For the past decade, a diverse group of distinguished scientists has worked to translate complex research about early brain development into language that is scientifically accurate, highly credible, understandable to nonscientists, and useful to public decision makers. Across the United States and around the world, in both public and private…

Schools play a key role in child and youth development as both social microcosms of the broader society and reciprocally influencing people and communities. As such, schools can function as a protective factor that promotes safety, motivation, relationships, and support for positive student outcomes. However, schools may also function as a risk…

A significant number of young children exhibit challenging behaviors in preschool settings. A tiered framework of intervention has documented effectiveness in elementary and secondary schools, and recently has been extended to preschool settings. Although there is emerging research to support the effectiveness of Tier 1 (universal) and Tier 3…

This case study reflects upon the use of den-building as a research method to examine the emotional dimensions of children's school lives. It draws upon a collaborative ethnography conducted in a junior school (ages 7-11) where there was an explicit emphasis on the development of children's 'emotional skills'. Here, I focus upon the ways that…

This ethnographic study documents the ways four Indonesian-Muslim families who migrated to the United States used online digital telecommunication technology in socializing children into languages, literacy, and religion. Within the primary framework of language socialization, I used multiple theoretical lenses (i.e., transnationalism, cultural…

This report reviews and analyzes California policies that are designed to support early learning in children from birth through age five years. The analysis is limited to early childhood (EC) education-related programs and supports that are likely to directly affect children's cognitive and social development. The information in the report comes…

We all want Texas kids to have a bright future, but Texas is consistently ranked in the bottom ten states for child well-being. Texas decision makers must create policies that improve conditions for all Texas kids and put them on the road to success. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas ranks 43rd in overall child well-being (based on…

Research has previously shown a gap of near 0.5 of a standard deviation (SD) in cognition and language development between the top and bottom household wealth quartile in children aged 6-42 months in a large representative sample of low- and middle-income families in Bogota, using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. The gaps in…

The years from 3 to 6 are a time when children develop fundamental movement skills that are the building blocks for the functional movements they use throughout their lives. By 6 years of age, a typically developing child will have in place a full range of movement skills, including, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, climbing, throwing,…

The importance of pedagogic practices in addressing major social problems is increasingly acknowledged. This is especially so in areas of work not traditionally understood in pedagogic terms, such as services for vulnerable families with young children. Policy mandates for change in relationships between professionals and clients have challenged…

Secondhand tobacco smoke is considered a developmental neurotoxicant especially given underdeveloped vital systems in young children. An ecological test of its negative influence on brain development can be made by examining the prospective association between early childhood household smoke exposure and later classroom behavior. Using a…

Problem Statement: As a result of wars, starvation, traffic accidents, homicide, infectious diseases, insufficient adult protection, migration, and inadequate legal reforms the mortality rate of children has become a serious problem in the world. Protective health education contributes to a child's physical and social health. In this case, the…

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364), the present study supports an agentic perspective; it demonstrates that mothers' depressive symptoms in infancy predict children's poor first-grade cognitive functioning because depressive symptoms…

The current longitudinal study examined the role of cumulative social risk on children's theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) across early development. Further, we also tested a cascade model of development in which children's social cognition at 18 months was hypothesized to predict ToM and EF at age 4.5 through intermediary…

The purpose of this study was to find out how parents can contribute to the early reading development of children in a Grade R class. The research was conducted in a low-income area in the Cape Flats. To gain a deeper understanding of the parents' cultural values and aspirations when interacting with the Home-School Partnership Programme (HSPP)…