Intervention efforts in turnaround elementary schools in the U.S. have focused on academic interventions, missing the important link between students' social emotional competence and academic outcomes. The current study describes implementation of a multi-tiered approach to support young students' social emotional competence in an urban turnaround…

Most U.S. classrooms serve students with various linguistic and academic needs. Tier-I universal approaches support English language learners (ELLs) without segregating them into a different track and thereby constraining future learning opportunities. The current study examines whether Word Generation (WG), a Tier-I discussion-based program…

This cluster-randomized pre-post comparison study examined the effects of using Sesame Workshop's Little Children, Big Challenges: General Resilience (LCBC) digital media toolkit in preschool classrooms over a 12-week period. Participants included 157 preschool teachers and 766 preschool children from 159 preschool classrooms in 38 Head Start…

The current study examines the relationship between bilingual children's dual language experience (i.e. language input, language output and vocabulary proficiency), and their social-emotional and behavioral skills. Data were analysed from 805 Singaporean bilingual preschoolers (ages 4; 1-5; 8 years), who are learning English and either Mandarin (n…

A student's 'meaning in life' and his/her connectedness to school, friends and family are believed to be factors that influence the development of life skills. Teachers could be aware of these factors in their endeavours to foster 'whole-person development' in their students. In this small-scale study, twelve secondary school teachers participated…

Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) is a relationship-based, collaborative support designed to improve the capacity of early childhood professionals to promote children's mental health. Social and emotional development is the foundation for success in learning and in life. It begins in children's early relationships with…

Measures of young children's social development are needed in the MultiTier System of Supports (MTSS) approach to early childhood. In 2004, we reported initial development of an observational measure of infants' and toddlers' social skills designed for early educators, the Early Social Indicator (ESI). Here, we report preliminary findings on the…

In this ethnographic research, discovery of how preschool-aged children use play to wield their individual power in the outdoors is documented in a single classroom. Embedded as a participant-researcher and working from constructivist and critical theory orientations, the researcher seeks to understand how children use their play to construct the…

Given the importance of social and emotional competence and confidence in early childhood, there has been growing attention on providing young children deliberate experiences to practice and acquire essential foundational skills for health and well-being. This article shares examples to illustrate how children can easily apply simple tools within…

Young children who enter school without sufficient social and emotional learning (SEL) skills may have a hard time learning. Yet early childhood educators say they do not get enough training to effectively help children develop such skills. In this article, Megan McClelland, Shauna Tominey, Sara Schmitt, and Robert Duncan examine the theory and…

Many interventions targeting cognitive skills or socioemotional skills and behaviors demonstrate initially promising but then quickly disappearing impacts. Our article seeks to identify the key features of interventions, as well as the characteristics and environments of the children and adolescents who participate in them, that can be expected to…

The present study investigated children's internal state language during play with their sibling and friend across early and middle childhood. Specifically, the category type of internal state language (e.g., cognitions and goals), referent (e.g., own and other), and associations with children's birth order were examined. A total of 65 (T1: Time…

Dialogue journals are a form of writing in which a student and a teacher carry on a conversation over time. This paper addresses the benefits of using dialogue journals for promoting a positive social-emotional learning (SEL) environment for children in school settings. Educators and researchers have increasingly acknowledged the importance of SEL…

There is a critical need for evidence-based, broadband behavioral, and ASD screening measures for use in pediatric and early educational settings to ensure that young children at risk for developing social-emotional disorders and/or ASD are provided with early intervention services to optimize long-term outcomes. The BITSEA is a 42-item screener…

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' attitudes regarding the development of socio-emotional skills of students in primary general schools and the implementation of programs concerning the development of these skills within the school context. Socio-emotional skills are of particular importance in children's lives, as they help to…