The embedment of soft skills into education programs in higher education is closely related to the curriculum philosophy brought by the respective institutions. The soft skills are embedded through understanding belief systems and practices among the teacher trainers. Furthermore it provides an insight into the curriculum philosophy on how to…

Background: Peer relationships improve for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in clinic-based social skills groups but rarely generalize to real world contexts. This study compares child outcomes of two social skills interventions conducted in schools with children in Kindergarten through fifth grade. Method: Children with ASD were…

Background: Consistent with evidence from high-income countries (HICs), we previously showed that, in an informal peri-urban settlement in a low-middle income country, training parents in book sharing with their infants benefitted infant language and attention (Vally, Murray, Tomlinson, & Cooper, [Vally, Z., 2015]). Here, we investigated…

Most of the time, infants start life with all of the bioneurological- sensory resources and social/emotional readiness to begin their journey toward learning how to relate to their closest family members and, eventually, people in their wider world. Attachment, bonding, security, and an emotional home with significant, consistent caregivers are…

The importance of so-called noncognitive skills--which include abilities and traits such as critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, social skills, persistence, creativity, and self-control--manifests itself in multiple ways throughout life. This policy brief, which focuses on a set of skills that can and should be taught in schools, is…

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or Global Goals) and their associated targets set out by the United Nations in 2015 explicitly seek to address some of the largest challenges facing children around the world. Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions have been found to improve adult health and education levels, reduce crime, and…

The confluence of the agreement on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or Global Goals) in 2015, and the increased attention being paid to the role of non-traditional actors in contributing to shared prosperity, provide a unique opportunity to focus attention on attempts to identify promising new solutions to the barriers that impede the full…

Staff and student surveys at Lane Elementary School (pseudonym) confirm that students lack motivation to complete class work and often struggle to interact appropriately with one another. Similar concerns are reported across the United States as indicated by national Gallup Poll results on student motivation, peer relationships, and feelings of…

This research brief provides highlights from the full report (published separately) which analyzes construct and predictive validity of a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competency Survey. Students' SEL skill ratings were correlated with other measures of SEL skills and other outcomes of interest. A separate executive summary also was…

This study seeks to describe the socio-educational afterschool intervention programme run by a drop-in centre to fight poverty, strengthen and build resilience in families and school microsystems. Indigenous psychology is used as a theoretical lens to understand the school, family and community response to contextual challenges and how resilience…

Positive results for children with ASD in the areas of language and communication skills have been shown through the use of storybook reading. Shared storybook reading promotes the growth of language and social participation, two core deficits for children with ASD. This article describes strategies that can be implemented to enhance interactions…

Speech-/language-impaired (SL)-children face problems in school and later life. The significance of "non-cognitive, social-emotional skills" (NCSES) in these children is often underestimated. Aim: Present study of affected SL-children was assessed to analyse the influence of NCSES for long-term school education. Methods: Nineteen…

Family processes and parenting practices help explain developmental differences between children in low- versus higher-income households. There are, however, few studies addressing the question of: what are the key family processes and parenting practices for promoting low-income children's growth? We address this question in the present study,…

This three-phase, two-method qualitative study explored and identified policies, programs, and practices that school-site administrators perceived as most effective in reengaging at-risk students emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively at 10 California Model Continuation High Schools (MCHS). Eccles' expectancy-value theoretical framework was…

One hundred fifty preservice teachers and 25 in-service teachers were surveyed to examine whether mental representations of relationships, confidence about managing bullying, empathy toward victims, and emotional expressiveness were associated with their peer victimization-related beliefs. Teachers' confidence about managing bullying was…