A Child by Environment Perspective on How Children's Executive Function Skills and the Classroom Environment Support Early Math Learning

This dissertation includes three independent studies that advance a line of research exploring how children’s executive function and aspects of their classroom experience support mathematics learning during the early years of school. In the first study, I examined how children’s inhibitory control and the quality of their relationship with their preschool teacher were associated with their classroom engagement, and whether a close student-teacher relationship could serve as a protective factor for children with low inhibitory control. Results indicated that inhibitory control and the quality of the student-teacher relationship were associated with different domains of engagement. Rather than serving as a protective factor, a close student-teacher relationship served to amplify the positive association between children’s inhibitory control and positive engagement with their teacher. In the second study, I explored the extent to which children’s behavioral engagement mediated the association between their executive function and gains in mathematical knowledge and skills during preschool, and the extent to which the direct and indirect associations were moderated by the quantity and quality of math instruction in the classroom. Children’s behavioral engagement partially mediated the association between their executive function and mathematical gains. The direct associations between executive function and mathematical gains were weaker in classrooms with a high dosage of instruction and in classrooms with higher quality instruction, while the indirect associations were stronger in classrooms with higher quality instruction. In the third study, I examined how children’s executive function and math skills at kindergarten entry, as well as the content of math instruction during the school year, independently and jointly related to their math learning during kindergarten. Each of children’s school-entry skills was associated with their math learning, and the association between working memory and math achievement gains was stronger for children who started kindergarten with lower math skills. More frequent math instruction focused on basic skills was associated with smaller math achievement gains during kindergarten, while instruction on more advanced skills was associated with larger gains; the latter association was larger for children who started kindergarten with low cognitive flexibility or math skills.