Accelerating the Boys and Girls Clubs to continued learning and growing in their practices is one key to transforming the young boys and girls which they serve. The purpose of this study was to examine the affects that the Boys and Girls Clubs have had on the membership and to utilize the information learned to endorse the Clubs work going…

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research on childhood trauma and its potential effects on the development of a child into adulthood. The findings of this research indicate that those who have undergone traumatic experiences might demonstrate effects in their behavior, interactions with others, management of stressful situations,…

Possessing sufficient social skills is a crucial aspect of child development. The level of social skill that a child has is a strong predictor of their future behavioral functioning and academic achievement. Due to the impact social skills have on a child's later life, having a better understanding of how to enhance social development is…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine and understand educators' perceptions of the community support offered to kindergarten students and their families by the partnership between the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium Robert B. Daugherty Education Center and Bancroft Elementary. These educators included those teaching or leading…

Many kindergarten teachers are feeling the effects of standard-based education. The problem is that it is unknown whether teachers implement mandated state standards in a developmentally appropriate way. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate kindergarten teachers' perspectives on implementing standards in a developmentally…

Skills such as identifying evidence, evaluating the credibility of information sources, analyzing complex historical and geopolitical issues from multiple perspectives, asking good questions, and forming and articulating a point of view are useful for succeeding in school and in life. Speech and debate training can help students learn and practice…

Children's poor social-emotional functioning has been an increasing concern prior to and amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Childhood and adolescence are critical stages of life where they acquire key cognitive and social-emotional skills that shape their future mental health. When a student's social-emotional health suffers, so do their relationships,…

The process of conducting child and adolescent psychoeducational assessments has changed over the past 2 decades (Shapiro & Heick, 2004). In the past, the school psychologists commonly concentrated on behavioral, achievement, and projective assessments and usually did not include systematic multi-rater observation rating scales of behavior.…

There are five developmental areas: gross motor, fine motor, communication, adaptive behavior, and social-emotional. If social-emotional skills are delayed, all other developmental areas are negatively impacted. Preschool-aged students are incapable of kindergarten readiness if they have a delay in social-emotional development as it impacts their…

The threat of an active shooter is something early childhood educators need to prepare for, but a literature review regarding active shooter drills indicated a gap in the research focused on the perceptions the early childhood educators. Using a conceptual lens based on developmentally appropriate practice and the developmental theories of Piaget…

Program-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PWPBIS), an early childhood extension of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), is a multi-tiered system of supports that has shown promise in fostering the social, emotional, and behavioral development of young children in preschool settings. The literature indicates…

The purpose of this mixed-method action research study was to support the asynchronous development of third-grade gifted students at GWE by identifying their key social and emotional needs and determining the outcomes of a differentiated SEL curriculum. The four most significant affective areas of social and emotional need as self-reported by the…

This dissertation investigates the critical role of social-emotional learning (SEL) in urban education through the lens of educators working in a diverse middle school setting in St. Louis, Missouri. With a focus on understanding educators' perceptions and experiences, this study aims to explore the effectiveness of SEL programs in addressing the…

This dissertation investigates the critical role of social-emotional learning (SEL) in urban education through the lens of educators working in a diverse middle school setting in St. Louis, Missouri. With a focus on understanding educators' perceptions and experiences, this study aims to explore the effectiveness of SEL programs in addressing the…

This dissertation investigates the critical role of social-emotional learning (SEL) in urban education through the lens of educators working in a diverse middle school setting in St. Louis, Missouri. With a focus on understanding educators' perceptions and experiences, this study aims to explore the effectiveness of SEL programs in addressing the…