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)Development of the START Program for Academic Readiness and Its Impact on Behavioral Self-regulation in Japanese KindergartenersText