Contemporary culture has wrought profound changes--especially in the lives of children. In today's world, more than ever, schools need to think about what it takes to educate children to be psychologically healthy and of good character, to give them the tools that will enable them to find meaning in their lives both in school and after they…

The field of developmental psychology has produced abundant theory and research about the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of children; however, to date there has been limited use of this wealth of knowledge by developers creating games for children. This chapter provides an overview of key theoretical observations and…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a social-emotional learning curriculum, Strong Kids, for children at risk for begin referred for placement in emotional and behavioral support classrooms. Thirty-nine fourth- and fifth-grade students enrolled in an urban elementary school participated in the intervention. The results of this…

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…

With some 460 languages spoken across the land, the United States has a deep reservoir of linguistic diversity. But our nation's inconsistent language-learning policies and practices present a variety of obstacles for learning English. Understanding and then addressing student needs during the critical transition phase for newcomer students is an…

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a widely used teacher rating tool to assess kindergartners' developmental outcomes in Canada and a number of other countries. This paper examines the measurement invariance of EDI domains across ESL status and gender by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The results suggest evidence of…

The purpose of this multiple instrumental case study was to explore approaches of four high school instrumental music educators assuming the role of facilitative teacher in responding to challenges affecting the social and emotional well-being of their students. This study utilized the framework of social emotional learning as a lens to view the…

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…

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…

Children with autism may seem to not care about things or have the same range of emotions as those of us who see them and care for them. But they do have empathy and they can be taught how to communicate it, says the author, a teacher of children with autism. We simply need to listen to them, watch them, and be with them in their moment.

Presents Edward F. Diener as one of the winners of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions (2012). Edward F. Diener has been a leader in every aspect of well-being research. He provided an influential conception of well-being as consisting of cognitive and emotional elements. A citation, biography,…

The author argues that when the Labour Party has analysed its values emotional development has been neglected. He shows the importance of emotional literacy and uses education as a vehicle to show how Labour when in power reinforced right-wing ideology. Ways of changing education policy are indicated. It is hoped that this article will promote a…

Ross Thompson, PhD, responds to questions about the capacity of infants and toddlers to experience complex emotions and about how parents and caregivers can support early social and emotional development. He underscores the importance of allowing children to experience a wide range of emotions--including frustration and anger--as vital to their…