Rate My Professor Steven Howard

Professor Steven Howard is a Professor in the School of Education at the University of Wollongong, appointed in 2024. He previously served as Associate Professor in the Early Start Research Institute and School of Education. From 1 June 2021 to 31 December 2023, he was Head of Postgraduate Studies in the School of Education. Howard earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Developmental Psychology from the University of York. Drawing on his expertise in developmental and educational psychology, he contributes to teaching and supervision in the School of Education.

Howard's research centers on the development of self-regulation and executive functions in early childhood, their malleability through interventions, and their longitudinal prediction of academic achievement, health, and mental well-being outcomes. Notable publications include the meta-analytic review 'Self-regulation in childhood as a predictor of future outcomes: A meta-analytic review' (cited by over 1,100), 'Early self-regulation, early self-regulatory change, and their longitudinal relations to adolescents’ academic, health, and mental well-being outcomes' (cited 128 times), 'Self-Regulation and Executive Function Longitudinally Predict Advanced Learning in Preschool' (cited 69 times), 'Do aspects of social, emotional and behavioural development in the pre-school period predict later cognitive and academic attainment?' (cited 67 times), and 'Test anxiety in primary school children: A 20-year systematic review and meta-analysis' (2023, cited 88 times). He developed the Early Years Toolbox for assessing executive functions and the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) for supporting early self-regulation. Howard received an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship in 2023 ($1,224,361) for 'Unravelling Early Self-Regulation: A Longitudinal Study'. He is a member of the ARC College of Experts and leads research at Early Start.