Various components of quality early childhood programs are detailed in the papers contained in this book. In the opening chapter, Mildred Dickerson and Martha Ross assess the current status of child care in the United States. Milly Cowles, in a chapter on curriculum, outlines the essential components of effective early childhood programs. Mac…

This 1984 study (1) estimated the more enduring benefits of a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) prevocational program for those who completed the program in 1979; and (2) identified the features of the CETA program that completers recalled as having contributed to these benefits. The 18-week CETA prevocational program was offered by…

High school teachers from across the nation are realizing that their schools could provide pre-engineering programs that allow students to explore their strengths and interests in engineering and engineering technology. To address this need, school districts across the nation are implementing pre-engineering courses into their curriculum. As…

This paper presents an overview of a systematic primary prevention program for promoting social competency in junior high school students, including a summary of goals, method, techniques, leadership requirements, and evaluation research. The Social Skills Training Program is described as a curriculum-based, small group program which teaches…

Social and affective objectives are being increasingly accepted as integral parts of the school curriculum. Generalization effects produced by a training program in classroom participation skills were analyzed for two classrooms of seventh-grade boys with reading, writing, and disciplinary problems. Subject, situation, and behavior variables were…

Designed to evaluate the progress of children who had gone through the Cincinnati Public School System Head Start Program as a means of getting some feedback about the long range impact of Head Start, this study compared referred Head Start, non-referred Head Start and non-Head Start groups of third grade school children on academic and social…

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" discusses family-based interventions and how they may have both direct and indirect effects. While the measurement of direct outcomes for a targeted group is important, a…

This final report discusses the activities and outcomes of a 3-year federally funded project that investigated the effectiveness of a collaborative teaming process to increase the academic achievement and social participation of elementary students with augmentative and alternative (AAC) needs who were members of general education classrooms. The…

This curriculum is the product of a project between the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the National Juvenile Detention Association to develop and implement a 40-hour, core training curriculum for line staff in education programs in juvenile confinement and custody facilities. The curriculum is primarily intended…

This paper reviews the effectiveness of music therapy in treating children with psychiatric and developmental problems. The clinical utility of music therapy is first evaluated by examining the foundational effects of music on affect and behavior. Next, the two broad approaches to music therapy, active and passive music therapy, are discussed.…

This action research project examined the impact of a program for improving age-inappropriate behaviors that interfere with personal and academic progress. A total of 69 students from 3 elementary classrooms and 2 speech therapy groups were involved in the research. The targeted population consisted of fourth and sixth graders; students with…

Faced with increasing concerns of educators, parents, and students regarding the lack of school discipline, this study evaluated a social skills program to reduce inappropriate behavioral incidents in urban middle and rural high school students. Students' inappropriate behavior, such as talking back, not preparing for class or not participating in…

Many children enter school demonstrating excessive aggressive and impulsive behaviors, causing classroom disruption and interpersonal conflict. This intervention was designed to help first graders achieve social competence through conflict resolution training, problem solving, and anger management techniques to reduce aggressive and impulsive…

This paper examines four studies, integrated into regular courses for the preparation of secondary school teachers at the University of Tuebingen (Germany), that assessed the effectiveness of an interaction laboratory to enhance social competence, as well as lecturing skills. The program involved formal instruction; symbolic modeling and…