Browsing by Subject "young children"

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    Autonomy Support in Parents and Young Children Experiencing Homelessness: A Mixed Method Approach
    (2019-12) Distefano, Rebecca
    Both executive function (EF) skills and autonomy have been linked to academic achievement in early childhood. Promoting the development of these skills may be one way to prevent academic difficulties for those most at-risk, such as young children experiencing homelessness. Theoretical and empirical work points to the important role of caregivers as key socializers of EF and autonomy development through autonomy-supportive parenting behaviors. However, some scholars have suggested that autonomy support may be problematic in high-risk contexts, such as homelessness. The current dissertation examined the proposed tension between the potential benefits and drawbacks of autonomy support in families experiencing homelessness. Study 1 was a qualitative interview about autonomy support with 21 parents living in an emergency homeless shelter. Results indicated that many parents endorsed ideas that were consistent with autonomy support, but that some viewed behaviors like offering choice to young children to be inappropriate. Study 2 was a quantitative assessment with 100 parents and their 3- to 6-year-old children to further examine autonomy support in families experiencing homelessness. Unexpectedly, parent verbal IQ emerged as the sole predictor of autonomy-supportive behaviors, and autonomy support was only positively associated with EF skills in children who had not completed kindergarten. Furthermore, the relations between autonomy support and child outcomes did not depend on safety concerns, household chaos, or familial values of autonomy support. Overall, the evidence from the current project addresses gaps in our understanding of autonomy-supportive parenting in high-risk contexts.
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    Investigating Young Children’s Attitudes toward Mathematics: Improved Measurement and the Relation to Achievement
    (2018-05) Kiss, Allyson
    Researchers in the field of school psychology have recently emphasized the influence of different academic enablers that may influence how students achieve and perform in school. In this literature, attitudes have not yet received much attention as an enabler. However, students as young as pre-kindergarten enter school with predisposed attitudes towards mathematics. These attitudes may influence their engagement, persistence and performance in mathematics. Evidence also suggests that mathematics performance in kindergarten and first grade can predict performance later in life. Thus, it is important for school psychologists and educators to understand how students perceive their ability and perceive the task of mathematics to help students build their competence to become later successful learners. Understanding the earlier development of these attitudes may help foster more positive perceptions and mathematics learning environments for all students. The purpose of this two-study dissertation was to examine attitudes toward mathematics among young children in kindergarten and first grade. Specifically, the purpose of Study 1 was to develop an assessment instrument to measure attitudes toward mathematics for students in kindergarten and first grade and to examine the reliability and validity evidence for potential use in a school setting. Further, Study 2 aimed to investigate the extent to which different attitudes such as perceived self-competence beliefs, enjoyment, and importance were related to student mathematics achievement as measured by teacher ratings and standardized mathematics assessments. This study is first in an emerging line of inquiry to understand how attitudes influence various achievement outcomes for young children, and, thereby identify if, how, and to what effect attitudes of young children might be targeted for intervention.