This book surveys different aspects of childhood in the United States during its first 200 years. The first chapter surveys trends in immigration, mortality and health, education, and income. Chapter 2 is an historical review of family behavior. In Chapter 3, child health services over the last 200 years are reviewed including early policy and…

The Psychoeducational Profile (PEP) offers a developmental approach to the assessment of autistic and psychotic children as well as children with related learning disabilities. Scores obtained are used in the planning of individualized special educational programs for these children. Most appropriately used with children functioning at a preschool…

An examination of the influence of early bilingualism (German and Italian) on personality, social behavior, perception, and linguistic competence of four- to six-year-old Italian preschoolers (N=65) found no significant differences in social behavior, but some differences in terms of self-confidence, self-control, memory, and oral skills. (CB)

Linguistic cohesion involves the semantic and syntactic relationships that link sentences together. Research on linguistic cohesion is related to readability and to developmental and ability-level issues in reading/writing. Instructional strategies for low-ability readers/writers include predicting comprehension problems through cohesion analysis…

Examination of six one- and two-parent families reveals the following: (1) members of the same family have different perceptions of family experiences, including divorce and its impact on family relationships; (2) single parents seem to become closer to their children than do married parents; and (3) a one-parent two-sibling family differs from a…

How Czechoslovakians are trying to deal with the problem of educational failure and pupils' under-achievement in the elementary grades is discussed. For examples, a new comprehensive kindergarten system has been introduced, child development is carefully analyzed at the pre-school level, special educational classes are provided, and leisure clubs…

Identifies negative public and professional attitudes that lie beneath the contemporary negative image of quality child care. Argues that concepts and principles of marketing are appropriate for influencing parents to choose high quality services and helping ensure that supplementary care is of sufficient quality to enhance, not inhibit, the…

The purpose of this article is to suggest some ways in which researchers can make their work more useful to policymakers. Policy research is more than "applied" research. It is designed to answer questions about what "actions" will or will not be effective in dealing with the problem studied, not just to understand the antecedents or consequences…

The author of this article examines two powerful metaphors that have shaped the way people have thought about young children over the past 75 years or so, and argues that these two models are off base. These metaphors are "The Wild Child" and "The Little Scientist." The earlier of these two metaphors is that of the Wild Child, which hearkens back…

These hearing transcripts present testimony on removing barriers that may impede the successful integration of Head Start with other programs that serve to prepare disadvantaged children for success. It begins with the prepared statements of Honorable Michael N. Castle, Chairman, Subcommittee on Education Reform, Committee on Education and the…

Although the FPG Child Development Institute's primary mission is to generate new knowledge, this research is in the service of a higher goal: child and family well being. This goal is distilled in their tag line: "Advancing knowledge, enhancing lives." This phrase is not just a tag line--it encapsulates 40 years of striving to be an…

Recently, policy makers have begun to insist on evidence showing whether public investment in programs for children has achieved its desired results. No longer will it be sufficient to show that programs are meeting established standards for practice or that families are satisfied with services. Data are needed to show that services are effective.…

This report compiles the proceedings from the third national forum of the Canadian Child Care Federation, held in November 2001, which provided an opportunity for early childhood educators, practitioners, and researchers to share knowledge, learn from each other, and network with colleagues. The agenda included 4 keynote speeches, 30 workshops on…

This issue of "The Future of Children" examines whether programs implemented by the federal welfare reform law accomplished the goal of reducing the number of children growing up in poor, single-parent families and whether these programs benefited children. This examination coincides with debates in Congress on the reauthorization of the…

The term "socioeconomic gradient" is often used to describe the relationships between social outcomes and socioeconomic status (SES) for individuals in a specific community. In research on child development the social outcome is typically a measure describing cognitive ability, health, behaviour, social skills, or personality traits.…