Behavioral Self-Regulation as a Protective Factor for Children at Risk of Reading Failure: Predicting First-Grade Reading from Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) Data

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: This study used data from a large-scale kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) to understand how well two state screening measures, administered at school entry, predicted the first-grade reading outcomes of a large sample of first-time kindergarteners (N=5,480) at high risk for future reading failure. We examined young children’s emergent literacy and behavioral self-regulation skills in the fall of kindergarten in relation to decoding skills in the spring of first grade. We also explored whether behavioral self-regulation moderated the effect of emergent literacy on first-grade reading outcomes. Consistent with prior research, results of multilevel regression models revealed that scalable measures of emergent literacy and behavioral self-regulation, assessed via a multidimensional KEA, positively predicted literacy outcomes in first grade, with a stronger association for emergent literacy. Additionally, school-entry behavioral self-regulation moderated the effect of children’s initial emergent literacy skills on first-grade decoding, such that stronger than average behavioral self-regulation partially compensated for weak emergent literacy at school entry. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the importance of screening young children on both academic and non-academic domains of school readiness and of seeking to understand children’s risk of reading failure from multiple perspectives.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.