Background: Within the same school class, it is usual to find children who differ in age by almost a full calendar year. Although associations between being relatively young and poor academic outcomes are well documented, and relatively consistent, the associations between being relatively young and psychosocial outcomes are less clearly…

Decades of research and practice in social and emotional development have left us with a body of knowledge that tells us that (1) social, emotional, and cognitive development are intertwined in the brain and in behavior and influence school and life outcomes; (2) social, emotional, and cognitive skills and competencies grow in supportive…

Experiencing a traumatic event can impact students' well-being and jeopardize their academic achievement and social-emotional health. A quarter of all students will experience a traumatic life event before they graduate from high school (Costello, Erkanli, Fairbank, & Angold, 2002), necessitating an understanding of how trauma affects students…

Problem behavior theory predicts that norm-violating attitudes and activities reflect syndrome. Findings from community sample revealed that criminal behavior was more determined by general deviance in adulthood than in young adulthood, whereas sexual involvement became less determined by common factors between these times. Drug use and low social…

In this study, we examine to what extent psychosocial student outcomes in primary school children vary between classes, and whether elements of teaching can explain some of this variation. Starting with a sample of 379 kindergarten children out of 24 classes, academic achievement and behaviour problems were assessed in 2 consecutive years.…

Sixty-one children, originally identified at the beginning of kindergarten on the basis of four distinct clusters of observable classroom behavior, were evaluated at completion of first grade. Children in the nonrisk cluster continued to do well, while children in the high-risk cluster were still doing poorly in some areas. (Author)

Used data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to model developmental trajectories across middle childhood. Found that individual trajectories were extremely diverse in level and sometimes in slope. Compared to girls, boys had heterogeneous slopes for math and behavior problems. Compared to boys, girls showed a significantly higher degree of…

Examined relation of 7-year olds' attachment representations to later behavior and academic competency during middle childhood and adolescence. Controlled for social class, gender, IQ, perspective-taking ability, and prior competency. Found that attachment representations did not predict disruptive behavior or extroversion, but secure…

The major advantage of criterion referenced tests (CRTs) over norm referenced tests (NRTs) is that CRTs yield specific information about student skills upon which educators can plan individualized instruction. Individual education with a strong emphasis on teaching students specific skills will be enhanced by the committed use of CRTs. (Author)

Addresses association between recent parental divorce and mental health outcomes in young adults aged 18-23. Half of those studied (n=485) had experienced parental divorce within 15 months of the interview; the other half had not. Comparison indicated that, at the bivariate level, parental divorce was associated with poorer mental health outcomes…

Examined contributions of different risk factors to predicting children's psychological and academic outcomes at end of first grade. Found that each analysis level contributed to prediction of most outcomes; 18 to 29% of outcome variance was predicted; a common set of predictors predicted numerous outcomes; ethnicity showed little unique…

Examined relations among maternal depressive symptoms, family discord, and adolescent psychological adjustment. Found that maternal depressive symptoms were related to subsequent adolescent depressive symptoms, conduct problems, and academic difficulties for girls but not boys. Girls' greater vulnerability to family discord accounted for the…

Written primarily for teachers who are expected or willing to invest significantly in the socialization role along with their other teaching roles, this report describes results of a classroom strategy study of how elementary school teachers cope with problem students. The report is divided into six parts. Part 1 discusses general principles and…

This study investigated the function of cooperation between parents and teachers, the needs of teachers and parents regarding cooperation, and the quality and form of cooperation that is most satisfactory to parents and teachers. Discussions generated by the investigation indicated that parents entertained widely differing opinions about school…

Reviewed construct of resilience and adaptation by measuring psychosocial functioning, self-esteem, academic performance, absence or low level of drug use, gang involvement, and delinquent activities among 877 at-risk youths. Found adjustment and low level of antisocial behavior as two latent constructs of resilience and adaptation. (Author/DLH)