A 20-year retrospective study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and published in the July 2015 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, suggests that kindergarten students who are more inclined to exhibit “social competence” traits—such sharing, cooperating, or helping other kids—may be more likely to attain higher education and well-paying jobs. In contrast, students who exhibit weaker social competency skills may be more likely to drop out of high school, abuse drugs and alcohol, and need government assistance. This brief provides an overview and major findings from this study and implications for further action.
How the Study Worked
In the early 1990’s, kindergarten teachers from four Fast Track Research Project locations—Durham, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., Seattle, Wash. and central Pennsylvania—rated the degree to which a cohort of 753 kindergarteners demonstrated social competence skills in their classroom interactions using an eight-point scale. The children were evaluated on capabilities such as “resolves peer problems,” “listens to others,” “shares materials,” “cooperates” and is “helpful” on a 5-point scale from “not at all” to “very well.” Eight of these measures of social competence were averaged into a composite score for each child to represent the overall level of positive social skills and behavior they exhibited.
[For more of this story go to http://www.rwjf.org/en/library...ll-being-in-adu.html]
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