The project examines the influence of schooling on cognitive development by exploiting a """"""""natural experiment"""""""", termed school cutoff. Each year school boards proclaim that those children whose birth-dates precede some specified date will be allowed to go to kindergarten or grade one, while other children who just miss the cutoff will not be allowed entry. By choosing children whose birth-dates cluster closely on--either side of the cutoff date, two groups of children can be effectively equated on some target psychological skill or process. Comparing the degree of change in the target skill from beginning to end of the school year (pre-post design) in the children who just make versus miss the cutoff permits direct assessment of the impact of the schooling experience an growth of that skill. A series of studies using this methodology will examine the influence of grade one schooling on a broad range of cognitive skills, including memory strategies, language processing, causal reasoning, narrative comprehension, logical operations, and arithmetic problem-solving. Findings from these studies will (1) yield greater understanding of the power of the schooling experience to enhance cognitive growth; (2) evaluate how extensive or limited is schooling's influence an basic cognitive skills; (3) establish the fruitfulness of the school cutoff methodology in elucidating important sources of change in cognitive processing during the early school years.
| Montroy, Janelle J; Bowles, Ryan P; Skibbe, Lori E et al. (2016) The development of self-regulation across early childhood. Dev Psychol 52:1744-1762 |
| Bindman, Samantha W; Skibbe, Lori E; Hindman, Annemarie H et al. (2014) Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Early Literacy, Language, and Fine Motor Skills. Early Child Res Q 29:614-624 |
| Bindman, Samantha W; Hindman, Annemarie H; Bowles, Ryan P et al. (2013) The Contributions of Parental Management Language to Executive Function in Preschool Children. Early Child Res Q 28:529-539 |
| Skibbe, Lori E; Hindman, Annemarie H; Connor, Carol M et al. (2013) Relative Contributions of Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten to Children's Literacy and Mathematics Skills. Early Educ Dev 24:687-703 |
| Skibbe, Lori E; Bindman, Samantha W; Hindman, Annemarie H et al. (2013) Longitudinal Relations Between Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Language and Literacy Skills. Read Res Q 48:387-401 |
| Skibbe, Lori; Grimm, Kevin; Bowles, Ryan et al. (2012) Literacy Growth in the Academic Year versus Summer from Preschool through Second Grade: Differential Effects of Schooling across Four Skills. Sci Stud Read 16:141-165 |
| Cameron, Claire E; Brock, Laura L; Murrah, William M et al. (2012) Fine motor skills and executive function both contribute to kindergarten achievement. Child Dev 83:1229-44 |
| Skibbe, Lori E; Connor, Carol McDonald; Morrison, Frederick J et al. (2011) Schooling effects on preschoolers' self-regulation, early literacy, and language growth. Early Child Res Q 26:42-49 |
| Wanless, Shannon B; McClelland, Megan M; Acock, Alan C et al. (2011) Measuring behavioral regulation in four societies. Psychol Assess 23:364-78 |
| Bowles, Ryan P; Skibbe, Lori E; Justice, Laura M (2011) Analysis of letter name knowledge using Rasch measurement. J Appl Meas 12:387-98 |
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