Early Childhood Classroom Success

In recent years, educators, school administrators, developmental and education researchers, and policymakers have increasingly recognized the importance of so-called “learning-related” skills1: dimensions of children’s self-regulation and social-emotional competence that predict achievement and later school and life success. Once children enter a classroom context—which, for a majority of young children in the U.S., occurs in a preschool classroom in the year before kindergarten and then continues for elementary school—they must focus their attention, control their impulses, follow directions, and engage with their peers. Thus, this instrument collection focuses on the essential non-academic, non-cognitive skills that support young children’s success in classrooms and in schools. 

Researchers and school leaders interested in understanding “learning-related” skills that explain variability in learning outcomes (achievement test scores; grade-level promotion; graduation rates; post-secondary education outcomes; adult economic outcomes) should collect data on this topic. The “learning-related” skills in this area, as discussed above, fall under the umbrellas of self-regulation (sometimes referred to as approaches to learning which includes most but not all of the same specific abilities) and social-emotional development (which can include emotion regulation, behavior regulation, problem behaviors, social competence, and prosocial behavior). These skills have been reliably linked to indicators of school and life success.

History: This area is relatively new compared to longstanding foci in education research on collecting data on achievement, academic, and cognitive skills. Unlike literacy and math, which have received widespread measurement attention because districts are required to measure these skills starting in third grade (per NCLB and ESSA), the “learning-related” skills of self-regulation and social-emotional development have not been assessed systematically and in widespread fashion because they are outside of the space of federal and state priorities in most cases. 

Respondent types: The most appropriate and relevant respondent types for this topic are teachers, observers contracted by the research team, or in some cases, parents. However, consideration should be given to the research design and aims of the specific study before prioritizing respondent type. For example, if the predictor of interest is a family- or household level factor reported by the parent, a different reporter should be used to gather data on self-regulation and social-emotional outcomes to avoid shared method variance. Likewise, if the predictor of interest is some teacher-reported variable, a different reporter should be used for the outcome. Put simply, when the reporter of the predictor and the outcome are the same, the results may be biased. Thus, consideration should be given to the research questions before identifying the source for collecting these child assessments. 

Populations of validation: These tools have not necessarily been validated for assessing the skills of specific cultural and linguistic subgroups. Thus, caution should be taken when interpreting data drawn from specific population subgroups. The tools in this collection are relevant for the age groups of this collection, specifically preschool through 3rd grade. 

Timing and frequency: While some studies have attempted to collect data every fall and spring within a given academic year, such frequency can be costly and unnecessary. Annual data collection (as in the Head Start FACES study) or every-other-year data collection (as in the ECLS-B) is acceptable for these constructs.

This collection includes measures that capture skills essential for classroom success among children in the early childhood years: preschool through 3rd grade. (Early childhood is often defined as birth to age 8; this list focuses on preschool—when most children experience a classroom for the first time—through age 8, which for most children, is 3rd grade.) The “learning-related” skills known to support classroom success in this early childhood window surround self-regulation and social-emotional capacities that shape how children interact with the content of instruction and with their teachers and peers. The specific “learning-related” skills that fall under the umbrella constructs of self-regulation and social-emotional development are sometimes referred to, collectively or in some combination, as “approaches to learning”, “self-regulation”, “behavioral regulation”, “problem behaviors”, “social”, or “social-emotional” skills. Measures included in this collection are those that can be used to assess these learning-related outcomes in naturalistic—e.g., school—settings.

What are early childhood classroom success skills, also known as “learning-related” skills? 
The focus of this collection is on measures that capture “learning-related” skills: key dimensions of self-regulation in a classroom context, such as the ability to follow rules and classroom norms, sit still, regulate emotions, and pay attention. Also included are measures that capture key social or social-emotional skills that facilitate positive relationships with others such as prosocial behavior, (lack of) disruptive or problem behaviors, emotion recognition, understanding social cues, cooperation and communication. Excluded are measures of achievement, academic, or cognitive skills in the domains of language, literacy, math, and executive functioning. These constructs are usually best measured via direct one-on-one assessments or lab studies rather than situated in contexts like classrooms. Clinical measures designed to assess mental health (worry/anxiety; sadness/depression) or diagnose disabilities or qualify for interventions are excluded. Neuropsychological and psychoeducational tests designed to measure IQ for the purposes of educational placement or educationally supportive accommodations (i.e., IEPs; 504) are excluded. Finally, measures designed specifically for infants and toddlers or older children are excluded due to the focus on early childhood (preschool-3rd grade) only. 

Self-regulation vs. Executive Function 
This toolkit focuses on self-regulation, not executive function. Understanding the difference is important. Self-regulation is the ability to manage thoughts, attention, behavior, and emotion. dimensions of self-regulation are often measured via checklist in real-world contexts (like classrooms) that feature emotionally and motivationally salient demands and stimuli, whereas executive functioning is often measured via one-on-one direct assessment in a lab-type setting that is affectively neutral because it is well-controlled. Confusion arises when terms like “impulse control” and “attentional control”—now commonly thought to be dimensions of self-regulation, and important for classroom success—are interchanged with “inhibitory control” and “attention shifting” which are dimensions of executive function, best-measured in a lab setting.

McLelland, M., Cameron, C.E., Wanless, S. B. & Murray, A. (2007). Executive Function, Behavioral Self-Regulation, and Social-Emotional Competence: Links to School Readiness. In O. Saracho & B. Spodek (Eds.), Contemporary Perspectives on Social Learning in Early Childhood Education ( ed., pp. X–Y). Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Fountain, Y. (2019). Physical activity games. In J. Stone & C. E. Schaefer (Eds.), Game play: Therapeutic use of games with children and adolescents (3rd ed., pp. 79–98). John Wiley & Sons. 

ECLS-B 

Head Start FACES study 

Jones and Bouffard, 2012 

Jones et al., 2016 JADP