariables including: significantly lower IQs, more behavior difficulties, and moremedical problems, such as hearing and language problems. Finally, children withlow work-related skills scored lower on academic outcomes at the beginning ofkindergarten and at the end of second grade. Findings highlight the importanceof early work-related skills in understanding successful school transition andearly academic achievement.

There has been increasing recognition over the last decade of the importance ofearly academic skills for later academic achievement (Mullis & Jenkins, 1990)and school adaptation (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993). National studies ofchildren’s achievement levels in reading, vocabulary and mathematics haverevealed that significant numbers of U.S. children are not acquiring the academicskills required to succeed in school. Moreover, cross-cultural research has docu-

Direct all correspondence to: Megan M. McClelland, Department of Psychology, Loyola UniversityChicago, 6525 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626; Phone: (773) 508-3042; E-mail:[email protected]

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, No. 3, 307–329 (2000) © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.ISSN: 0885-2006 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

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mented that children in this country lag behind children in other countries inmathematics, reading and problem-solving (Applebee, Langer & Mullis, 1989;Stevenson & Lee, 1990; Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993). In addition, mountingevidence 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) founddifferences 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. Notsurprisingly, much of this research has focused on qualities of the home environ-ment believed to stimulate cognitive growth and promote academic achievement.Findings support what one would intuitively suspect, namely that children whocome from environments that stimulate cognitive growth, as reflected in measuressuch as overall social class (Stipek & Ryan, 1997) and quality of the familyliteracy environment (Griffin & Morrison, 1997), perform better academically.Similarly, individual differences in child characteristics, such as IQ, are alsopredictive of school performance (Plomin, 1995; Rowe, 1994). In contrast, lessattention has been paid to other child factors that may influence school achieve-ment. In particular, there is growing evidence that social behavioral characteristicsof children contribute to adjustment to school and subsequent academic perfor-mance (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993; Cooper & Farran, 1988, 1991;Ladd, 1990). For example, teacher reports suggest that children come into schoolwith differing levels of social skills and that these skills are critical to early schoolsuccess (Foulks & Morrow, 1989). The present study explored more explicitly thenature 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 perfor-mance has focused on different aspects of social behavior. Some investigationshave examined the importance of children’s peer relations in school adjustment,finding that the consequences of peer rejection include aggressiveness, behaviorproblems, 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 compe-tence, which includes prosocial behavior, peer relations, and appropriate class-room behavior. This research points to an association between general socialcompetence 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-relatedskills. In addition, Cooper and Farran (1988, 1991) have developed both aconceptualization of social behavior and a behavior rating scale that distinguishes

308 McClelland, Morrison, and Holmes

two kinds of learning-related social skills, interpersonal skills and work-relatedskills. Interpersonal skills include behaviors such as interacting positively withpeers, playing cooperatively, sharing, and respecting other children; whereaswork-related skills encompass behaviors like listening and following directions,participating appropriately in groups (such as taking turns), staying on task, andorganizing work materials. In general, work-related skills tap the domains ofindependence, responsibility, self-regulation, and cooperation (Cooper & Farran,1991). Results of factor analyses indicated that the two scales are relativelyindependent (Cooper & Farran, 1988).

Comparison of Cooper and Farran’s behavior rating scale assessing learning-related 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, theBronson Social and Task Skill Profile has shown moderate correlations rangingfrom 0.24 to 0.31 with the social behavior subscale of the SSRS, pointing to theconcurrent validity in the measures (Bronson, 1999). This similarity amonginstruments suggests that the conceptualization of learning-related social skills asincluding both work-related skills and interpersonal skills is a valuable differen-tiation of social behavior.

LEARNING-RELATED SOCIAL SKILLS AND ACADEMICACHIEVEMENT

Although an extensive body of literature has linked social behavior to schoolachievement, there is less research looking at particular aspects of social behaviorspecifically related to school achievement, namely learning-related or work-related social skills. Nonetheless, the existing research does document the impor-tance 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 earlyclassroom peer relations in kindergarten. In turn, these interpersonal behaviorspredicted school involvement and performance over the kindergarten year. Foulksand Morrow (1989) have shown that, according to teachers, work-related skillssuch as listening to instructions and directions, and compliance with teacherdemands, were most important for success in kindergarten. Interestingly, othersocial and interpersonal skills were not found in this study to be as important forschool success as work-related skills.

Once children make the transition to school, work-related social skills continueto be linked to a child’s academic success. These early skills can be said to “setthe stage” for later social behavior and academic performance by providing thefoundation for positive classroom behavior. In a study examining the relationshipbetween classroom behavior and school performance, Alexander, Entwisle andDauber (1993) found that teacher-rated domains of Interest-Participation andAttention Span-Restlessness were significantly related to children’s academic

309Children at Risk for Academic Problems

performance in first grade and fourth grade. Children who were interested andinvolved in classroom activities, and were able to focus and pay attention,performed better academically. Similarly, Stott, Green, and Francis (1983), Greenand Francis (1988), and Swartz and Walker (1984) all found that early learningskills, as measured by teacher ratings, were related to later academic achievementtwo and four years later. More recently, Agostin and Bain (1997) demonstratedthat cooperation and self-control significantly predicted promotion and retentionof kindergarten children. Finally, a study using a national sample of kindergartenteachers indicated that over one-third of teachers reported that at least half ofkindergartners entered school with specific problems such as trouble followingdirections, 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 ofstudies. Cooper and Farran (1988) found that having low scores on their work-related skills (WRS) subscale was associated more with being identified with abehavior problem than having low scores on the interpersonal (IPS) subscale fora sample of 650 kindergarten children. Children rated low on WRS by theirteachers in the fall and spring of kindergarten were more at risk for beingidentified with behavior problems compared to children rated low on IPS in thefall and spring of kindergarten. Overall, boys were rated lower on both IPS andWRS than girls throughout the kindergarten year, and WRS were found to be astronger predictor of academic achievement than IPS. In other words, having poorinterpersonal skills was not seen to be as detrimental to performance by kinder-garten teachers as was having poor work-related skills. The children rated low onWRS were more likely to be boys who were inattentive, disorganized, impulsive,and unable to follow directions. These findings highlight the importance of bothwork-related skills and interpersonal skills, but stress that work-related skills maybe more predictive of later behavior problems in school.

In a similar study, Cooper and Speece (1988) found that low WRS scores werethe most important predictors of referral to special education and of school failurein first grade children, and in a follow-up study, Speece and Cooper (1990) foundthat all children with profiles describing atypical academic performance were alsocharacterized by having low WRS scores. Additionally, children with the mostsevere academic problems, and who showed possible learning disabilities, werealso characterized by the lowest ratings on both the WRS and IPS scales and thelowest performance in reading, math, and measures of intelligence. Children inthis group were more likely to behave inappropriately and make fewer academ-ically-oriented responses. In addition, there were five times more boys than girlsin this extreme group.

Finally, another study by Bronson, Tivnan, and Seppanen (1995) found thatprekindergarten children who spent more time uninvolved in the classroom andhad difficulty with rules or the teacher, had more risk indicators such as family


problems, lower parental education, and behavioral or emotional problems. Thesechildren also scored lower on a standardized cognitive achievement measure(Bronson, Tivnan, & Seppanen, 1995).

Taken together, these studies suggest that poor work-related skills constitute anindicator of risk, which can be used to identify and develop profiles of childrenwith possible academic and social problems in school. However, this researchprovides few insights into other characteristics that may be associated with thepresence of poor work-related skills. What characteristics do these children share,and on what dimensions do they differ from their peers? The present studyinvestigated 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 ANDLEARNING-RELATED SOCIAL SKILLS

Relatively little empirical work has attempted to determine the degree to whichwork-related social skills reflect individual differences in the child or reflectcharacteristics of the family or sociocultural environment. Stott, Green, andFrancis (1983) found more girls having a superior learning style score andperforming at a higher level in reading at school entry compared to boys. Thesefindings supported other investigations demonstrating that, in general, boys aremore likely to have poor work-related skills than girls (Cooper & Farran, 1988;Speece & Cooper, 1990). There are fewer data available on other child charac-teristics, although one study found that children with poor learning-related skillswere more likely to have lower than average IQ scores (Speece & Cooper, 1990).

Even less research has been conducted on the relation of family and sociocul-tural characteristics to work-related skills. One study (Speece & Cooper, 1990)that examined this relationship showed no differences in maternal educationbetween a high risk group of children (characterized by poor work-related andinterpersonal skills, and low scores on reading, math, and measures of intelli-gence) and other more normative groups of children (Speece & Cooper, 1990). Inaddition, little research exists on work-related skills and ethnicity. However, in arecent study by Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox (in press), teachers reported thatchildren in high minority composition schools had more problems adjusting tokindergarten, and were more likely to lack academic skills, than children inschools 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 togain more in-depth information on the characteristics of children with poorwork-related skills. It was predicted that children with poor work-related skillswould have significantly lower IQ scores, lower parental education levels, higherincidence of single mother households, more behavior problems, be younger inage, and be more likely to be male than female, compared to the overall sampleof children.


EARLY WORK-RELATED SKILLS AND ACADEMICACHIEVEMENT

The research reviewed here suggests that work-related skills are linked to chil-dren’s social and academic performance as they enter and continue throughschool. Overall, however, few studies have intensively examined poor work-related 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 skillscontinue to predict later academic achievement. A primary aim of the currentstudy was to examine whether work-related skills predicted unique variance inacademic 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 hypoth-esized that work-related skills would uniquely predict academic outcomes at thebeginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade.

A final aim of the study was to examine the relationship of poor work-relatedskills to academic achievement at school entry and three years later, in the springof second grade. It was hypothesized that children with poor work-related skillswould perform more poorly on academic tests compared to the overall sample atthe beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade.

METHOD

Participants

Five-hundred and forty children participated in a study of early individualdifferences 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 kindergartenand ranged in age from 4 years, 10 months to 5 years, 11 months (M5 5 years,5 months,SD5 4.22). Sample size from the fall of kindergarten to the spring ofsecond grade decreased from 540 to 295 due to attrition. This relatively highattrition rate resulted from difficulties in maintaining the original sample when theprincipal investigator (Dr. Frederick Morrison) moved from Greensboro, NC toChicago, IL, USA. A comparison of the two groups revealed that children in theoriginal sample were similar to those remaining in second grade on gender, but thegroup who left the study had proportionally more Black children, lower maternaleducation levels, and lower IQ levels (Griffin & Morrison, 1997).

In the present study, 82 kindergartners were selected from the larger longitu-dinal sample of 540 children on the basis of poor work-related skills (as definedby 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 theanalyses examining the characteristics of children with poor work-related skills,and the relation of poor work-related skills to academic skills, while the overall


sample of children was used for other analyses looking at the predictability ofwork-related skills to academic skills.

For the low work-related skills (low WRS) group, sample size decreased from82 children at the fall of kindergarten to 33 children at the end of second gradebecause of attrition.x2 analyses indicated that the attrition rate was significantlyhigher for the low WRS group than for the remaining sample of children,x 2 (1,N 5 540)5 8.29,p , .05, suggesting that fewer children in the low WRS groupremained in the sample at the end of second grade compared to children in theoverall sample. Comparison of the low WRS children who left the study withthose who remained in second grade indicated no significant differences betweenthose who stayed and those who left, except that children who left the study hadmothers who were younger in age (M 5 28.70 years,SD 5 5.56) than childrenwho stayed in the study (M 5 36.20 years,SD 5 9.72).

Materials

The Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales (CFBRS)The CFBRS (Coo-per & Farran, 1991) is a teacher-rated scale consisting of 37 items rated on 7-pointLikert scales. The measure has been shown to have adequate reliability andvalidity. Examination of this scale compared to other scales such as the SocialSkills Rating Scale (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) showed evidence of con-current validity, but the use of a 7-point scale in the CFBRS recommended its useover the SSRS (which uses a 3-point scale) in order to capture more variability inscores.

Cooper and Farran (1991) found that intra-rater reliability in the CFBRS rangedfrom 0.49 to 0.80, and inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.31 to 0.68, with 59%of the items reliable above 0.50. Inter-rater reliability for the two subscales(work-related skills and interpersonal skills) showed a reliability of 0.78 for IPSand 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 thatemerged accounted for 89% of the total variance. On the IPS subscale, Cron-bach’s alpha ranged between 0.95 and 0.99. Items loading highly on the IPSsubscale included “physical interaction with peers,” “effect on other children,”“statements to peers,” and “behavior when others are speaking.” On the WRSsubscale, Cronbach’s alpha ranged between 0.94 and 0.99. Items loading highlyon the WRS subscale included “independent work,” “compliance with workinstructions,” “memory for instructions,” and “completion of games and activi-ties.”

Background Questionnaire A background questionnaire completed by par-ents gathered information on a number of child, family and sociocultural variablesincluding ethnicity, gender, intellectual functioning, health, maternal and paternaleducation level, family organization, home literacy environment, maternal andpaternal occupation, preschool experience, and school entrance age (see Table 1for a list of variables examined).

The home literacy environment score is a composite score measured by the nine


literacy-related items on the background questionnaire. It includes the hours oftelevision watched by the child per week, number of newspaper and magazinesubscriptions, whether or not the family owns a library card, how often the motherand father read to themselves, who reads to the child and how often, and howmany 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, sentencememory, pattern analysis, bead memory, and quantitative, and has been shown tohave 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 allsubscales. The mathematics subscale measures children’s math skills such asnumber recognition, addition, and multiplication. The test-retest reliability rangesfrom 0.86 to 0.89, and split-half reliability between 0.84 and 0.94. The generalinformation subscale assesses children’s general knowledge about the world. Ithas a test-retest reliability ranging from 0.86 to 0.92, and split-half reliability ofbetween 0.93 and 0.94. The reading recognition subscale measures children’sletter and word recognition, as well as reading ability. It has a test-retest reliabilityof 0.96 to 0.97, and split-half reliability ranging from 0.94 and 0.97.

Table 1. List of Child, Family, and Sociocultural Variables Measured

Child Variables Family Variables Sociocultural Variables

Entrance age Home literacy environment EthnicityIQ Guardian Maternal occupationSocial emotional behavior proba Maternal age Paternal occupationGender Paternal age Maternal employment statusPreschool experience Number of siblings at home Paternal employment statusBirth complication Number of younger sisters Maternal education levelHealth Number of younger brothers Paternal education levelChronic problemsb Number of older sistersConvulsions or seizures Number of older brothersHead injuries Number of sistersHearing problems Number of brothersLanguage and speech problem Other children at homeVision problems Other adults at homeNumber of medical risk factorsc

aSocial Emotional Behavior Prob refers to social, emotional, or behavior problems.bChronic Problems include allergies, asthma, and ear infections.cNumber of Medical Risk Factors refers to having any of the above medical problems except language andspeech problems.


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 demon-strated adequate reliability and validity. Split-half reliability ranges from 0.73 to0.84. Construct validity has been assessed by comparing the PPVT-R to othervocabulary tests and shows moderate to superior correlations: 0.20 to 0.89, witha median correlation of 0.71.

Alphabet Recognition An alphabet recognition task was administered toassess children’s letter recognition skills. The task consists of asking children toname letters of the alphabet. The score is determined by the percentage correct outof 26 letters.

Procedure

In the current study, data from the fall of kindergarten and the spring of secondgrade were used. At each time point, children were tested in two sessions, eachlasting approximately 30 min, on the following tests: the short version of theStanford-Binet Intelligence Scale - Revised (Thorndike, Hagen, & Sattler, 1986);the reading recognition, mathematics, and general information subscales of thePeabody Individual Achievement Test - Revised (Markwardt, 1989); the PeabodyPicture Vocabulary Test - Revised (Dunn & Dunn, 1981); and an alphabetrecognition test (administered only in the fall and spring of kindergarten). Testingand teacher ratings for the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales were collectedtwo months after the beginning of school.

Participants were selected as members of the low WRS group on the basis oftheir ratings on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Ratings Scales. A low score wasdefined as a skill rating of 4 or below (on a scale ranging from 1 to 7, where 1signifies lowest performance and 7 signifies best performance), based on Cooperand Speece’s finding (1988) that a score below 4 indexed an increasing degree ofproblem behavior in children.

RESULTS

This study attempted to examine the predictability of work-related skills1 toacademic achievement at school entry and at the end of second grade, identifycharacteristics of children with poor work-related skills, and investigate therelationship of poor work-related skills and academic achievement at the begin-ning 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 skillspredicted academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and three yearslater, at the end of second grade. For both time points, hierarchical regressionswere used to test if work-related skills accounted for unique variance above andbeyond the influence of other important variables. Based on regression analyses


from other research (Morrison et al., in preparation), seven variables have beenfound to be particularly important in predicting early academic skills: two childvariables (IQ and school entrance age); two social variables (work-related skillsand amount of preschool experience); and three family and sociocultural variables(ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment). Building onthese findings, the current study used hierarchical regressions with the six pre-dicting variables entered in the first step (IQ, school entrance age, amount ofpreschool experience, ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy en-vironment) and work-related skills entered in the second step for each of theacademic variables measured: general information, receptive vocabulary, readingrecognition, mathematics, and alphabet (measured at kindergarten only).

At the beginning of kindergarten, work-related skills predicted modest butunique variance in all academic outcomes beyond the influence of IQ, entranceage, amount of preschool experience, parental education level, ethnicity, andhome literacy environment (see Table 2). Work-related skills accounted forbetween one and six percent of the variance in all academic variables: one percentof the variance in general information, mathematics, and vocabulary; two percentof the variance in reading recognition; and six percent of the variance in alphabet.

In the spring of second grade, a conservative series of hierarchical regressionswere used to determine if work-related skills predicted second grade academicoutcomes after controlling for kindergarten academic skills as well as for the sixbackground variables. In this method, kindergarten academic score (reading,vocabulary, general information, or math) was entered in the first step of theregression equation; the six variables of IQ, entrance age, amount of preschoolexperience, parental education level, ethnicity, and home literacy environmentwere entered in the second step; and work-related skills was entered in the thirdstep of the regression equation. Results indicated that work-related skills contin-ued to predict some academic skills even after controlling for kindergartenacademic skills and the influence of the other six predictor variables. Work-relatedskills predicted unique variance in reading (two percent), and mathematics (onepercent), but not vocabulary or general information at the end of second grade (seeTable 3). Taken together, results from school entry to the end of second graderevealed 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 poorwork-related skills. Children in the low WRS group (n 5 82) were compared tothe larger sample of children (n 5 540) on a number of background variables andacademic outcome measures. The descriptive statistics for work-related skillsshowed that the overall sample had a mean rating of 5.07 on the WRS subscaleof the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales (SD 5 1.23), and the low WRSgroup had a mean rating of 3.20 on work-related skills (SD 5 0.71). The meanrating for the overall sample supports earlier research from a number of samplesshowing that the normative mean rating for WRS on the Cooper-Farran Behav-


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 b

General InformationVariables entered in Step 1

Child IQ .160 .031 .261***School entrance age .553 .093 .244***Amount of preschool experience 2.009 .022 2.017Parental education level .528 .203 .135**Ethnicity 23.27 1.03 2.175**Home literacy environment .470 .149 .184**

Variables entered in Step 2Work-related skills .729 .364 .091*

MathematicsVariables entered in Step 1

Child IQ .140 .019 .389***School entrance age .422 .058 .316***Amount of preschool experience .024 .014 .077†

Parental education level .138 .126 .060Ethnicity 2.778 .637 2.071Home literacy environment .050 .092 .033

Variables entered in Step 2Work-related skills .552 .225 .117*

VocabularyVariables entered in Step 1

Child IQ .287 .058 .232***School entrance age 1.01 .175 .239***Amount of preschool experience 2.015 .041 2.014Parental education level 1.00 .382 .126**Ethnicity 29.74 1.93 2.258***Home literacy environment 1.01 .280 .195***

Variables entered in Step 2Work-related skills 1.46 .683 .090*

Reading recognitionVariables entered in Step 1

Child IQ .104 .024 .256***School entrance age .291 .073 .193***Amount of preschool experience .024 .017 .070Parental education level .158 .159 .061Ethnicity .438 .802 .035Home literacy environment .345 .116 .203**

Variables entered in Step 2Work-related skills .787 .284 .147**

Continued


ioral Rating Scales ranged from 4.70 (SD 5 1.40) to 4.90 (SD 5 1.30) (Cooper& Farran, 1988).

The subsample of children who received low ratings on WRS was compared tothe entire sample byz-tests andx2 analyses. These analyses indicated that the lowWRS group differed from the total sample on many child, family and sociocul-tural measures. Although a number of these differences were anticipated, therewere also some unexpected and surprising results.

Child Factors Eight of the 14 comparisons yielded significant differencesbetween the low WRS group and the overall sample (see Table 4). As expected,children low on WRS were more likely to be younger (M5 62.94 months, SD54.21 vs. M5 64.59 months, SD5 4.22); have a lower IQ (M5 86.34, SD511.65, vs. M5 97.05, SD5 15.27); and have more social/emotional/behaviorproblems 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 differedsignificantly from the total sample in the proportion of males and females,x 2 (1,N 5 82) 5 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 (seeTable 4). One unexpected finding was that children with poor work-related skillswere rated significantly lower than the larger sample on an overall health ratingby their parents (M5 4.27, SD5 0.75) on a 5-point scale (M5 4.44, SD50.71). In addition, intriguing differences emerged in medical problems betweenthe overall sample and the low WRS group. Data from the background question-naire completed by parents were available on a number of different types ofmedical problems: Convulsions or Seizures, Head Injuries, Hearing Problems,

Table 2. Continued

Step 2 Values

B SE B b

AlphabetVariables entered in Step 1

Child IQ .251 .122 .123*School entrance age .238 .370 .031Amount of preschool experience .334 .088 .191***Parental education level .895 .808 .068Ethnicity 4.24 4.10 .068Home literacy environment 1.99 .593 .232**

Variables entered in Step 2Work-related skills 7.30 1.45 .270***

NoteValid n was 322 due to missing data. ForGeneral Information: R2 5 .51 for Step 1;DR2 5 .01 for Step2 (ps , .05). ForMathematics: R2 5 .45 for Step 1;DR2 5 .01 for Step 2 (ps , .05). ForVocabulary: R2 5.57 for Step 1;DR2 5 .01 for Step 2 (ps , .05). ForReading Recognition: R2 5 .31 for Step 1;DR2 5 .02 forStep 2 (ps , .05). ForAlphabet: R2 5 .26 for Step 1;DR2 5 .06 for Step 2 (ps , .05).†p , .10. *p , .05. **p , .01. *** p , .001.


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 b

General InformationVariables entered in Step 1

Fall Kindergarten General Information Score .857 .101 .511***Variables entered in Step 2

Child IQ .085 .059 .081School entrance age .061 .172 .016Amount of preschool experience 2.065 .038 2.075†

Parental education level .127 .351 .198***Ethnicity 1.49 1.89 .047Home literacy environment .779 .275 .175**

Variables entered in Step 3Work-related skills .506 .642 .038

MathematicsVariables entered in Step 1

Fall Kindergarten Mathematics Score .619 .153 .256***Variables entered in Step 2

Child IQ .232 .058 .259***School entrance age .324 .172 .102†

Amount of preschool experience 2.004 .037 2.005Parental education level .779 .333 .141*Ethnicity 22.38 1.79 2.087Home literacy environment .205 .260 .054

Variables entered in Step 3Work-related skills 1.41 .609 .123*

VocabularyVariables entered in Step 1

Fall Kindergarten Vocabulary Score .411 .056 .499***Variables entered in Step 2

Child IQ .059 .058 .059School entrance age 2.099 .168 2.028Amount of preschool experience 2.072 .037 2.087†

Parental education level .622 .341 .102†

Ethnicity 25.41 1.86 2.178**Home literacy environment .372 .271 .088

Variables entered in Step 3Work-related skills .076 .614 .006

Reading RecognitionVariables Entered in Step 1

Fall Kindergarten Reading Score .568 .136 .259***

Continued


Language and Speech Problems, and Vision Problems. In addition, a categorylabeled Chronic Problems consisted of asthma problems, allergies or ear infec-tions.

Results showed significant differences in hearing problems, and a trend (p5.06) for differences in language and speech problems between the overall sampleand the low WRS group (see Table 4). Eleven percent of the children in the lowWRS group were reported as having hearing problems compared to only 5% ofthe children in the overall sample. In addition, 17.81% of parents in the low WRSgroup reported their child having a language or speech problem compared to only10.50% of parents in the larger sample. No significant differences between thetwo groups were found for the frequencies of other medical problems.

A general question of interest was whether children in the low WRS group weremore likely to have more medical risk factors present compared to children in theoverall sample. To test this, a variable called “number of medical risk factors” wascreated that measured whether a child had any of the medical problems listedabove except for language and speech problems. Language and speech problemswere excluded because they were considered to be problems more likely toresultfrom having a medical condition, rather thanbeinga medical condition. Resultsrevealed that children in the low WRS group had significantly more medical riskfactors present compared to the overall sample (M5 0.34, SD5 0.53 vs. M50.21, SD5 0.44; see Table 4). Overall, children in the low WRS group had morehearing 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, onlythree revealed significant differences between the low WRS group and the overall

Table 3. Continued

Step 3 Values

B SE B b

Reading Recognition (continued)Variables entered in Step 2

Child IQ .094 .066 .098School entrance age 2.079 .189 2.023Amount of preschool experience .000 .043 .000Parental education level 1.21 .389 .205**Ethnicity 23.40 2.09 2.116Home literacy environment .324 .309 .079

Variables entered in Step 3Work-related skills 1.98 .717 .161**

NoteValid n was 233 due to missing data. ForGeneral Information: R2 5 .53 for Step 1;DR25 .01 for Step2 (ps , .05);DR2 5 .00 for Step 3 (p . .05). ForMathematics: R2 5 .34 for Step 1;DR2 5 .16 for Step 2;DR2

5 .01 for Step 3 (ps , .05). ForVocabulary: R2 5 .54 for Step 1;DR2 5 .06 for Step 2 (ps , .05); DR2 5 .00for Step 3 (p . .05). ForReading Recognition: R2 5 .24 for Step 1;DR2 5 .16 for Step 2;DR2 5 .02 for Step3 (ps , .05).†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 withsingle mothers or homes without both parents (71.43% vs. 41.10%); to come fromhomes with a poorer literacy environment (M5 8.60, SD5 3.26 vs. M5 10.57,SD 5 3.62). Surprisingly, this group of children also had significantly fewersiblings at home (M5 1.03, SD5 1.14 vs. M5 1.28, SD5 1.04).

Finally, differences in sociocultural factors were examined between the lowWRS group and children in the overall sample. Of the seven socioculturalvariables measured, four showed significant differences between the two groups(see Table 4). As expected, children in the low WRS group had mothers who

Table 4. Differences in Background Characteristics Between Overall Sample andLow WRS Group

Child Variables:

Overall Sample(n5540)

Low WRS Group(n582)

z valueM SD nc M SD nc

Entrance age (in months) 64.59 (4.22) 540 62.94 (4.21) 82 3.53***IQ 97.05 (15.27) 540 86.34 (11.65) 82 6.34***Health score 4.44 (0.71) 510 4.27 (0.75) 77 2.10*Num. med. risk factorsa 0.21 (0.44) 477 0.34 (0.53) 73 2.52*

Percentages nc Percentages nc x2

Hearing problems 5.00% 477 11.00% 73 4.23*Language/speech probs 10.50% 477 17.81% 73 3.51†

Soc/emo/beh probsb 1.40% 503 6.67% 75 14.93***Male 51.10% 540 58.54% 82 1.81

Family variables: M SD nc M SD nc z value

Home literacy score 10.57 (3.62) 403 8.60 (3.26) 50 3.85***Number sibling home 1.28 (1.04) 517 1.03 (1.14) 77 2.11*


Both birth parents 58.80% 518 28.57% 77 29.17***

Sociocultural Variables: M SD nc M SD nc z value

Maternal occupation 41.76 (14.20) 425 36.49 (12.99) 57 2.80**Maternal education 13.63 (2.39) 498 12.48 (2.04) 69 3.99***Paternal education 14.56 (2.72) 340 13.07 (2.53) 29 2.95**


Black 48.89% 536 75.60% 82 22.77***

NoteValid ns are different because of missing data.aNum. Med. Risk Factors refers to the number of medical risk factors and having any of the above medicalproblems except language and speech problems.bSoc/Emo/Beh Problems refers to social, emotional or behavior problems.cn refers to total number of subjects in total sample or WRS sample completing particular items.†p , .10. *p , .05. **p , .01. *** p , .001.


reported a lower occupational status (M5 36.49, SD5 12.99 vs. M5 41.76,SD 5 14.20); and lower education level (M5 12.48 years, SD5 2.04 vs. M513.63 years, SD5 2.39); as well as having fathers with significantly lowereducation levels (M5 13.07, SD5 2.53 vs. M5 14.56, SD5 2.72); Finally,children in the low WRS group were more likely to be Black (75.60% vs.48.89%), compared to children in the overall sample2.

Differences in Academic Outcomes

Results of hierarchical regressions on the entire sample of children establishedthe overall predictability of work-related skills on academic achievement at thebeginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. However, theseanalyses did not definitively establish the source of the predictive relation. It ispossible that the main source of the predictability lay in differences betweenchildren with high and average scores on work-related skills. Since our majorinterest was in children with poor work-related skills, we compared academicoutcomes for the at-risk group with the no-risk sample.

For both time points,z-tests were used to test for significant differencesbetween the low WRS group and the total sample on academic outcome measures.Results indicated that children with low WRS had significantly lower scores on allacademic measures at the beginning of kindergarten: lower reading recognitionscores (M 5 5.57, SD 5 3.79 vs.M 5 8.08, SD 5 5.67); lower scores onmathematics (M 5 8.18,SD 5 4.22 vs.M 5 11.57,SD 5 5.47); lower generalinformation scores (M 5 9.22, SD 5 8.19 vs.M 5 13.91,SD 5 8.93); lowerreceptive vocabulary scores (M 5 44.17, SD 5 17.48 vs.M 5 55.89, SD 518.73); and lower scores on alphabet recognition (M 5 50.12,SD 5 36.46 vs.M 5 71.30,SD 5 33.58; see Table 5).

For the second grade comparison, sample sizes for both the low WRS groupand the overall sample decreased due to attrition, making data available for only33 children in the low WRS group, and 295 children in the overall sample at theend of second grade (see Table 6). Nevertheless, similar results were obtained for

Table 5. Differences in Academic Outcomes Between Overall Sample and LowWRS Group at the Fall of Kindergarten

Outcome Variables: Fall K


Low WRS Group(n582)

z valueM SD M SD

PIAT Reading Recognition 8.08 (5.67) 5.57 (3.79) 3.98***PIAT Math 11.57 (5.47) 8.18 (4.22) 5.61***PIAT General Information 13.91 (8.93) 9.22 (8.19) 4.79***PPVT Receptive Vocabulary 55.89 (18.73) 44.17 (17.48) 5.67***Alphabet 71.30a (33.58) 50.12 (36.46) 5.71***

aValid n for Alphabet for Overall Sample was 539.*p , .05. **p , .01. *** p ,. 001.


the spring of second grade as for the fall of kindergarten. Compared to the overallsample, children in the low WRS group performed significantly worse on allacademic outcomes (see Table 6): lower scores on reading recognition (M 535.15,SD 5 14.57 vs.M 5 47.14,SD 5 14.79); lower scores on mathematics(M 5 27.64,SD 5 11.51 vs.M 5 37.94,SD 5 13.03); lower scores on generalinformation (M 5 31.33,SD 5 16.15 vs.M 5 40.35,SD 5 15.97); and lowerscores on receptive vocabulary (M 5 84.36,SD 5 15.63 vs.M 5 93.69,SD 514.88). Taken together, results from the beginning of kindergarten and the end ofsecond grade demonstrated that children with poor work-related skills beganschool performing worse on academic measures and continued to lag three yearslater compared to children in the overall sample.

DISCUSSION

The present study had three central goals: to examine the predictability ofwork-related skills to academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and atthe end of second grade; to identify characteristics of children with low work-related skills; and to investigate the relationship between poor work-related skillsand academic achievement at school entry and at the end of second grade.Findings unearthed a broad array of characteristics linked to children with poorwork-related skills and demonstrated the importance of work-related skills toacademic 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’sreading, mathematics, vocabulary, general information and alphabet skills, be-yond the influence of other important child, social, and family and socioculturalvariables such as a child’s IQ, entrance age, amount of preschool experience,ethnicity, parental education level, and home literacy environment. This findinghas also been replicated in other analyses in our laboratory (Morrison et al., inpreparation), and in previous research examining the importance of a child’s

Table 6. Differences in Academic Outcomes Between Overall Sample and LowWRS Group in the Spring of Second Grade

Outcome Variables: Spring 2nd


Low WRS Group(n533)

z valueM SD M SD

PIAT Reading Recognition 47.14 (14.79) 35.15 (14.57) 4.65***PIAT Math 37.94 (13.03) 27.64 (11.51) 4.54***PIAT General Information 40.35 (15.97) 31.33 (16.15) 3.24**PPVT Receptive Vocabulary 93.69 (14.88) 84.36 (15.63) 3.60***

*p , .05. **p , .01. *** p , .001.


work-related skills (Cooper & Farran, 1988; Cooper & Speece, 1988; Speece &Cooper, 1990).

Moreover, work-related skills continued to be predictive of academic achieve-ment at the end of second grade. Regression analyses demonstrated that work-related skills remained stable in predicting children’s reading and mathematicsskills at the end of second grade, after the influence of kindergarten reading andmathematics skills had been controlled as well as the six child, social, and familyand sociocultural variables. In contrast, work-related skills did not continue topredict a child’s receptive vocabulary or general information skills at the end ofsecond grade. This may be because vocabulary and general information skills arenot specifically emphasized in early elementary school classrooms while moreinstructional time is spent on reading and mathematics skills.

Although the actual variance accounted for by work-related skills at kinder-garten and at the end of second grade is small, it is both educationally andpractically significant, especially given the conservative nature of the regressionsconducted at both time points (Ecols, West, Stanovich, & Zehr, 1996). Work-related skills predicted all academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergartenafter partialing out the influence of powerful background variables such as child’sIQ, entrance age, amount of preschool experience, ethnicity, parental educationlevel, and home literacy environment. Moreover, at the end of second grade, therelationship between work-related skills and reading and mathematics skillsremained strong even after accounting for kindergarten reading and mathematicsscores and the six background variables. This demonstrates that work-relatedskills predict academic skills at school entry and also predict the gains made inmath and reading skills between kindergarten and second grade after controllingfor fall kindergarten scores.

Children with Poor Work-Related Skills

An interesting pattern of results emerged for child, family, and socioculturalfactors. Work-related skills were significantly associated with a number of im-portant child variables. As expected, children with low WRS tended to beyounger, have lower IQ’s, and have more behavior problems.

Significant differences in the proportion of males and females were not ob-tained between the low WRS group and the total sample, although the actualnumber of males was somewhat higher in the low WRS group. This lack of asignificant finding was unexpected, based on earlier research showing that, ingeneral, boys have lower WRS than girls do (Cooper & Farran, 1988; Cooper &Speece, 1990). However, analyses of the overall sample in this study supportedand replicated earlier research in that boys had significantly lower WRS (M 54.89,SD 5 1.25) than girls (M 5 5.25,SD 5 1.18). In contrast, the low WRSgroup did not contain significantly more boys than girls and there were notsignificant differences in work-related skills scores between girls (M 5 3.32,SD 5 0.55) and boys (M 53.11, SD 5 0.80) in the low WRS group. Takentogether, the results suggest that boys overall had poorer work-related skills, but


in the high risk sample the extent and nature of gender differences was not entirelyclear.

An intriguing set of findings was obtained regarding medical and healthvariables. Children low on WRS were rated significantly lower by their parents onratings of overall health, and also had more hearing problems and somewhat morelanguage and speech problems compared to the overall sample. In addition,children low in work-related skills had significantly more medical risk factorspresent than did children in the larger sample. These results tentatively suggestthat having specific medical problems such as hearing and language problemsmay be a risk factor for low work-related skills and a precursor to later learningproblems.

In fact, a number of studies have linked language problems and attentionaldifficulties (Beitchman, Hood, Rochon, & Peterson, 1988; Beitchman et al., 1996;Cantwell & Baker, 1987; Humphries, Koltun, Malone, & Roberts, 1994), whileother research (e.g.,Vaughn, Hogan, Kouzekanani & Shapiro, 1990) has revealeda relation between attentional difficulties and both lower social skills and pooreracademic achievement. A meta-analysis (Horn & Packard, 1985) on the earlyidentification of learning problems found that the best predictors of later schoolachievement were ratings on attention/distractibility, internalizing behavioralproblems, language variables, and overall cognitive functioning. Sensory mea-sures including auditory-perceptual abilities were somewhat weaker predictors.

In addition, recent analyses based on the results of the current study found thatwork-related skills mediated the relationship between a child’s language problemsand academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten. This supports the notionthat language problems may lead to poor work-related skills which then lead topoor academic achievement early in school (McClelland, 1999). Overall, thesestudies suggest that children low on work-related skills who have languageproblems or possibly hearing problems, may be especially at risk for later learningproblems.

Children with poor work-related skills also demonstrated differences on a hostof family variables compared to children in the overall sample: poorer homeenvironments as measured by a lower home literacy environment, and more singlemother households. There were also significantly fewer siblings at home in thelow WRS group, which was surprising because they did not have significantlyfewer numbers of children overall in the family. The meaning of this pattern is notentirely clear, however, one possibility is that it indexes more family disruptionand instability in the low WRS group.

Additional differences also emerged on sociocultural factors between the twogroups. As expected, children in the low WRS group were more likely to havemothers and fathers who reported lower education levels. While no predictionswere made about occupational status and ethnicity, both were found to be relevantfactors. The low WRS group had more mothers reporting a lower occupationalstatus, and more children with poor work-related skills were Black. Notably, thesedifferences in ethnicity between the low WRS group and the overall sample werefound even after additional analyses controlled for parental education.

It is possible however, that teacher ethnicity may contribute to whether or not


children are viewed as having poor work-related skills since the ratings were doneby teachers. Recent research by Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox (in press)suggests that minority children may be seen by non-minority teachers as havingmore problems with some important skills needed for kindergarten, than whenminority children are rated by minority teachers. Since the ethnicity of teachers inthe present study was not recorded, it is not clear to what extent the differencesobserved here are a function of teacher/child ethnicity differences.

Differences in Academic Outcomes

Children with poor work-related skills performed significantly worse on allacademic measures compared to children in the overall sample at the fall ofkindergarten and at the end of second grade. This pattern of results suggests thatpoor work-related skills are a risk factor for low academic achievement at thebeginning 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 thefollowing 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 alower IQ, has behavior problems, has more medical risk factors present, and moremedical problems such as hearing and language problems. In addition, this childcomes from a disruptive and poor home environment classified by living withonly one parent and whose parents have lower levels of education and occupa-tional status. This child is also more likely to be Black. Finally, this child performsworse academically at school entry and continues to perform at low levels at theend of second grade compared to his/her classmates. The extent of this child’sdifficulties in reading and mathematics are likely to increase as he or she movesthrough 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 thisstudy. The findings presented here indicate that the early acquisition of socialskills and particularly work-related skills prior to school entry is very important.Therefore, families and child-care providers should be educated about the need forsocialization in this area. It is also important for families to be aware of teacherexpectations and that social, ethnic, or cultural differences may create a mismatchbetween children and what teachers may expect, which could influence a child’sdevelopment of positive work-related skills (Rimm-Kaufman et al., in press). Inthe classroom, teachers can emphasize the domains of work-related skills toimprove a child’s ability to be independent, responsible, cooperative and self-regulated. 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 areespecially disadvantaged in those areas where development is based on direct


instruction (such as learning to read) as opposed to more indirect learning (suchas general information knowledge). The findings here demonstrate that areas ofinstructional emphases, such as reading and mathematics, rely on having strongacademic and work-related skills, and teachers can help promote work-relatedskills in these areas.

Moreover, the present findings suggest that identification of children with poorwork-related skills should be as important as identification of children with pooracademic skills. More systematic evaluation for social skills and early screeningprograms to target children who may be at risk for developing poor work-relatedskills would greatly enhance a child’s chance for early school success. Once thesechildren are targeted, intervention efforts in schools should include emphasis onsocial skills as well as academic skills. On a broader scale, incorporating work-related skills into the teaching curriculum highlights the importance of developingpositive work-related classroom social behavior as well as strong academic skillsfor school success.

In conclusion, findings from the present study highlight the important contri-bution that learning-related social skills make to successful school transition andto later academic success. Greater attention to a child’s early work-related skillswill be important for understanding and improving the academic achievement ofAmerican children.

NOTES

1. Although previous research has suggested that interpersonal skills are not related to academicoutcomes (e.g., Cooper & Farran, 1988), we ran a series of hierarchical regressions atkindergarten and at the end of second grade to independently evaluate this claim. Resultsindicated that interpersonal skills did not predict unique variance in any of the academicoutcomes at kindergarten (although there was a trend toward predicting 1% of the variance inreading skills,B 5 0.58,p 5 .06). At the end of second grade, interpersonal skills did notpredict general information, math or vocabulary skills, although it did predict 2% of thevariance in reading scores (B 5 2.06,p 5 .01). Therefore, although the two scales are related,they demonstrate distinct patterns of predictability, with work-related skills more stronglypredicting academic outcomes than interpersonal skills.

2. We are grateful to a suggestion by a reviewer who questioned whether the higher percentageof Black children in the low WRS group was confounded with parent education level. Weconducted an ANCOVA to partial out parent education level when comparing the low WRSgroup with the overall sample and still found significant differences between the groups.

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