Obradovic will explore how school teachers can promote students’ ability to regulate their own attention and behavior (i.e., executive function skills). Such skills have been linked to academic and social competence, and Obradovic wants to explore (1) how different aspects of classrooms relate to children’s executive functions (EFs), (2) whether children’s physiological reactivity moderates the effects of classrooms on children’s EFs, and (3) whether EFs mediate or moderate classroom effects on academic achievement. She will be mentored by Robert Pianta, the Novartis Professor of Education at the University of Virginia, and Deborah Stipek, the I. James Quillen Professor of Education at Stanford University. The mentors will help Obradovic learn how to conceptualize and measure various dimensions of classrooms and to measure physiological reactivity in classroom settings.
How can elementary school teachers promote children’s ability to self-regulate their attention and behavior?
