Program Promises Improvement in Academic Achievement for Children of Poor Families
An innovative curriculum for preschoolers may improve academic performance, reduce diagnoses of attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and close the achievement gap between children from poor families and those from wealthier homes, according to research led by a Vancouver neuroscientist who is an expert on the development of the cognitive functions that depend on the prefrontal cortex area of the brain, called executive functions (EFs).
University of British Columbia Psychiatry Prof. Adele Diamond, who is Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, led the first evaluation of a curriculum called Tools of the Mind (Tools) that focuses on EFs. These functions include resisting distraction, giving a more considered response instead of your first impulse, working with information you are holding in mind, and the mental flexibility to think “outside the box.”
The program was developed over the last 12 years by educational psychologists Deborah Leong and Elena Bodrova and has been used in several U.S. states. Its value in improving EFs has not been determined until now.
The study is published in this week’s issue of Science.
“EFs are critical for success in school and life. These skills are rarely taught, but can be, even to preschoolers. It could make a huge difference, especially for disadvantaged children,” says Diamond, who is a member of the Brain Research Centre at UBC Hospital; the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Dept. at BC Children’s Hospital; the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI); and the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP). Her work is also supported by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and BC Mental Health and Addiction Services.
“The recent explosion in diagnoses of ADHD may be partly due to some
children never learning to exercise attentional control and self-discipline,” says Diamond. “Although some children are strongly biologically predisposed to hyperactivity and wouldn’t benefit from training, others may be misdiagnosed because what they actually need are skills in self-regulation.”
Previous research has shown that EFs are stronger predictors of academic performance than IQ, she adds. Children from lower-income families enter school with disproportionately poor EF skills and fall progressively farther behind in school each year — facts which Diamond says are related and correctible.
“Helping at-risk children improve EF skills early might be critical to closing the achievement gap and reducing societal inequalities. We showed EFs can be improved in preschoolers without fancy equipment and by regular teachers in regular public school classrooms.”
Most interventions target consequences of poor self-control rather than seeking prevention at an early age, as does Tools. “Early intervention – heading off problems before they develop — costs far less and achieves far better results than trying to correct problems once they have developed,” Diamond says.
“If throughout the school-day EFs are supported and progressively challenged, benefits generalize and transfer to new activities. Daily EF ‘exercise’ appears to enhance and accelerate brain development much as physical exercise improves our bodies,” she adds.
The research team, which includes investigators from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University in New Jersey, evaluated 147 five-year-olds in a low-income, urban U.S. school district. Researchers compared Tools with a balanced literacy curriculum (dBL) that covered the same academic content as Tools but without a focus on EF.
Both programs were new, instituted at the same time and used identical resources. Children and teachers in Tools and dBL were randomly assigned and teachers had equivalent levels of education and teaching experience. The children in both curricula were from the same neighborhood and ethnic group, and from families with very similar levels of income and parental education. Children received either Tools or dBL for one to two years.
Evaluation involved two computerized tests that measured EF. These tasks were different from anything any of the children had done before. Better performance by children in Tools shows that they were able to generalize and transfer their EF skills to new situations.
Tools encourages out-loud self-instruction and dramatic play. “Preschool teachers are under pressure to limit play and spend more time on instruction but social pretend play may be more critical to academic success,” says Diamond.
Support for the study was provided by HELP and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). None of the authors had any stake or involvement in either curriculum studied.
The Faculty of Medicine at UBC provides innovative programs in the health and life sciences, teaching students at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels, and generates more than $200 million in research funding each year.
The Brain Research Centre at Vancouver Hospital, a partnership between Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, has more than 200 investigators with broad, multi-disciplinary research expertise to advance knowledge of the brain and to explore new discoveries and technologies that have the potential to reduce the suffering and cost associated with disease and injuries of the brain.
HELP, a research institute in UBC’s Faculty of Graduate Studies, is a network of more than 200 faculty, researchers and graduate students from six B.C. universities.
BC Children’s Hospital, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority, provides expert care for the province’s most seriously ill or injured children, including newborns and adolescents. Children’s is an academic health centre affiliated with the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the Child & Family Research Institute.
CFRI works in close partnership with UBC; BC Children’s Hospital and Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children; BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre, agencies of the Provincial Health Services Authority, and the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. CFRI conducts discovery research to benefit the health of children and families and it is the largest research institute of its kind in Western Canada.
VCHRI is the research body of Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. In academic partnership with UBC, the institute advances health research and innovation across B.C., Canada, and beyond. BC Mental Health & Addiction Services is an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority, provides a diverse range of mental health services to people across BC.
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