Volume 6, Fascicle 1, December 2011

Predicting Academic Achievement in Fourth Grade from Kindergarten Cognitive,

Behavioural and Motor SkillsI, 1

By Linda S. Pagani, Caroline Fitzpatrick, Luc Belleau and Michel Janosz2

I. PortionsofthiscontentoriginallyappearedinPagani, L. S., FitzPatrick, c., archambauLt, i., & JanoSz,M.(2010).Schoolreadinessandlaterachievement:AFrenchCanadianreplicationandextension.Developmental Psychology, 46(5),984-994.doi:10.1037/a0018881.Copyright©2010bytheAmerican Psychological Association.Adaptedwithpermission.NofurtherreproductionordistributionispermittedwithoutwrittenpermissionfromtheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation.

QLSCD 1998-2010 in brief

ThisfascicleisbasedondatafromtheQuébec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD1998-2010)which isbeingconductedbytheInstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec(QuébecInstituteofStatistics)incollaborationwithvariouspartners(listedonthebackcover).Thegoalofthisstudyistogainabetterunderstandingofthetrajectorieswhich,duringearlychildhood,leadtochildren’ssuccessorfailureintheeducationsystem.

The target population of theQLSCD comprises children(singletonbirths)born tomothers residing inQuébec in1997-1998,withtheexceptionofthosewhosemother,atthetimeofthechild’sbirth,werelivingincertainadministrativeregionsoftheprovince(Nord-du-Québec,Terres-Cries-de-la-Baies-JamesandNunavik)oronIndianreserves.Certainchildrenwerealsoexcludedbecauseofconstraintsrelatedtothesampleframeormajorhealthproblems.Theinitialsampleeligibleforlongitudinalmonitoringcomprised2,120children.Thechildrenweremonitoredannuallyfromtheage of about 5months to 12 years,when they finishedelementaryschool.Aroundofdatacollectionwasconductedthisyear(2011),withmostofthechildrennowintheirfirstyearofhighschool(Secondary1).

TheQLSCDemploysavarietyofdatacollectioninstrumentstogatherdataonthechild,thepersonmostknowledgeableofthechild(PMK),herorhisspouse/partner(ifapplicable),andthebiologicalparent(s)notresidinginthehousehold(ifapplicable).Duringeachdatacollectionround,thechildisaskedtoparticipateinavarietyofactivitiesdesignedtoassessdevelopment.Asofthe2004round,thechild’steacherisalsobeingaskedtorespondtoaquestionnairecoveringvariousaspectsofthechild’sdevelopmentandadjustmenttoschool.Furtherinformationonthemethodologyofthesurvey and the sources of data can be accessed on thewebsiteof theQLSCD (also knownas “IAm, I’ll Be”), at www.iamillbe.stat.gouv.qc.ca.

In Canada, taxpayersspendmore per capitaon providing basiceducation comparedto the United States.Nevertheless,ourschooldropout rates remaincomparativelyhigh.Thispredictsahostofsocial,health, and economicproblems. Canadians

dependuponindividualcontributionsintheformoftaxdollarstosupport socialprograms for futuregenerations. The situation istimelyconsideringloomingpopulationdemographicsthatforecastadeclineintheproportionofthepopulationthatisofworking-ageandamarkedincreaseinthatofseniors(InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec,2009;StatisticsCanada,2010).Consequently,weneedtomaximizethepotentialofeachchildwhowilleventuallybeenteringthelabourmarket.

Onewaytodothisistoimproveaperson’schancesofobtainingahighschooldiploma.Theprocessleadingtohighschooldropoutbyage20canbejudiciouslytracedtokindergarten.Infact,childcharacteristicsinkindergartenpredictsuccessfultransitionsintheearlygrades,whichsignificantlyforecastacademicattainmentbyage22(Entwisle,AlexanderandOlson,2005).Forthesereasons,weoughttoexaminehowsuchcharacteristicsintheearlyyearsforecastlateracademicstanding.Thus,ensuringallchildrenarereadytolearnatschoolentryremainsaninternationalpreoccupationbecauseoftheeventualsocioeconomicandhealthimplications(Duncanetal.,2007;Heckman,2006;HighandtheCommitteeonEarlyChildhoodAdoptionandDependentCareandCouncilonSchoolHealth,2008).

In addition topossessingbasic skills, beingprepared for schoolalsoimpliesaninclinationandenthusiasmforclassroomlearning.Such characteristics at school entry play an important role infutureacademicsuccess.Indeed,thereisclinicalconsensusinbothmedicineandsocialsciencethatadequatecognitive,physical,andsocio-emotionalskillsandapositiveoutlookonlearningrepresenteffective developmental features of school readiness at school

Volume6,Fascicle1,December2011-page2

entry(HighandtheCommitteeonEarlyChildhoodAdoptionandDependentCareandCouncilonSchoolHealth,2008).Inrecentyearsresearchershavefocusedondevelopinganeffectiveandcoherentconceptual andmeasurementmodelof school readiness (JanusandOfford,2007;LemelinandBoivin,2007).Attheendoftheday,gainingabetterunderstandingofcertainskillsinkindergartenthatpredictfutureacademicachievementcanhaveaneconomicimpact.Aneffectiveandefficientmodelcanresultinaccurateassessments,earlyidentification,andmorefocusedpreventiveinterventions.

Gainingabetterunderstandingofschoolreadinessalsoremainsgermane to public health policies on child development for anumberofreasons.Youthwhodonotachievethedevelopmentalmilestoneoffinishinghighschoolhavegreaterchancesof livingin poverty and leading less productive lives (Desrosiers andRobitaille, 2006; Heckman, 2006). Such consequences becomeintergenerationalwhendropoutsbecomeparents (Evans,2004).Low parental education, especially in mothers, is associatedwith providing a less stimulating and less than optimal familyenvironmentforraisingchildren(DuncanandBrooks-Gunn,1997;Repetti,TaylorandSeeman,2002).Incontrast,attainmentofahighschooldiplomaisassociatedwiththeacquisitionofbetterhealthattitudes,behaviours,anddispositions(Chen,MatthewsandBoyce,2002;Lynch,Kaplan,andSalonen,1997).FreudenbergandRuglis(2007)havepersuasivelyarguedthatifwereducedthenumberofhighschooldropouts,ahostoflifestylerisksandoutcomeswouldbe reducedacross theexistingandunbornpopulations. Fromapopulationhealth perspective (Kindig and Stoddart, 2003), thismeansthatchildrenshoulddowellacademicallyintheirearlyyearsofattendingschoolinordertodowelllater(Heckman,2006).

Duncan et al.: The “What matters most” project

Arecentconsortium,ledbyaneconomist, inquiredaboutwhichkindergarten characteristics matter most in predicting lateracademicachievement(Duncanetal.,2007).Theresultingresearchendeavour implementedamodel involvingsix internationaldatasets, comprising approximately 36,000 children from Québec,England, and theUnited States.Meta-analysis of the results ofthesixdatasetsrevealedthatkindergartenskillsinmathematics,andtoalesserextentreading,werethemostpowerfulpredictorsoflaterprimaryschoolachievementinbothfirstandthirdgrade.Interestingly, earlymathematics skills showed themost powerin predicting later mathematics and reading achievement. Infact,precursormathematicsskillspredicted later readingbetterthanprecursor readingskills.Surprisingly,with theexceptionofattention problems, behavioural (aggression, opposition) andemotionaladjustmentaswellassocialskills inkindergartenhadnosignificantinfluenceonlaterachievement,evenamongchildrenpresentingnumerousteacher-reportedsymptomsofinternalizingandexternalizingbehaviours.SimilarresultsusingQLSCDdatawereobservedby Lemelin andBoivin (2007) in their studyof schoolreadinessandacademicperformanceinGrade1.

AlthoughDuncan’s trailblazingstudyhas itsmerits, it shouldbeindicatedthat itsQuébecsamplecomprisedonlydisadvantagedchildreninMontreal(Duncanetal.,2007).Therefore,corroboratingDuncan’sfindingswithamorerepresentative,Québec-widesampleiswarranted.TheDuncanstudyleavesunansweredquestionsabouthowschoolreadinessmightinfluenceotherformsofachievementsuch as classroom engagement. Classroom engagement skillsincludeschoolreadinesscharacteristicsthatareimportantbecausetheyareanalogoustotheproductiveworkbehavioursandhabitsthatemployersvalueinadults(Bowles,Gintis,andOsborne,2001;Paganietal.,2010a).AccordingtoareviewoftheliteratureinFarkas(2003),adultswhopossessacombinationofcognitiveskillsandfocusedworkhabits,developedfrombirththroughadolescence,experiencegreateroccupationalsuccess.Finally,theDuncanstudydidnotconsidermotorskillsasanadditionalcomponentofschoolreadiness,eventhoughresearchsuggeststheyarepredictiveoflateracademicachievement(Tramontana,HooperandSelzer,1988).

Indeed,theimportanceofmotorskillshadbeenemphasizedinmuchoftheliteraturepriortotheconclusionsoftheNationalEducationalGoalsPanel(1991)onschoolreadiness.Nevertheless,theyhavesomehowremainedabsentfrompublicpolicyandresearch,eventhoughasrecentasthelate1980s,researchwassupportingtheconclusionthatphysicalskills,especiallyfinemotorskills,predictlaterachievement(Tramontana,Hooper andSelzer, 1988). Yet, clinical studieshavereplicatedtheassociation(Sandleretal.,1992;Sortor,OdandKulp,2003).First,anassociationhasbeenobservedbetweenmotorskillproblemsandlearningcapacities(Geuzeetal.,2001;Missiunaetal.,2007).Worseningtheprognosisisanoverlapbetweenbehaviouralandmotordisorders(HarveyandReid,2003;KadesjöandGillberg,2001;KaplanandWilson,1998).Furthermore,motordeficitshavealsobeenassociatedwithspecificlanguageimpairmentsinschool-agedchildren(GainesandMissiuna,2007;Hill,2001;Websteretal.,2005).Finally,it isnoteworthythat locomotionalsofiguresprominently inbothPiagetiantheory(PiagetandInhelder,1956)andthePerryPreschoolHigh/ScopeProgram(HohmannandWeikart,2002;Noresetal.,2005).

UsingdatafromtheQuebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD,seetheboxentitledQLSCD 1998-2010 in brief), thisstudyreplicatedandextendedtheDuncanetal.modelbyinvestigatingtheimpactofchildren’scognitive,behaviouralandmotorskillsinkindergartenontheiroverallsuccesslevelinfourthgrade,includingtheirachievementinmathematics,reading,writing,andscience.Wealsoexaminedhowschoolreadinessinkindergartencontributestostudents’schoolandclassroomengagementinthefourthgrade.Suchskillsoperationalizedintermsoftaskorientation,perseverance,andautonomyhavebeenshowntoinfluenceachievement,aboveandbeyondthatofIQ(DuckworthandSeligman,2005;McKinneyetal.,1975).

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Data source and analytical method

Weconductedsevenseparatemultiplelinearregressionanalysestoestimatetowhatextentkindergartencognitive,behaviouralandmotorskillsareassociatedwithteacher-ratedacademicperformanceand school and classroom engagement in Grade 4.3 classroom engagementwasassessedusingseveralquestionspertainingtotaskorientation,followingrules,andperseverance.Schoolengagementherereferstotheperceivedimportanceofschoolforthechild(seetheappendixforadetailedlistofthevariables).Allmodelsincludedthesameindependentandcontrolvariablesanddifferedonly intermsoftheoutcomevariable.

ThedatawerebasedonresponsestovariousQLSCDquestionnaires.MeasurementsofacademicperformanceandschoolengagementwerederivedfromresponsestotheSelf-AdministeredQuestionnairefortheTeacher(SAQT)inthe2008roundwhenthechildrenwereinGrade4.TheindependentvariableswerebasedonresponsestotheSAQTanddirecttestsconductedonthechildreninthe2004roundwhentheywerefinishingkindergarten.Theindependentvariableswere the following: number knowledge, receptive vocabulary,4 hyperactive behaviour, gross motor skills, fine motor skills,locomotion,andobjectcontrol.Finally,eachofthesevenregressionmodelstookintoaccountcertainchildandfamilycharacteristicsascontrolvariableslikelytobeassociatedwithacademicachievementinfourthgrade,namelythechild’ssex,ageinmonths,presenceofphysicalaggressivitysymptomsoremotionalproblemsasassessedbythekindergartenteacher,aswellasmaternaleducationandfamilystructureandfunctioningwhenthechildwasveryyoung(HighandtheCommitteeonEarlyChildhoodAdoptionandDependentCareandCouncilonSchoolHealth,2008).Nomulticolinearityproblemwasdetected.

It should be noted that the SAQT had a lower response ratecomparedtootherQLSCDquestionnaires.Usingthis instrumentatdifferenttimesand incombinationwithotherquestionnaireslikelycontributedtoloweringthenumberofrespondents.Multipleimputation was conducted by the ISQ on certain variables tomaximizethenumberofrespondentsthatcouldbeincludedintheanalyses.Whenthisoperationwascompleted,theanalysisinvolved610childrenoutoftheapproximate2,000havingparticipatedinthe1998roundandeligibleforlongitudinalmonitoring.However,thedatawereweighted,therebyallowingtheresultstobegeneralizedtothetargetpopulationoftheQLSCD.Manyvariableswereaccountedforintheweightingprocedureandgiventhelongitudinalnatureofthesurvey,wehaveconsiderableinformationonnon-respondents.Thereforetheweightsarequitepreciseandtheriskofbiaswasminimized.Thecomplexsampledesignofthesurveywasalsotakenintoaccountincalculatingtheprecisionoftheestimates.

Itisimportanttoemphasizethatbecauseofthesmallnumberofrespondentsincludedintheanalyses,itispossiblethatthemodelslackstatisticalpowerandthereforecertainassociationscouldnotbeestablished.Inaddition,childrenwhoarrivedinQuébecaftertheirbirthwereexcludedfromtheQLSCD,thoughtheyformpartofthesameagecohortoftheinitialsample.5

Results

AswecanseeinTables1and2,kindergartenmathematicsskillsasmeasuredbytheNumberKnowledgeTest(NKT)weresignificantlyassociatedwithall5outcomemeasuresofacademicachievementas well as classroom and school engagement (as reported bythe fourth grade teachers). In turn, language skills (receptivevocabulary),asmeasuredbythePeabodyPictureVocabularyTest(PPVT),significantlyexplainedallthevariablesrelatedtoacademicachievement,butnotthoseofclassroomandschoolengagement.HyperactivebehaviourswereinverselyassociatedwithallmeasuresoflateracademicachievementinGrade4(withtheexceptionofscience)aswellasschoolandclassengagement,asreportedbytheteachers.Noteworthyisthatfinemotorskillsweresignificantlyassociatedwithsuccessinreading,writing,andoverallachievementaswellasclassroomengagement,evenaftercontrollingforotherkindergarten skills (seeTables1and2). Inaddition, locomotionscoreswerepositivelyassociatedwithwritingachievementandclassroomengagement.

Alsoworthmentioningisthesignificantnegativeassociationbetweengrossmotorskillsandschoolengagement.Childrenwhohadbettercoordinationseemedtohaveahigherriskoflowerschoolengagement,asassessedbytheirteachers.Objectcontrolskills(i.e.,catchingorkickingaball)werenotsignificantlyassociatedwithanyoftheoutcomemeasuresorschoolengagement.

The resultsof this studywerecomparedwith thoseobtainedbyDuncan et al. (2007) and certain similarities were observed. Inboth studies, kindergartenmathematics skills (NKT), hyperactivebehaviours(referredtoasattentionproblemsinDuncanetal.)andreceptive languageskills (PPVT)wereall stronglyassociatedwithteacher-ratedachievement inGrade4.Moreover,early receptivelanguageasassessedinkindergartenpredictedlaterreadingskillsinbothstudies.

Inthefollowingsectionweelaborateontheassociationsobservedbetween kindergarten school readiness skills andmeasures ofacademicperformanceinfourthgrade.Resultspertainingtoschoolengagementarealsodiscussed.

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Number knowledge and receptive vocabularyTheQLSCDdatarevealedthatnumberknowledgeinkindergartenwasnotonlypredictiveoffutureachievementinmathematicsbutalsoinotherareasassessedsuchasreading.ReceptivevocabularywasalsopredictiveofacademicperformanceinmostothersubjectsinGrade4.Earlymathematicsabilityconstitutesthefoundationof conceptual, procedural, andproblem-solving skills (Okamoto&Case,1996).Theseskillsarelikelytounderliesubsequentchildperformance in increasingly complex reading and math tasks(Cirino,2010).Theimportanceofcoreprecursorskillsinnumber

knowledge demonstrated in ourstudyisquitenoteworthy,asmostearly childhood programs in thepast have placedmore emphasison precursors to reading thanmathematics.Thismightserveasareminderoftheimportanceofalsofocusing onmathematics skills inearlychildhooddevelopment.

table 1Models measuring associations between skills in kindergarten and teacher-assessed academic performance

in Grade 4 in various subjects and overall, Québec, from 1998 to 20081

Mathematics Reading Writing Science Overall

β β β β β

Numberknowledge 0.11††† 0.11††† 0.11††† 0.08††† 0.11†††

Receptivevocabulary 0.01†† 0.01† 0.01† 0.01††† 0.01†

Hyperactivebehaviours – 0.09††† –0.07†† – 0.08††† – 0.04 – 0.09†††

Grossmotor – 0.08 –0.07 – 0.06 –0.03 – 0.04

Finemotor 0.06 0.10† 0.11†† 0.00 0.08†

Locomotion 0.01 0.02 0.02† 0.00 0.01

Objectcontrol 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00

R2

0.30 0.27 0.30 0.22 0.61

1.Resultsofmultiplelinearregressionanalyses.Formoredetails,seeFootnote3.Note: Thresholds:†:0,05;††:0,01;†††:0,001.Modelsadjustedforchildren’sageinmonths,sex,physicallyaggressivebehavioursandemotionaldistressinkindergarten,aswellas

maternaleducation,familystructureandfunctioningwhenthechildrenwere5or17monthsofage(seeAppendix).Source: InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec,QLSCD1998-2010.

table 2Models measuring associations between skills in kindergarten and teacher-assessed school

and class engagement in Grade 4, Québec, from 1998 to 20081

Classroomengagement Schoolengagement

β β

Numberknowledge 0.03††† 0.04†††

Receptivevocabulary 0.00 0.00

Hyperactivebehaviour – 0.08 ††† – 0.05 †††

Grossmotor – 0.05 – 0.05†

Finemotor 0.06 †† 0.03

Locomotion 0.01 † 0.01

Objectcontrol 0.01 0.00

R2

0.36 0.24

1.Resultsofmultiplelinearregressionanalyses.Formoredetails,seeFootnote3.Note: Thresholds:†:0,05;††:0,01;†††:0,001.Modelsadjustedforchildren’sageinmonths,sex,physicallyaggressivebehavioursandemotionaldistressinkindergarten,aswellas

maternaleducation,familystructureandfunctioningwhenthechildrenwere5or17monthsofage(seeAppendix).Source: InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec,QLSCD1998-2010.

Number knowledge and receptive vocabulary in kindergarten were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h academic performance in all subjects in Grade 4.

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Hyperactive behavioursOurfindingsremindusonceagainhowattentionproblemsinkindergartenmay be negatively associated with later academic achievement.Attentionproblemshere refer to hyperactive behaviours assessedbythekindergartenteacherwhenthechildrenwere6yearsold.InarecentpublicationusingQLSCDdata,Cardinetal.(2011)demonstratedagradientbetweenhyperactivity/inattentionsymptomsinchildrenfrom3.5to8yearsofageandacademicachievementinGrade2.Duncanetal.(2007)hadfoundthatgreaterskillsinattentioninkindergartenpredictedbetteracademicachievementinGrade3,evenwhenotherkindergartenskillsweretakenintoaccount.Moreover,arecentprospectivestudyfromkindergartentoage21yearsalsosuggeststheimportanceofpersistenteffortful control in the classroom (Pagani et al., 2008).When leftunregulated,teacher-ratedattentionproblemsthroughoutelementaryschoolpredictedcasesofunexpectedhighschooldropoutevenforlow-riskmalesandfemales(Pagani,etal.,2008).Thesefindingsechoearlierworkwhichshowedthelong-termimpactofearlyattentionrelatedtoinhibitorycontrolprocessesonlateradolescentscholasticperformance,socialcompetence,andadaptationtostressandfrustration(Mischel,ShodaandRodriguez,1989;Shoda,MischelandPeake,1990).

Interestingly,attentionabilityfiguresprominentlyasaprecursorandcorrelateofmathematicsandliteracyskillsinkindergarten(BlairandRazza,2007). InrecentresearchusingtheMontreal Longitudinal Experimental Preschool Study data, kindergartenattention skillswereshowntobemorestronglyassociatedwithpre-mathematicsthanwith receptive languageskills (Paganietal.,2009). In fact,kindergartenattentionskillspredictedlatermathematicsskillsaswellaskindergartenmathematicsskillsthemselves.

Duringearlychildhood,“there is rapidgrowthanddevelopment infrontalandprefrontalbrainregionswhicharerecruitedfortheeffortfulcontrolofattention”(Blair,2002).Attentionskillscontinuetodevelopinmiddle childhood (Posner and Rothbart, 2000). Developmentalimprovementsinattentionfosterinhibitionofimpulsiveresponsesandpromotedelayofgratificationprocesses(Kochanska,MurrayandHarlan,2000).Thesuppressionofcompetingandoftenlesseffortfulresponsesintheserviceofahighergoalsuchaslearningacademicmaterialrequireseffortfulcontrol.Thisislikelythereasonwhyattentionanditsassociatedfactorspartiallymediatetherelationshipbetweencognitiveabilityandacademicachievement(DuckworthandSeligman,2005).Ourresults,combinedwith those of the larger,original study,point to thevalueoftargeting attention skills for earlyintervention.Thereisrecentevidencethat attention, and its associatedinhibitorycontrolofexecutivefunctionprocesses,are indeedresponsivetointervention during preschool andkindergarten(Diamondetal.,2007;LillardandElse-Quest,2006).

Motor skillsAlthoughnot considered in theDuncanetal. (2007) study,finemotorskills showedpositiveassociationswith later readingandwriting performance aswell as overall academic performance.Locomotionskills inkindergartenwerealsopositivelyassociatedwithlaterwritingperformance.Theassociationbetweenfinemotorskillsandlateracademicperformanceisnotsurprising,becausethe

executionofmanycognitivetasksrequiresfinemotorskillssuchastheabilitytocontrolone’shandsduringwritingorone’seyesforwordtrackingduringreadingtasks(Grissmeretal.,2010).

Based on a synthesis of neuroanatomical and clinical researchfindings, certain authors have proposed a more intricate andbi-directional relationship between cognitive and motor skills(Grissmeretal.,2010).First,brainareasthatspecializeinmotorcontrolshowactivationduringtheexecutionofcertaincognitivetasks.Inturn,areasassociatedwithcognitivecontrolshowactivationduring theexecutionof complex, effortfulmotor tasks. Second,duringsensorimotordevelopment,neuronsarerecruitedfromtheprefrontalcortextoimprovechildadaptationandcontrol.Inlaterchildhood,thesecerebralstructureshavebeenshowntoplayaroleinlearningbysupportingcognitivecontrolduringlearningtasks.

Our findings highlight the unique contribution of motor skillsasapossibleearly factor inpredicting laterachievement.Thus,motor skills often acknowledgedinresearchonclinicalpopulationsas being associated with poorattentionandlinguisticskills,appeartobeworthyofmoreconsiderationthan they have received in thepast,especiallygiventhattheyareresponsivetoearlyintervention.

Classroom and school engagement as measures of academic achievementWeexpandedtheconceptofacademicachievementinfourthgradeby including teacher-rated classroom and school engagement.Asa learning-relatedbehavioural construct, children’s classroomengagement can be defined as behavioural dispositions whenapproaching and undertaking school-related tasks (McDermott,Mordell,andStoltzfus,2001).Suchdispositions,relatedtoproductivity,“includebutarenotlimitedtoattentiveness,persistence,flexibility,reflectivity, strategic problem-solving, response to novelty anderror,preoccupationwitheffectiveness,motivation,andattitudestowardlearning”(DuckworthandSeligman,2006).Theprospectiveassociationswefoundbetweenkindergartenattentioncharacteristicsandlaterclassroomengagementfitverywellwithinthislearning-related behavioural framework. The association between earlymathematicsskillsandlaterclassroomengagementisnotunexpectedgivencertaincriticallinksbetweenemergingexecutivefunctionandmathematics skillsduring thepreschoolperiod (Blair,2002).Wewouldalsohighlightthepositiveassociationbetweenkindergartenfinemotorandlocomotionskillsandlaterclassroomengagement.However,schoolentrygrossmotorskillswerenegativelyassociatedwith fourth grade school engagement, measured by teacherassessmentoftheimportanceascribedtoschoolbythechildren.Thisfindingmightbeexplainedbythefactthatchildrenwhoarebettercoordinatedmaybeatriskoflikingschoollessbecausemovementandathleticactivitiestendtooccupylessand less time in later elementarygrades,andpredominantlycognitiveskills are required for academicsuccessinthesehighergrades.

Even when other kindergarten skills are taken into account, hyperactive behaviours w e r e a s s o c i a t e d with lower academic performance in most subjects.

Fine motor skills in kindergarten were associated with future academic performance in writing and reading.

Certain cognitive and behavioural skills in kindergarten can not only predict academic performance as such, but also classroom and school engagement.

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For a multitude of reasons, including sociodemographic andeconomic trends, early childhood education is increasinglyviewedasarelativelyinexpensivepreventiveinterventionagainstpsychosocialmaladjustmentandacademicunderachievement.Thefindingspresentedinthisfascicleshowthatschoolreadinesscanbeconsideredaconfluenceofcognitive,attentionregulationandmotorskills.Theresultsalsosuggestthatkindergartenskillsarenotonlyassociatedwithschoolachievementassuch,butalsowithschooland classroom engagement, i.e. behavioural dispositionswhenapproachingandundertakingschool-relatedtasks.Sincestudentengagement is known to influence later academic achievement(DuckworthandSeligman,2005;McKinneyetal.,1975;Véronneauetal.,2008),werecommendthatitbeincludedinfutureresearchonacademicsuccessandencourageotherresearcherstoconductmorein-depthstudiesontheassociationsamongstudentengagement,schoolreadinessandacademicachievementingeneral.

Conclusions

In this fascicle, we replicated the model of school readinessdescribed in Duncan et al. (2007), expecting to validate itsfundamental components in children attending Grade 4 in theprovinceofQuébec.TheQLSCDprovidesanexcellentopportunitytovalidateDuncan’sresults.Indeed,evenwhenincludingvariousothercharacteristicsinthemodel,ourresultssupportthefindingsof Duncan et al. (2007). Kindergarten cognitive skills, namelyreceptivevocabularyandnumberknowledge,aswellashyperactivebehaviours,areassociatedwithacademicachievementbytheendoffourthgrade–cognitiveskillspositively,andhyperactivebehavioursnegatively.Thesefindingswereobservedinallsubjectsassessed–writing,reading,mathematicsandscience.Oneexceptionwasthatnoassociationwasobservedbetweenhyperactivebehavioursandlaterachievementinscience.

Ourfindingsalsosuggestthatmotorskillsmakeauniquecontributionto laterchild literacy (readingandwriting)andoverallacademicperformance.Finallywealsoshowedthatcertaincognitive (e.g.numberknowledge),behavioural,andmotorskillsinkindergartenwere positively associated with later classroom and schoolengagementinGrade4.Incontrast,hyperactivebehaviourspredictedlowerlevelsofclassroomandschoolengagementinGrade4.

Althoughthecontrolvariablesprovidedameansofcapturingtheuniquecontributionofeachpredictorskill,ourfindingsshouldbeinterpretedinthecontextofseverallimitations.First,theanalysescould not address how subgroups of individuals, for example,boysandgirls,differedintermsofschoolreadinessoracademicachievement.Second,weexaminedacertainnumberofvariablesrelatedtoacademicachievementindependentlyofoneanother.Infutureresearch,itwouldbeproductivetoexaminehowthevariousoutcomesmaybeinterrelated.Third,fourthgradeisnotthatfaruptheacademicladder.Butbecauseacademicachievementtendstostabilizebeyondtheearlyelementaryyears(AlexanderandEntwisle,1998), ourwindow in time can be interpreted as awindow ofopportunityforprevention.However,itwillbeincumbentinfutureresearch toanalyze the relative importanceof school readinesscompared toother factors in the school trajectoriesof childrenastheygrowuptodevelophigherskill levelsandautonomy.Forexample,otherstudieshaveshownthataggressivebehaviourandlackofsocialskillsinkindergartenarenegativelyassociatedwithschoolengagementlaterinchildhood,whichinturnpredictswhetherornotachildwillcompletehighschool(Véronneauetal.,2008).Knowingwhenthesefactorstakeprecedenceoverschoolreadinessfactorswillhelpimprovethetimingandfocusofstrategiesdesignedtoincreasethechancesofchildrenbeingacademicallysuccessful.Finally,wecannotexcludepossiblebiasesassociatedwiththelowresponse rateof theSAQTand the fact that certaincoefficientspartiallytranslatetheeffectofcharacteristicsnotenteredintothemodel.Despite these limitations,manyof thefindingsobtainedbyanalyzing theQLSCDdataweresimilar to thoseof thestudyconductedbyDuncanetal.(2007).

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Appendix

Description of the variables used in the regression models

Independent variables (measured in late kindergarten)

1. Cognitive Skills1A. Number Knowledge. The Number Knowledge Test (NKT)administeredindividuallytothechildrenwasanabridgedversionofthetestdevelopedbyRobbieCase(OkamotoandCase,1996).Itmeasuresthechild’sdegreeoffamiliaritywithbasicnotionsofarithmeticsuchascounting,adding,andsubtracting,asafunctionofage.Thetestincludesavarietyoftasksusedtoassessknowledgeandunderstandingof(1)thenumbersequencefromonetoten;(2)theone-to-onecorrespondenceinwhichasequenceismappedontoobjectsbeingcounted;(3)thecardinalvalueofeachnumber;(4)thegenerativerulethatrelatesadjacentcardinalvalues;and(5)successivenumberswhichrepresentprogressivelymoreitemsthanthepreviousones.All theskillsmeasuredbytheNKTconstituteperformancepredictorsforarithmetic.Thetestcomprisesanumberof levels and terminates when the child has committed threeconsecutiveerrors.

1B. Receptive Vocabulary. ThePeabodyPictureVocabularyTest(PPVT)(Dunn,Thériault-Whalen,andDunn,1993)administeredindividuallyinEnglishorFrench,providedameansofassessingreceptivevocabulary,which isagoodpredictorofacademicachievement(LemelinandBoivin,2007)andfuturereadingskills(Duncanetal.,2007).Thistestcomprisespracticeimages,followedby170otherimagesinorderofincreasingdifficulty.Thestartingpointdependsonthechild’sage.Theresultswerestandardized;thetablesofnormsdifferedaccordingtotheFrenchorEnglishversionofthetestadministeredtothechild(seeDesrosiersandDucharme,2006).ResultsofthePPVTarestronglycorrelatedwithlanguagesub-scalesinintelligencetests(DunnandDunn,1997).

2. Hyperactive BehavioursThe children’s kindergarten teachers filledout aquestionnaire inwhichtheywereaskedtoassessvariousaspectsof thechildren’sdevelopment.ThesixquestionsonhyperactivitybehavioursweretakenfromtheOntario Child Health Study (OCHS)andtheLongitudinal and Experimental Study of Low Socio-Economic Status Boys in Montréal (ÉLEM).Theteacherswereaskedtoindicateatwhatfrequencythechild1)couldnotsitstill,wasrestlessandhyperactive;2)waseasilydistracted, had trouble sticking to any activity; 3) couldnot stopfidgeting;4)wasimpulsive,actedwithoutthinking;5)haddifficultywaitingforhisorherturningames;and6)couldnotsettledowntodoanythingformorethanaveryshortperiodoftime.Responsechoiceswerethefollowing:1)Neverornottrue;2)Sometimesorsomewhattrue;3)Oftenorverytrue.Basedonresponsestothesequestions,scoreswerecalculatedandthenreducedtoascalerangingfrom0to10(α=0.89).

3. Motor skills

3A. Gross Motor. Thisaspectwasassessedbythekindergartenteachers.TheitemsweretakenfromtheEarly Development Instrument(EDI)developedbyJanusandOfford(2007).Teacherswereaskedif,intheiropinion,thechildwaswell-coordinated(i.e.,moveswithoutrunningintoortrippingoverthings)(Yes/No).Theywerealsoaskedtoratethechild’sabilitytoclimbstairsandhis/heroverallphysicaldevelopment.Responsechoicesforthetwoaforementionedquestionswere:1)Excellent;2)Good;3)Average;4)Poor;5)Verypoor.Basedontheseresponses,scoreswereassignedtoascalerangingfrom0to10(α=0.68).

3B. Fine Motor. The kindergarten teachers were also asked toassess other aspects of the child’s development, namely his/her“Proficiencyatholdingapen,crayons,orabrush”and“Abilitytomanipulateobjects.”ThesetwoitemswerealsotakenfromtheEDIandhadthesameresponsechoicesasthetwoquestionsongrossmotorskills.Basedonresponsestotheseitems,scoreswerecalculatedonascalerangingfrom0to10(α=0.88).

3C. Locomotion Skills.When the childrenwere in kindergarten,trained interviewers administered the Test of Gross Motor Development(TGMD;Ulrich,2000)toassessthechild’slocomotionskills(i.e.,running,sideshuffle).Duringthistest,interviewersfirstdemonstrateanaction.Afterthisthechildrepeatstheactiontwice.Thechildisgivenonepointforeverycorrectaction,andatotalforthesubtestiscalculatedbysummingthescoresforeachaction.

3D. Object Control.Whenthechildrenwereinkindergarten,trainedinterviewersalsoadministeredtheTGMDforobjectcontrol(i.e.,catching,kickingaball).Theproceduresfortestingandratingwerethesameasforthelocomotionskills.

Outcome variables (measured in Grade 4)

1. Academic Achievement.Fourthgradeteachersratedacademicachievementin1A-mathematics, 1B-reading, 1C-writing, 1D-science and1E-overall achievement.Responsechoiceswere(a)Nearthetopoftheclass;(b)Abovethemiddleoftheclass,butnotatthetop;(c)Inthemiddleoftheclass;(d)Belowthemiddleoftheclass,butabovethebottom;or(e)Nearthebottomoftheclass.Basedonresponsestothesequestions,fivecontinuousvariableswereconstructedwithvaluesfrom-2to2(optimalacademicachievement).

2. Classroom Engagement.Elevenitemspertainingtotaskorientation,compliance and persistence were asked of the Grade 4 teacherandusedtocreateascale.EightofthemweredrawnfromtheEDI(SocialCompetenceDomain)(JanusandOfford,2007):“Worksandplayscooperativelywithotherchildren;”“Followsrules;”“Followsinstructions;”“Followsdirections;”“Listensattentively;”“Completeswork on time;” “Works independently;” and “Works neatly andcarefully.”Thethreeotheritems,namely“Putsalotofeffortintohis/herwork;”“Participatesinclass”and“Asksquestionsifhe/shedoesnotunderstand”camefromcycle3ofNational Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth(NLSCY).Responsechoicesforthefirsteightquestionswere:1)Oftenorverytrue;2)Sometimesorsomewhattrue;3)Neverornottrue.Forthethreeotherquestions,fiveresponseswerepossible:1)Never;2)Rarely;3)Sometimes;4)Often;5)Always.Basedonresponsestoallthesequestions,scoreswerecalculatedonascalerangingfrom1to5(α=0.93)(Paganietal.,2010a;Paganietal.,2010b).

Volume6,Fascicle1,December2011-page8

3. School Engagement.Finally,teachersprovidedratingsofchildschool engagement in response to an item pertaining to theimportanceofschooltothechild,withresponsesrangingfrom3(“Veryimportant”)to1(“Oflittleimportance”).

Control Variables

CertainchildandfamilycharacteristicslikelytobeassociatedwithachievementinGrade4wereintegratedintothevariousmodelsascontrolvariables.Childcharacteristicswere1)sex;2)age in months (2004round,kindergarten),andratingsbythekindergartenteacherof3)emotional distressand4)physical aggression(scoresonascalefrom0to10).Familycharacteristicsincludedinthemodelswere1)maternal education(basedonthe1998roundwhenthechildrenwere approximately 5months old and coded as 1=high schooldiploma,0=nohighschooldiploma);2)family functioning(meanofstandardizedscoresrangingfrom0to10forthe1998and1999roundswhenthechildrenwere5and17monthsold);and3)family structure(basedondatafromthe1998roundwhenthechildrenwere5monthsold and codedas0=intact two-parent familyor1=other).Formoredetailsonthesourcesandconstructionofthevariables,accesstheQLSCDwebsiteat:http://www.iamillbe.stat.gouv.qc.ca.

Notes

1. Thepreparationofthisfasciclewasfunded,inpart,bytheSocialScienceandHumanitiesResearchCouncilofCanada.

2. LindaS.PaganiisProfessorattheÉcoledepsychoéducation,ResearcherintheGroupe de recherche sur les environnements scolaires(GRES)(ResearchGrouponSchoolEnvironments),andResearcherattheCentredeRechercheduCHU-Mère-EnfantSainte-Justine(Mother-ChildResearchCentreatSainte-JustineChildren’sHospital)of theUniversitédeMontréal.CarolineFitzpatrickisadoctoralcandidateattheÉcoledepsychoéducationoftheUniversitédeMontréal.LucBelleauisastatisticianatthe Institutde lastatistiqueduQuébec.MichelJanoszisProfessorattheÉcoledepsychoéducationof theUniversité ofMontréal, Director of GRES andwasresponsiblefortheevaluationteamoftheNew Approaches, New Solutions(NANS)interventionstrategy.

3. This type of analysis is designed to ascertain whethera particular variable or set of variables can explain asignificantpartof thedependent variable’s variation– inthiscase,academicperformanceinvarioussubjects,overallperformance and school and classroom engagement. InTables 1 and2,R2 represents theproportionof variationof thedependent variable that is explainedby the setofvariablesenteredinthemodel.Agivenskillisconsideredtobeassociatedwiththeoutcomevariablewhenthebetaorcoefficient(β)issignificant.

4. Othernamesforthiscanbefoundintheliterature,suchas“passivevocabulary,”“wordrecognition,”etc.

5. Based on data from theRégie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (QuébecHealth InsuranceBoard), the Institut delastatistiqueduQuébecestimatesthatapproximately10%ofchildrenwhowere10yearsofageonJuly1,2008werebornoutsideofQuebec(Source:InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec, basedon theFichier d’inscription des personnes assurées[RegistryofInsuredPersons]oftheaforementionedRégie, 2008).

Volume6,Fascicle1,December2011-page9

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The Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD 1998-2010) series of publications is produced by the Direction des enquêtes longitudinales et sociales.

Editor and Coordinator:

HélèneDesrosiers,Programmed’analyseetdevalorisationdesdonnéeslongitudinales

Assistant Editor:

ClaudineGiguère

Direction des enquêtes longitudinales et sociales:

BertrandPerron,Director

ThisfascicleandthecontentsofreportsoftheQuébec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLScD 1998-2010) canbeaccessedontheQLSCDwebsiteat(http://www.iamillbe.stat.gouv.qc.ca)underthemenuitem“Publications,”sub-menu“GovernmentPublications.”FurtherinformationcanalsobeobtainedbycallingtheCoordinatorat514-873-4749 ortoll-freeat1-877-677-2087.

Suggestedreference:PAGANI,LindaS.,CarolineFitzPatrick, Luc BELLEAUandMichelJanoSz(2011).“PredictingAcademicAchievementinFourthGradefromKindergartenCognitive,BehaviouralandMotorSkills,”inQuébec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLScD 1998-2010) – From Birth to 10 Years of Age,Québec,InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec,Vol.6,Fascicle1.

Reviser: JamesLawler

Withtheassistanceof: GabrielleTardif,layout,Directiondescommunications,InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec

Readers: ElisaRomano,Professor,SchoolofPsychology,UniversityofOttawa Eve-MarieCastonguayandJulie-MadeleineRoy,ResearchOfficers,Servicedelarechercheetdel’évaluation, Ministèredel’Éducation,duLoisiretduSport

TheFrenchversionof this fascicle is availableunder thetitle “Prédire la réussite scolairedesenfantsenquatrièmeannéeàpartirdeleurshabiletéscognitives,comportementalesetmotricesàlamaternelle,”inÉtude longitudinale du développement des enfants du Québec(ÉLDEQ1998-2010)–De la naissance à 10 ans,vol.6,fascicule1.

Major funding partners of the QLSCD 1998-2010 are:

• MinistèredelaSantéetdesServicessociauxduQuébec(MSSS)• MinistèredelaFamilleetdesAînés(MFA)• FondationLucieetAndréChagnon• InstitutdelastatistiqueduQuébec

Fundingcontributionstospecialdatacollections:

• Groupederecherchesurl’inadaptationpsychosocialechezl’enfant(GRIP)(UniversitédeMontréal,UniversitéLavalandMcGillUniversity)

• Groupederechercheinterdisciplinaireensanté(GRIS)(UniversitédeMontréal)• Québecenforme

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• Ministèredel’Éducation,duLoisiretduSport• Régiedel’assurancemaladieduQuébec

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Anumberoforganizationscontributedtofundingtheresearchbasedonthesurveydata.Formoredetails,accesstheQLSCDwebsiteathttp://www.iamillbe.stat.gouv.qc.ca.

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