J A Terhune
Predicting the readiness of elementary school children to learn an effective dental flossing technique
Journal of the American Dental Association (1939)
study investigated developmental trajectories observationally coded engagement across early elementary years whether trajectories associated childrens academic achievement furthermore evaluated relations varied function childrens family socioeconomic status early reading math skills data collected 301 children studied kindergarten mage 6574 months 49 boys 2nd grade childrens behavioral engagement observed kindergarten 1st 2nd grade reading math skills assessed via standardized tests kindergarten 2nd grade growth mixture models identified two classes behavioral engagement children 870 displayed relatively high behavioral engagement fall kindergarten decreased significantly across time referred highdecreasing class children 130 exhibited moderate behavioral engagement fall kindergarten stable across time referred moderatestable class controlling academic skills kindergarten demographic variables ie child age sex ethnicity family socioeconomic status children highdecreasing class displayed higher reading skills math skills children moderatestable class additional analyses revealed differences reading skills two classes present children low socioeconomic status families children low kindergarten reading skills findings suggest economically academically atrisk students might benefit peers high behavioral engagement