Children’s behavior when they first enter school can affect their progress throughout the elementary years, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background, says a study in the September issue of Developmental Psychology.
Drawing on the U.S. Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study’s Kindergarten Cohort, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, Loyola University-Chicago, and Colombia’s Universidad de los Andes tracked students’ learning gains. They found kindergartners with a positive learning approach—as defined by persistence, emotional regulation, attentiveness, organization, and flexibility—made more progress in mathematics and reading through 5th grade.
