OBSERVING SELF-REGULATION IN CONTEXT IN HEAD START CLASSROOMS AND DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS SCHOOL READINESS

在全国范围内，学龄前双语学习者的比例正在上升，因此了解如何在教育环境中支持双语学习成为当务之急。目前，美国超过四分之一的学龄前儿童是生活在贫困中的拉丁裔DLL。关键是要检查有助于年轻DLL的社会和认知发展的技能，因为在整个发展过程中，存在着持续存在的成就差距。Head Start为许多拉丁裔DLL提供服务，因此提供了一个关键的发展环境，以检验如何促进DLL的社会情感和认知发展，以缩小成就差距。 自我调节是一项重要的社会情绪技能，它能促进儿童日后的发展和成就。自我调节技能包括自我控制、情绪调节和解决问题。这些技能的发展对于来自低收入环境的DLL学龄前儿童来说很重要，因为它们可以预测积极的结果。由于早期自我调节技能和后来的结果之间的联系，重要的是促进DLL的早期自我调节技能的发展，以开始缩小成绩差距。 很少有研究考察拉丁裔DLL的自我调节能力；因此，有必要在这一领域进行进一步的研究。为了衡量自我调节能力，许多研究要么使用直接评估，要么使用系统的课堂观察；然而，人们对这两种工具之间的联系知之甚少。因此，弄清这两种测量技术之间的关系，以便在研究中有效地使用它们，将有助于我们理解和干预动态链接库的自我调节技能。这项研究将首次考察两种不同的自我调节措施--直接评估和系统的课堂观察之间的关系。 特别重要的是要考察自我调节技能和学龄前课堂环境之间的交互关系，例如教学的重点(例如，教师管理的)、小组规模(例如，整个小组)以及用于管理行为的教师实践(例如，用于提出行为请求的语言线索)。通过研究学龄前课堂中哪些语境自然地促进了DLL积极行为的使用，教师将能够有意识地将他们的注意力集中在这些语境上，这将为拉丁裔DLL提供更多的机会来练习他们的自我调节技能。该项目将首次确定促进更多使用动态链接库自我调节行为的理想课堂环境。 这项研究的目的将有助于确定如何利用课堂来最好地支持自我调节技能的发展，并提高年轻的DLLS的学习成绩。该项目的目标是提供基于课堂的干预措施，支持教师构建动态链接库的自我调节技能，并培养跨领域的积极入学准备技能。

Nationally, the rates of preschool-aged Dual Language Learners (DLL) are rising, making it a priority to understand how to support DLLs in the education environment. Currently, over a quarter of preschoolers in the United States are Latino DLLs who live in poverty. It is critical to examine the skills that contribute to the social and cognitive development of young DLLs because an achievement gap is present that persists through development. Head Start serves many Latino DLLs, and thus offers a key developmental setting to examine how to foster DLLs social-emotional and cognitive development to close the achievement gap. Self-regulation is a critical social-emotional skill, which promotes children’s later development and achievement. Self-regulation skills include self-control, emotion regulation, and problem solving. The development of these skills is important for DLL preschoolers from low-income environments because they are predictive of positive outcomes. As a result of the link between early self-regulation skills and later outcomes, it is important to foster the development of DLLs’ early self-regulation skills to begin to close the achievement gap. Few studies have examined self-regulation skills in Latino DLLs; therefore, further research in this area is necessary. To measure self-regulation skills, many studies use either direct assessment or systematic classroom observations; however, little is known about the link between these two tools. Therefore, it is important to clarify the relationship between these two types of measurement techniques in order to use them effectively in research that will inform our understanding and intervention with DLL’s self-regulation skills. This study will be the first to examine the association between two different measures of self-regulation, a direct assessment and a systematic classroom observation. It is especially important to examine the transactional relationship between self-regulation skills and the contexts of the preschool classroom, such as the focus of instruction (e.g., teacher-managed), the group size (e.g., whole group), and teacher practices used to manage behavior (e.g., verbal cues used to make behavioral requests). By researching which contexts of the preschool classroom naturally foster the use of DLL’s positive behavior, teachers will be able to intentionally focus their attention on those contexts, which will provide more opportunities for Latino DLLs to practice their self-regulation skills. This project will be the first to determine the ideal classroom contexts that promote higher use of DLLs self-regulated behaviors. The aims of this study will help contribute to the identification of how to use the classroom to best support the development of self-regulation skills and improve academic outcomes for young DLLs. The goal of this project is to inform classroom-based interventions that support teachers’ scaffolding of DLLs’ self-regulation skills and to foster positive school readiness skills across domains.