CSRP’s Impact on Low‐Income Preschoolers’ Preacademic Skills: Self‐Regulation as a Mediating Mechanism

Abstract

Based on theoretically driven models, the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) targeted low‐income children’s school readiness through the mediating mechanism of self‐regulation. The CSRP is a multicomponent, cluster‐randomized efficacy trial implemented in 35 Head Start–funded classrooms (N = 602 children). The analyses confirm that the CSRP improved low‐income children’s self‐regulation skills (as indexed by attention/impulse control and executive function) from fall to spring of the Head Start year. Analyses also suggest significant benefits of CSRP for children’s preacademic skills, as measured by vocabulary, letter‐naming, and math skills. Partial support was found for improvement in children’s self‐regulation as a hypothesized mediator for children’s gains in academic readiness. Implications for programs and policies that support young children’s behavioral health and academic success are discussed.