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...limited attention. Preliminary research suggests that academic deficiencies mediate the relation between language impairments and problem behavior. This study assessed 97 urban African American kindergarten children (mean age = 5.98, SD = .33) on measures of language impairment, school functioning, and behavior problems to examine potential processes linking these areas of functioning. Similar to previous research, all three factors correlated significantly with one another. Children with language problems were more likely to have problems with school functioning, and school functioning mediated the relation between language and behavior problems. Additionally, poor frustration tolerance moderated the relation between language impairment and behavior problems. Implications and limitations are discussed.
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Urban children face significant challenges as they progress through school. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 69% of fourth graders were below proficiency in reading, 68% were below proficiency in mathematics, and 72% were below proficiency in writing (U.S. Department of Education, 2005). The report further states that children attending urban schools show even lower levels of reading, writing, and math achievement. This may be because children growing up in inner cities in the United States are more likely to be living in poverty (Kagan, 2004), attending a school with limited resources, and experiencing unfavorable student-to-teacher ratios (Bronfenbrenner, McClelland, Wethington, Moen, & Ceci, 1996). African American students, in particular, are even more likely to confront these inequalities (Brooks-Gunn, Klebanov, & Duncan, 1996; Kozol, 2005).
Certainly there are positive aspects to consider for urban children. In contrast to many rural and suburban settings, U.S. cities tend to offer greater access to child enrichment programs, educational opportunities, cultural events, and museums (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Moreover, many urban children demonstrate resilience by forming positive social relations, developing appropriate emotion and behavior regulation, achieving grade-level standards, and ultimately completing school (Achenbach, Howell, Quay, & Conners, 1991; McLoyd, 1998). Nonetheless, it must be acknowledged that the risks of urban living all too frequently outweigh the compensatory factors, and as a result, inner-city children are at significantly higher risk for exhibiting a variety of problems related to adjustment and academic achievement. Understanding the factors that enhance and detract from these outcomes--in particular, the pathways that lead to risk or resilience--is an important goal of developmental psychology, and one that should inform intervention and social policy (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). Identifying mediating and moderating variables is an important first step in understanding risk and resilience.
Educational achievement is clearly the most reliable route to breaking the all-too-common cycle of persistent poverty and underemployment (Price, 1995). Unfortunately, as already noted, inner-city children lag behind rural and suburban children in key areas such as reading, writing, and math, and they are less likely to complete high school or go on to higher education--important milestones in achieving economic independence (U.S. Department of Education, 2005). Through participation in programs such as Head Start, children from economically impoverished families (as is the case for many inner-city families) can improve their readiness to start school and can increase their subsequent achievement in reading, writing, and math (Barnett, 1998; Barnett & Hustedt, 2005). Despite the evidence of intervention effectiveness provided by early educational programs, more needs to be understood about the components of school readiness. "Academic readiness" has traditionally been used as a synonym for early academic achievement in reading, writing, and math. However, there is growing agreement that "school readiness" should include a wider range of skills that prepare children for a smooth transition into learning to read, write, and calculate, such as a positive behavioral orientation to academic tasks and materials as well as appropriate emotional and behavioral regulation in the classroom (McAllister, Wilson, Green, & Baldwin, 2005; McWayne, Fantuzzo, & McDermott, 2004). The importance of speech and language competencies to success in school has been underemphasized in many psychology-based studies. Consequently, this investigation used a multidisciplinary approach to examine the relations among three ingredients proposed to be important for a successful transition to school: (1) language abilities, particularly the ability to comprehend others and express oneself; (2) school functioning, particularly a competent and organized approach to academic material; and (3) appropriate behavioral adjustment.
Language impairments, academic deficits, and emotional/behavioral problems do not appear to be independent of one another, as it is well documented that these problems tend to co-occur at a rate greater than would be expected by chance (Aram, Ekelman, & Nation, 1984; Tomblin, Zhang, Buckwalter, & Catts, 2000). Researchers have found connections between language impairments and literacy (Mogford-Bevan & Summersall, 1997; Nation, Clarke, Marshall, & Durand, 2004); between language impairments and behavioral problems (Beitchman, Hood, & Inglis, 1990; Camarata, Hughes, & Ruhl, 1988; Fujiki, Brinton, & Clarke, 2002; Gallagher, 1999; Goodyer, 2000); and between academic deficits and behavior problems (Nelson, Benner, Lane, & Smith, 2004; Williams & McGee, 1996). Additionally, Brinton and Fujiki (2004) found relations between language impairment and social difficulty, which resulted in subsequently lower academic achievement. Based on their own research, a systematic review of the existing literature, and clinical experience, these researchers further found that this combination of difficulties is not uncommon. Moreover, longitudinal research suggests that even into young adulthood, children with early language impairment have higher-than-average rates of poor literacy skills (Stothard, Snowling, Bishop, Chipchase, & Kaplan, 1998), academic difficulties (Young et al., 2002), psychiatric disorders (Beitchman et al., 2001), and even adult aggressive and criminal behavior (Brownlie et al., 2004).
Although researchers have verified associations among language impairment, school functioning, and behavioral adjustment, few studies have attempted to examine the processes that play a role in the all-too-common co-occurrence of problems in these three areas. Beitchman and colleagues conducted direct assessments of these multiple domains of performance in a 14-year longitudinal study of children identified as language-impaired at age 5 (Beitchman et al., 2001; Johnson et al., 1999). In addition to providing evidence of the joint association among language impairments, academic deficiencies, and emotional/behavioral problems, these authors suggested that academic problems may mediate the relation between language and behavior, in that behavior problems are a consequence of language impairments that are more likely to emerge after experiencing academic difficulties. Similarly, as part of a 2-year longitudinal study of second graders, Tomblin et al. (2000) found that school failure plays a role in the development of behavioral disorders for children with language impairments. These studies, however, assessed the performance of groups of primarily middle-class, non-minority American children who were clinically identified with language disorders. Consequently, caution must be used before applying these results to minority populations and typically developing children.
Hooper, Roberts, Zeisel, and Poe (2003) examined the degree to which language problems during kindergarten predicted teacher ratings of behavior problem over...
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