A STRENGTHS-BASED APPROACH TO EXAMINING SUPPORTS FOR SELF-REGULATION SKILLS OF LATINO CHILDREN RAISED IN POVERTY

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Early academic success lays a strong foundation for later learning, yet not all children are provided with the tools to succeed early in life. Many Latino children face a variety of challenges, including poverty, recent immigration, and low English proficiency, that may prevent them from acquiring the resources that support healthy development (Murphey, Guzman, & Torres, 2014). Although none of these factors is unique to Latino children?s experiences, Latino children uniquely experience high incidences of such factors. Understanding how best to support Latino children?s development prior to school entry is a critical public policy issue. Success in kindergarten and the early elementary school grades rests, in part, on children?s ability to adapt to the school environment. When children make the transition into kindergarten, they face both academic and social-emotional demands (Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 2000). Strong self-regulation skills, which enable children to regulate their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, are central to a successful transition (Blair, 2002). By providing children with the cognitive skills to learn and integrate new academic information and the behavioral skills to follow rules and meet teachers? expectations, self-regulation enables children to thrive academically and socio-emotionally in kindergarten. An emerging literature suggests that some self-regulation skills may be a source of strength for Latino children. Latino children demonstrate similar levels of self-control as their socioeconomically-matched White peers in preschool and kindergarten (Li-Grining, 2007). As with all children, however, growing up in poverty puts Latino children at risk for lower self-regulation skills (Galindo & Fuller, 2010). Although past research has examined how to support self-regulation in non-Latino children (Diamond & Lee, 2011), it is unclear whether such strategies are effective for Latino children given that Latinos? early life experiences may differ from those of their peers. More research is needed to develop a nuanced understanding of the strategies that support low-income, Latino children?s self-regulation development in early childhood so that programs like Head Start can prepare these children for kindergarten. The proposed project will fill this gap in the literature. Taking a strengths-based approach, the proposed project aims to examine the parenting practices in toddlerhood and teaching practices in preschool that support the development of self-regulation. Grounded in a theoretical framework that recognizes heterogeneity within the Latino experience, we also explore whether demographic and child characteristics moderate relations between adult practices and child self-regulation. In addition to driving the field of child development forward, the proposed project aims to advance knowledge about evidence-based practices that are integral to Head Start. Our research questions emerged from a long partnership with a local Head Start provider that has a strong interest in understanding how to better support Latino children?s development. Through close collaboration with staff at the partner agency, the proposed project will address issues facing current Head Start providers so that Latino children can receive support both at home and in preschool.