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Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2008

Karen L. Bierman ,
Robert L. Nix ,
Mark T. Greenberg ,
Clancy Blair  and
Celene E. Domitrovich
Karen L. Bierman*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Robert L. Nix
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Mark T. Greenberg
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Clancy Blair
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Celene E. Domitrovich
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Karen Bierman, Pennsylvania State University, 251 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802; E-mail: kb2@psu.edu.
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Abstract

Despite their potentially central role in fostering school readiness, executive function (EF) skills have received little explicit attention in the design and evaluation of school readiness interventions for socioeconomically disadvantaged children. The present study examined a set of five EF measures in the context of a randomized-controlled trial of a research-based intervention integrated into Head Start programs (Head Start REDI). Three hundred fifty-six 4-year-old children (17% Hispanic, 25% African American; 54% girls) were followed over the course of the prekindergarten year. Initial EF predicted gains in cognitive and social–emotional skills and moderated the impact of the Head Start REDI intervention on some outcomes. The REDI intervention promoted gains on two EF measures, which partially mediated intervention effects on school readiness. We discuss the importance of further study of the neurobiological bases of school readiness, the implications for intervention design, and the value of incorporating markers of neurobiological processes into school readiness interventions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , Summer 2008 , pp. 821 - 843
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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Footnotes

This project was supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grants HD046064 and HD43763. We appreciate the teachers, students, parents, and program personnel who served as partners in this project in the Huntingdon, Blair, and York County Head Start Programs of Pennsylvania. In addition, this work reflects the particular efforts and talents of Gloria Rhule, Harriet Darling, Julia Gest, the REDI intervention staff, and the entire REDI research team.

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