In Australia and many other countries, the provision of the healthiest possible start in life for all children has been a priority for government. Evidence to support the importance of the early years for future development has accumulated over the past two decades [1]. Patterns of childhood development predict health, wellbeing, learning and…

Head Start has stood as the largest and longest-running early childhood care and education government program in the United States for nearly four decades--and one of the most heavily researched. Yet, despite evidence of both short- and long-term benefits, debate lingers over how effective it is at achieving its primary goal of improving the…

Bullying continues to be a pervasive problem in schools and requires a schoolwide approach. This article describes the action research process used to examine the impact of a 4-year, K-5 school bullying prevention and intervention. The school counselors collaborated with students, staff, and parents to implement the program, and collected and…

Understanding disparities in school readiness among America's children when they begin kindergarten is critically important, now more than ever. In today's 21st century global economy, it is expected that the great majority of children will complete high school ready to enter college or begin a career, and assume their civic responsibilities. This…

The idea that classroom social ecologies are shaped by the aggregate effects of peers' prior care experiences is provocative, even though the evidence is weak that this explains the small and diminishing effect of childcare experience in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study. Small effects may indeed be small effects,…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Are there Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?" (J. Belsky, D. L. Vandell, M. Burchinal, K. A. Clarke-Stewart, K. McCartney, M. T. Owen, M. T., and The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network).…

Child Care Choices is an example of new early childhood research based on a relationship between policy makers and researchers. It is also an example of large-scale longitudinal team-based research into early childhood in Australia. The ongoing study addresses the professional problem for practitioners and policy makers of the increasing use of…

Reviews evaluation studies, box-score reviews, and meta-analyses on effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) conducted from the 1960s through 1980s, using student achievement as a dependent measure. Conclusions are drawn as to CAI's effectiveness with regard to social and academic achievement and a cost analysis of CAI is provided. (29…

In enhancing the social and academic outcomes of boys, positive teacher student relationships and quality pedagogy that is informed by key research-based understandings and knowledges about gender are positioned as central. The managerial rather than pedagogical focus that is currently characterizing schools in Queensland (Australia), where the…

For six years, the Project on High Performance Learning Communities, in partnership with the Illinois Middle Grades Network, has been studying a network of 97 schools as they undergo restructuring based on the Carnegie Council's "Turning Points" visions. Preliminary findings show that high-quality, well-implemented reforms can contribute…

Young people are concerned with making and keeping friends, and they invest a great deal of energy in group social life to do so. This book charts the interactions of young people both in and out of school and the role of peers and friends in strengthening social attachments and in establishing social identities. It describes how social identities…

Children whose temperamental traits are significantly different from the average risk abuse or neglect from parents who do not recognize this "differentness" as legitimate expressions of individuality. This paper discusses how parents can learn to cope with "difficult" or temperamental infants, by explaining the work of the…

The Ypsilanti Curriculum Demonstration Project (CDP) was designed to address the question of whether some approaches to compensatory preschool education for economically disadvantaged children were more effective than others under controlled experimental conditions. The CDP examined the effects of three preschool curriculum models on children's…

This paper presents an evaluation of a 3-year Title III project carried out in the Vigo County School Cooperation, Terre Haute, Indiana. The project involved the evaluation of three differing instructional methodologies utilized in three elementary schools which also differed in the socioeconomic background of the students. The Dixie Bee school,…

Considers the problems inherent in researching changes in social values and individual perspectives among selected age groups. Asserts that studies aimed at researching both aspects need to be organized as longitudinal studies. Utilizes data taken from a study of East and West Berlin adolescents to reveal specific research problems. (MJP)