Many young children exhibit aggressive and disruptive behaviors at early ages. However, while aggressive behaviors are normative and serve as a way to communicate needs in the midst of developing verbal abilities, continued disruptive behavior can lead to stable or increasing levels of behavioral dysregulation, oppositionality and aggression.…

Mixed-race children are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and it is essential that educators are aware of the unique experiences of this student population. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to examine the experiences of mixed-race students in relation to their racial identity formation, their social…

Head Start, a U.S. federally funded program, prepares children for school through early childhood intervention in social-emotional and cognitive arenas. This article describes program evaluation survey results from the past 5 years of an 18-year collaboration between a university graduate art therapy program and 8 Head Start centers. Graduate art…

Examined how aspects of social-emotional learning (SEL)--specifically, emotion knowledge, emotional and social behaviors, social problem-solving, and self-regulation--clustered to typify groups of children who differ in terms of their motivation to learn, participation in the classroom, and other indices of early school adjustment and academic…

The organizers of the Decade for Childhood have formulated Ten Pillars of a Good Childhood as basic requirements for an optimal childhood. The pillars can be used to analyze the quality of childhood in homes and nations, and to guide policies and practices related to the experience of childhood. In this article, the author shall illustrate, pillar…

Research Findings: This study examined processes of change associated with the positive preschool and kindergarten outcomes of children who received the Head Start REDI (REsearch-based, Developmentally Informed) intervention compared to usual practice Head Start. Using data from a large-scale randomized controlled trial ("N" = 356…

In this "FastFacts," a state's Department of Education requests information from the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) on how the research defines skills in social-emotional development, approaches to learning, and executive function, to inform planned revisions to the early childhood indicators of progress for children…

This study explored elementary school counselors' perceptions of working with students exposed to violent video games. Certified elementary school counselors participated in both an online survey and individual interviews, revealing their observations regarding elementary school children and the phenomenon of gaming. An emphasis was placed on…

Studies of learning are too frequently conceptualized only in terms of knowledge development. Yet it is vital to pay close attention to the social and emotional aspects of learning in order to understand why and how it occurs. How Students Come to Be, Know, and Do builds a theoretical argument for and a methodological approach to studying learning…

This 5-month qualitative case study investigated the social-emotional climate of one half-day kindergarten classroom by examining the role of the teacher in establishing and sustaining a classroom climate that nurtured the social-emotional lives of students. This case study asks: How and why did the teacher establish and sustain a classroom…

This paper discusses the relationship between education and crime from an economic perspective, developing a human capital-based model that sheds light on key ways in which early childhood programs and policies that encourage schooling may affect both juvenile and adult crime. The paper first discusses evidence on the effects of educational…

Parental distress and trauma affects the entire family, including the youngest children. Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS) is a targeted prevention program for high-risk families that aims to enhance family cohesion, support the parent-child relationship, and build emotional regulation, communication, and problem-solving skills across the…

This article reviews the contributions of the Oregon Resiliency Project, an effort to enhance positive social-emotional development of children and youth through social and emotional learning (SEL). The project was launched in 2001 as a collaborative effort between faculty and graduate student researchers at the University of Oregon. The primary…

The authors carried out an assessment of social support networks with a sample of 884 Spanish adolescents aged 12 to 17. The main goal was to analyze the development of the figures of parents and peers as providers of social support in the two basic dimensions of emotional and instrumental support. In peers, they distinguished between the contexts…

This research investigated the role of children's implicit theories of peer relationships in their psychological, emotional, and behavioral adjustment. Participants included 206 children (110 girls; 96 boys; M age = 10.13 years, SD = 1.16) who reported on their implicit theories of peer relationships, social goal orientation, need for approval,…