TY - JOUR
T1 - Academic achievement and relations to externalizing behavior
T2 - Much ado about nothing?
AU - Kulkarni, Tara
AU - Sullivan, Amanda L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Some of the worst long-term outcomes of children are associated with the presence of externalizing behavior and low academic achievement. However, the nature of the causal and predictive relationship between these two domains remains contested due to inconsistent findings in previous literature. Leveraging a nationally representative sample (N = 7330) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)–Kindergarten Cohort of 2011, we used latent class growth analysis and machine learning cross validation techniques to analyze the association of early math and reading achievement with the development of externalizing behavior trajectories in elementary school. Several theoretically and empirically important covariates were utilized to develop a profile of learners in each trajectory. Results indicated stable teacher ratings of behavior across kindergarten to fifth grade and three primary trajectories, consisting of (1) higher persistent, (2) low persistent, and (3) no problem behavior. Importantly, teacher rated early inattention and approaches to learning behaviors, rather than direct standardized measures of academic achievement, were the strongest malleable predictors to trajectory membership. Student demographics, including being a boy and identifying as Black, contributed to these students being almost twice as likely to belong to the higher problem behavior trajectory as compared to girls and White peers. Educational implications for intervention, as well as the influence of implicit bias and structural racism in the role of teacher ratings, are discussed.
AB - Some of the worst long-term outcomes of children are associated with the presence of externalizing behavior and low academic achievement. However, the nature of the causal and predictive relationship between these two domains remains contested due to inconsistent findings in previous literature. Leveraging a nationally representative sample (N = 7330) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)–Kindergarten Cohort of 2011, we used latent class growth analysis and machine learning cross validation techniques to analyze the association of early math and reading achievement with the development of externalizing behavior trajectories in elementary school. Several theoretically and empirically important covariates were utilized to develop a profile of learners in each trajectory. Results indicated stable teacher ratings of behavior across kindergarten to fifth grade and three primary trajectories, consisting of (1) higher persistent, (2) low persistent, and (3) no problem behavior. Importantly, teacher rated early inattention and approaches to learning behaviors, rather than direct standardized measures of academic achievement, were the strongest malleable predictors to trajectory membership. Student demographics, including being a boy and identifying as Black, contributed to these students being almost twice as likely to belong to the higher problem behavior trajectory as compared to girls and White peers. Educational implications for intervention, as well as the influence of implicit bias and structural racism in the role of teacher ratings, are discussed.
KW - Academic achievement
KW - Child development
KW - Externalizing behavior
KW - Racial disparities
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jsp.2022.07.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jsp.2022.07.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 36064212
AN - SCOPUS:85136552609
VL - 94
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - Journal of School Psychology
JF - Journal of School Psychology
SN - 0022-4405
ER -