Mental health and developmental challenges that emerge in early childhood can be associated with difficulty in social interactions and behavioural regulation. With educational policies increasingly promoting inclusion in early learning settings, educators are being called upon to support children's social-emotional competence through…

Social skills instruction (SSI) provides a promising avenue for teaching and promoting positive social interactions to students with high-incidence disabilities. Within SSI, a distinction can be made between social skills and social competence. Social skills are specific behaviors one must perform correctly within a specific social context or…

The Anchorage (Alaska) School District has been committed to social and emotional learning (SEL) for the last 30 years. The district achieves SEL in three ways: (1) Climate: Creating a safe andrespectful learning environment; (2) Direct instruction: Using a variety of programs to deliberately teach the SEL skills students need to be successful…

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) III, the purpose of this commentary is to describe school-based and school-relevant interventions and instructional approaches for children and youth with autism that have been developed and employed during that time period. The commentary begins with a brief…

Distance learning offers a unique opportunity to individualize and personalize instruction and establish inclusive learning environments for the range of diverse learners in every district, school, and virtual classroom. Applying high-leverage practices (HLPs) to lesson design and delivery, both in-person and virtually, empowers educators to…

Student learning communities (SLCs) are more than just a different way of doing group work. Like the professional learning communities they resemble, SLCs provide students with a structured way to solve problems, share insight, and help one another continually develop new skills and expertise. With the right planning and support, dynamic…

It is understandable that misuse of the terms "specially designed instruction" (SDI), "high-leverage practices" (HLPs), "explicit instruction" (EI), and "intensive instruction"(II) has bred confusion among professionals, and this confusion may lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings in the field.…

"The Practice Base for How We Learn: Supporting Students' Social, Emotional, and Academic Development" outlines promising practices that show how students, teachers, parents, and administrators can integrate social, emotional, and academic learning in preK-12 education. The report, which represents the vision of the 34-member Council of…

This research article attempts to determine strategies that can be used to support children's cognitive and social-emotional development in early childhood care and education programs. By synthesizing empirical evidence about pedagogical techniques that promote children's competencies, the article aims to identify those characteristics of programs…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires state accountability systems to include indicators of "school quality and student success" along with indicators of academic outcomes. The new law provides an important opportunity for states to broaden the definition of student success to include measures of students' social-emotional, as…

In this article, the authors focus on issues of instruction in classrooms. Initially, a brief definitional and historic section is presented. This is followed by a discussion of four assumptions about the current state of affairs: (a) evidence-based practices should be identified and used, (b) children's phase of performance should dictate…

This brief synthesis provides a summary of intervention practices that are supported by empirical evidence for promoting adaptive social-emotional behavior of young children in group contexts (e.g., pre-K classrooms; child care settings). The focus of the synthesis is on toddlers and preschool children who are identified as having disabilities or…

Literacy skills are fundamental for all learners. For students who require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), strong literacy skills provide a gateway to generative communication, genuine social networking, improved access to academic opportunities, access to information technology and future employment opportunities. However, many…

Well-informed teachers of young children recognize the importance of children's social development. The development of social skills lays a critical foundation for later academic achievement as well as work-related skills. Social development is such a key issue with young children that a number of methods to address social skills have been…