Although a limited body of research has supported the positive impact of the Tools of the Mind curriculum on the development of self-regulation, research supporting a direct relationship between Tools and academic achievement is extremely limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tools of the Mind curriculum implementation in improving math and reading scores in Kindergarten by comparing scores obtained before and after Tools. This study also seeks to investigate the effects of SES on student achievement. Finally, this study seeks to identify contributions and challenges perceived by teachers during implementation. Participants included 93 students in the before Tools condition and 97 students after Tools. Students who had Tools scored statistically significantly lower on reading scores than students who did not have Tools. While students also scored lower on math after Tools, this difference was not significant. Differences were found in student scores based on SES. Qualitative results are base interviews of six Kindergarten teachers, and revealed teachers' experiences with implementation. The findings of this study are intended to increase the understanding of the effectiveness of Tools and its implementation.

Temperamental self-regulation is typically associated with adaptive outcomes, but considerably less is known about the correlates of rudimentary self-regulation—regulatory capacity—in infancy. Some theoretical frameworks also suggest that low and high levels of inhibitory control—one component of temperamental self-regulation—may be related to negative outcomes, and further that this may depend on individual differences in shyness. In this dissertation, I examined the functional correlates of infants’ regulatory capacity moderated by physiological regulation (Chapter 2), the negative consequences of low and high levels of inhibitory control on preschoolers’ social and psychological outcomes (Chapter 3), and the social (Chapter 4) and contextual (Chapter 5) factors modifying the impact of inhibitory control on shy children’s interpersonal outcomes. In Chapter 2, I found that infants’ regulatory capacity was only negatively related to behavior problems when infants displayed high levels of physiological regulation during an emotionally salient stressor. In Chapter 3, I found that very low and high levels of inhibitory control were related to the highest levels of avoidant social behavior and internalizing and externalizing problems in preschoolers. In Chapter 4, I found that preschoolers’ shyness was only negatively associated with their own observed approach behavior when their own inhibitory control was high (actor effects), and this pattern of results differed when examining the partner’s observed behavior (partner effects). In Chapter 5, I found that shyness was negatively associated with social support seeking when preschoolers displayed high levels of inhibitory control in an unfamiliar context, and this pattern of results differed in a familiar context. These studies challenge the longstanding belief that self-regulatory processes are adaptive for all children all the time, and suggest that developmental, temperamental, and contextual factors may influence whether self-regulation acts as a resiliency or risk factor. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Self-regulation refers to children’s ability to control their behavior and attention to achieve goals and is an important part of personality. Although self-regulation is typically associated with positive outcomes during the preschool period, less is known about the consequences of self-regulation during infancy, and some research has suggested that low and high self-regulation may have negative consequences for children. In this dissertation, I examined whether physiological regulation during infancy influenced the relation between self-regulation and behavior problems, and then I examined whether low and high levels of self-regulation are associated with children’s problematic social and psychological outcomes and whether these relations depend on children’s shyness and their social partner’s characteristics. Together, this work challenges the belief that self-regulation is always protective for all children all the time and suggests that personality and contextual factors may determine whether self-regulation acts as a protective or a risk factor.

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