Promoting School Readiness By Integrating a Self-Regulation Intervention into a School-Based Summer Program

This study examines how integrating a self-regulation intervention into a school-based program (Bridge to Kindergarten; B2K) can promote school readiness. B2K is a 3-week program that targets entering kindergarteners without preschool experience. The intervention consists of classroom-based games that are designed to foster the development of executive functioning (EF). In two previous randomized controlled trials, the intervention yielded positive effects on children’s EF (blinded for review). The current study examines the effectiveness of the intervention combined with a school-based summer preschool booster program in a real-world setting on school readiness.

Using three datasets, we examined the intervention effects when coupled with the B2K program on children’s EF (assessment: Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task; HTKS) and math (assessment: Woodcock-Johnson Applied Problems). In the first dataset, children (n = 78) in two randomly selected B2K schools received the intervention and children (n = 47) in one B2K control school did not. Children were assessed pre- and post-program. In the second dataset, all B2K children received the games and a random sample was studied to assess its impact. Children were assessed pre- and post-program (n = 163) and at a follow-up during the fall of kindergarten (n = 97). Results of these datasets were compared to a longitudinal study using an independent sample that assessed children’s normative development on EF and math from the fall of preschool to spring of kindergarten (N = 430).

Results from the first dataset showed that children in the intervention, compared to the active control group, did significantly better on the HTKS (b = 8.40, p < .001), but there were no significant differences in math. In the second dataset, children gained 16.62 points on the HTKS (SD = 16.64) and 4.29 points in math (SD = 3.51) over the 5-month period (beginning of summer to fall of kindergarten). Using information from the third dataset, these B2K children gained more on average than 12-months of expected normative development on the HTKS (M = 13.39, SD = 16.21) and 6-months on math (M = 2.03, SD = 2.67).

Results suggest that children receiving the self-regulation intervention in tandem with the B2K program improved in EF and math beyond what would be expected by maturation alone. Thus, early self-regulation interventions may be promising ways to offset school-entry disparities that potentially contribute to later health inequities and lower levels of well-being.