Imai-Matsumura, KyokoSchultz, David2021-06-142021-06-142021-05-25Imai-Matsumura, Kyoko; Schultz, David; Development of the START Program for Academic Readiness and Its Impact on Behavioral Self-regulation in Japanese Kindergarteners; Early Childhood Education Journal, 25 May, 2021; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01213-1https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01213-1http://hdl.handle.net/11603/21740The “first-grade problem” of the lack of concentration, listening, and following of instruction has been widely identified among Japanese kindergarten students. To promote their executive functioning and self-regulation to prevent this issue, we developed the Social Thinking and Academic Readiness Training (START) program. The experimental group in which the program was implemented contained 79 children (average age = 73.22 months), and the standard practices group contained 70 children (average age = 72.91 months). Before and after the intervention, the children underwent tasks to test their behavioral self-regulation and executive function (working memory). For behavioral self-regulation, a significant interaction occurred between condition (experimental and standard practices) and time (pre- and post-test), suggesting that these 6 START lessons promoted self-regulation. However, no effects were found on either auditory or visual memory. Teacher reports in surveys were consistent with the executive functioning outcomes, reporting improvement in children’s concentration, listening, and self-regulation skills.12 pagesen-USThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Text