Involving families in their children's education is not only a legal requirement in special education, it also predicts academic achievement, social and emotional development, and a variety of other positive school outcomes for all children. Unfortunately, school-home relationships often have been ignored or underdeveloped. Disconnections between…

Evidence suggests that the neurological substrate of emotional behavior is lateralized by brain hemisphere early in life. A study examined the emotional expressions of preterm infants, some of whom had unilateral periventrical echodensities (PVE), as a model for addressing this issue. The study population of 25 preterm infants was videotaped at 3…

This document provides an annotated list of early childhood screening and assessment instruments in common use by early childhood assessment specialists or listed in current catalogs of major test publishers. No evaluation of instruments on technical or practical merit is included; inclusion or exclusion of a particular instrument should not be…

The U.S. National Education Goals were enacted into federal law in 1994 as the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act." The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin is addressing the first of these goals, which states that by the year 2000 all children will enter school ready to learn. This paper…

Noting that the physical and mental growth of children are influenced by many environmental and familial factors, this paper explores improving the well being of children. The first part of the paper discusses child rearing, emphasizing three fundamental themes: creating an environment where children are born healthy and wanted; helping children…

Although public acceptance of Head Start is high, public understanding of what the program does remains limited. Studies of Head Start to date have been insufficient in quantity and scope. In November 1994, the Roundtable on Head Start Research began a series of discussions of new directions for Head Start research. The roundtable looked at…

The aim of this study was to construct and validate a biographical inventory to measure personality traits that are predictive of leadership. The experimental inventory, consisting of tentative scales for Dominance, Emotional Stability, Need for Achievement, Self-Confidence, and Sociability, was administered to 642 incoming midshipmen at the Naval…

Psychologists and educators have struggled to understand the devastating influence of racial intolerance on children, on their personality development, and on their academic growth. The emotional and cognitive elements that underlie racial intolerance, along with its theoretical underpinnings, are examined in this paper. It is believed that five…

This monograph contains the conference proceedings of the 1996 conference of the Society for the Advancement of Gifted Education (SAGE). The major focus of the conference was to explore "state-of-the-art" knowledge regarding social-emotional development, thinking skills, philosophy, First Nations education, creativity, counselling techniques,…

A product evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan School District's state-funded prekindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds (Michigan Early Childhood Education Preschool, or MECEP) was conducted in 1992-93. The Piaget-based program, which served approximately 279 children at 8 elementary schools, involves 7 component areas: cognitive,…

A product evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan School District's state-funded prekindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds (Michigan Early Childhood Education Preschool, or MECEP) was conducted in 1993-94. The Piaget-based program, which served approximately 280 children at 9 elementary schools, involves 7 component areas: cognitive,…

A product evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan School District's state-funded prekindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds (Michigan School Readiness Program, formerly Michigan Early Childhood Education Preschool, or MECEP) was conducted in 1994-95. The Piaget-based program, which served approximately 302 children at 9 elementary schools,…

This book looks at children's early development through what are called "touchpoints": times just before a surge of rapid motor, cognitive, or emotional development when, for a short time, children regress in several areas and become difficult to understand. Part 1, called "Touchpoints of Development," is organized around the…

This guide presents an advisory program for middle schools. The program is designed for groups of 10 to 15 students meeting twice a week; the advisors should be adults from within the school (teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, etc.). The program has four goals: (1) to promote students' sense of belonging within the school; (2) to…

This study examined parenting styles reported by middle-class families of 105 preschoolers between 3 and 5 years of age who had experienced varying amounts of full-time infant child care. Children had experienced one of the following conditions: (1) full-time nonparental care beginning before 9 months of age; (2) full-time nonparental care…