Executive Function Deficits in Kindergartners Predict Later Academic Difficulties

This study investigated whether and to what extent deficits in executive functions (EF) increase kindergarten children’s risk for repeated academic difficulties across elementary school. Findings showed that deficits in EF, particularly in working memory, increased kindergarten children’s risk of experiencing repeated mathematics, reading, and science difficulties across elementary school. These predictive relations replicated across three academic domains following statistical control for domain-specific and -general autoregressors as well as socio-demographic characteristics.

Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., Wang, Y., Hillemeier, M., Oh, Y., & Maczuga, S. (2018). Executive function deficits in kindergarten predict repeated academic difficulties across elementary school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 46(1^st Quarter 2019), 20-32. http://dx./doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.06.009

 

Benefits of the Arts for Young Adults

This report examines the academic and civic behavior outcomes of teenagers and young adults who have engaged deeply with the arts in or out of school. In several small-group studies, children and teenagers who participated in arts education programs have shown more positive academic and social outcomes in comparison to students who did not participate in those programs. Such studies have proved essential to the current research literature on the types of instrumental benefits associated with an arts education.

Catterall, J. S., Dumais, S. A., & Hampden-Thompson, G. (2012). The arts and achievement in at-risk youth: Findings from four longitudinal studies. Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts. https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Arts-At-Risk-Youth.pdf