The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the Values Education Programme (developed for pre-school children) on the children's social skills, psycho-social development, and social problem solving skills. The sample group consisted of 66 children (33 experimental group, 33 control group) attending pre-school. The Values Education Programme…

The purpose of this study is to describe the peer-mentoring experience from the perspective of 16 master's students majoring in science or engineering at a research-oriented university in Taiwan. Utilizing a qualitative method of phenomenology, these mentees shared their views about their peer-mentors through in-depth interviews. Participants…

Recognizing the importance of both keeping middle school students engaged and improving their math skills, Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) developed a summer school STEM program involving not only math and science instruction but also the experience of building a robot and competing with those robots in a city-wide tournament.…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine what inspires or leads seventh-grade African-American girls toward an interest in STEM, to characterize and describe the context of an out-of-school STEM learning environment, explore the impact on the seventh-grade African-American girls who participated in the program as it relates to…

This study aims to evaluate the long-term outcome of Children's Friendship Training, a parent-assisted social skills intervention for children. Prior research has shown Children's Friendship Training to be superior to wait-list control with maintenance of gains at 3-month follow-up. Participants were families of children diagnosed with autism…

This paper reports the theoretical conceptualisation, statistical development, and application of an Implementation Index to evaluate the quality of implementation of the KidsMatter Primary school mental health initiative in Australia. Questionnaires were received from the parents and teachers of almost 5000 students, and also from KidsMatter…

One of the most urgent issues facing institutions of higher learning in the United States today is the problem of college student retention. The purpose of this article is to provide a theoretically and empirically supported argument for stating that there is one potent force for retention of college students that has been as yet largely unmined:…

Currently, outside forces create blocks that affect the quality and quantity of clinical experiences for pre-licensure nursing students. These limitations create an environment in which entry-level nursing students enter the workforce without a solid foundation in nursing concepts or in exposure to situations that they might encounter. To counter…

Social skills instruction is as important for many students with disabilities as instruction in core academic subjects. Frequently, students with autism require individualized social skills instruction to experience success in general education settings. Literacy-based behavioral Interventions (LBBIs) are an effective intervention that instructors…

For the past three years, SELF (Sports, Education, Life Skills, and Faith) has focused on improving academic, behavioral, and social skills of students at Key, Revere, and Meyerland middle schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Tutorials, an essay contest, character-building lessons, sports, a high-school bridge program, and…

This study investigated the expectations of gifted students for a science enrichment summer program held in Finland in 2011 and how these expectations were met. The students' expectations were studied by analyzing the answers of 1,935 camp applicants. Altogether, 4,348 expectations were identified through content analysis. The data showed that the…

Freda Briggs (2007), a leader in the field of child protection in Australia continues to raise concerns about the vulnerability and victimisation of boys that she believes is substantially under-recognised. She argues that boys have not been well supported by child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs with child protection curriculum not yet…

Background: The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a popular augmentative communication system frequently used with "nonverbal" children with autism. Several studies suggested that PECS could represent an effective tool for promoting improvement of several social-communicative skills. Only sparse evidence is instead…

Recent federal, state, and district policies that have mainstreamed English language learner (ELL) students into general, English-only elementary school classrooms have raised questions among educational stakeholders about the widespread effects of these policies. Most research has focused on the outcomes of ELL students; almost nothing is known…

Students who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) represent a heterogonous group with complex communication needs. AAC--including aided communication means (e.g., pictures, devices) and unaided (e.g., signs, gestures)--is often used to support students who have difficulties with speech production, language comprehension, and…