This paper describes a training program--"Learning to Live Together"--for early childhood educators working with toddlers and preschoolers in daycare or nursery schools. The training aims to provide educators with (a) research-based "knowledge" on socio-emotional development, and on social "learning opportunities" offered by daily social and…

This paper gives an account of a project undertaken by a multidisciplinary team, which included an educational psychologist, advisory teacher and behaviour consultant, to help revise and improve a school's behaviour policy and practice. At the onset, the team spent a great deal of time consulting with the teachers, parents but, above all, the…

The current study examined whether both parents and therapists perceived changes in adaptive social behaviors in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following a summer treatment camp. Participants included 12 children (11 male, 1 female; 83% Caucasian; aged 3-7 years) diagnosed with an ASD who attended a 4-week summer camp designed to…

Early adversity, for example poor caregiving, can have profound effects on emotional development. Orphanage rearing, even in the best circumstances, lies outside of the bounds of a species-typical caregiving environment. The long-term effects of this early adversity on the neurobiological development associated with socio-emotional behaviors are…

Research on differential susceptibility to rearing suggests that infants with difficult temperaments are disproportionately affected by parenting and child care quality, but a major U.S. child care study raises questions as to whether quality of care influences social adjustment. One thousand three hundred sixty-four American children from…

"Economies in Transition" (hereafter EIT or EITs) are countries in the process of shifting from "command" to "more open", liberalized, free market economic systems. In addition to achieving major structural adjustments to their economies, the transformational process requires the introduction of a high degree of…

The present research examines the developmental outcomes of elementary-aged students engaged in student voice efforts. Using a case study of fifth-grade girls, the authors compare their experiences to research examining secondary school. The authors find marked similarities in the growth of agency, belonging, competence--the ABCs of youth…

Many African Americans are leaving high school prior to graduation and are entering college for the first time beyond the age of 30 years, a phenomenon that has an effect on school systems, the community, and society as a whole. The research problem addressed was the need to understand the experience of an increasing number of African Americans…

The past two decades have seen a transformation in youth programming toward a comprehensive positive youth development (YD) framework. Cool Girls, Inc., a YD program, focuses on improving girls' life chances by promoting positive behaviors and attitudes in multiple domains. These include self-concept, academic orientation, future orientation, and…

This research examined the factors promoting inclusion of young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in mainstream secondary schools, and noted high levels of behavioral difficulties in these pupils. The size of the secondary school, and the class size, impacted positively on the pupils with Autism, and the number of other pupils with…

The development of literacy skills is a crucial skill that all students are entitled to develop (Browder, Gibbs, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Courtade, Mraz, Flowers, in press). Currently limited research has been conducted on the acquisition of early literacy skills for students with significant disabilities (Browder, Mims, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell, & Lee,…

This ethnography drew on Vygotsky's (1986, 1978) sociocultural theory of development to understand social emotional learnings of young children. The unique K-8 span of circle group--coupled with intentional activities--provided the rich context for language and interactions between students. Examining a school with a mature philosophy and…

The selected study examined the long-term effects of the "Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP)," an elementary-school-based intervention designed to improve students' social skills and engagement. The study analyzed data on about 600 young adults who had been students in 15 public elementary schools serving high-crime areas in…

Coaching success is often defined in terms of won-loss records. However, the effort to operationalize more comprehensive strategies for examining coaching success, particularly the development of self-report measures, dates back three decades (e.g., Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1979). This project for developing the Coaching Success Questionnaire-2…

The Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) designed by Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise, and Brazelton (Tronick, E., Als, H., Adamson, L., Wise, S., & Brazelton, T. B. (1978). Infants response to entrapment between contradictory messages in face-to-face interaction. "Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 17", 1-13) has been used for…