Pretend play may be beneficial for young children's social development. However, empirical results to date are inconsistent and limited, which is partly due to a lack of psychometrically sound measures for children's social pretend play competence. The current study aimed to compare and validate different assessment methods for children's social…

The goal of this study was to investigate children's descriptions and evaluations of their reasons for leaving others out of a peer group. A total of 84 children (divided into 7-, 11-, and 17-year-old age groups) provided a narrative account of a time they excluded a peer and were subsequently asked to evaluate their reasons for exclusion. With…

The recent increase in the availability of infant-directed video material (e.g., "Baby Einstein") and the corresponding increase in the amount of time that infants and toddlers spend viewing them have prompted concern among parents and professionals that these media might impede aspects of cognitive and social development. In contrast, supporters…

A primary purpose of early childhood education and interventions is to promote children's acquisition of knowledge and skills linked to later social competence and academic success. In this report, special attention is given to summarizing what has been learned about early childhood classrooms as contexts for development and learning, the kinds of…

The relationship between substantive arts involvement and social, cognitive, and artistic development is positive. Little is known about arts integrated within special education services to improve academic, cognitive, and social skills. We examined arts-based work and its impact on education of students with disabilities. During Study I, we…

The article reviews work conducted on the assessment and training of social skills in learning disabled individuals, outlining cognitive social skills and overt social behaviors that should be included in interventions, and discussing assessment techniques (such as behavioral observation codes and sociometric techniques). (CL)

A model for viewing adolescent psychosocial development is outlined and used as a framework for reviewing literature. The model assumes that basic changes in adolescents' biological, cognitive, and social capacities reciprocally interact with the social settings of the family, peer group, and school/work to influence transformations in six areas…

Rating scales, developed by the Southeastern Day Care Project, for evaluating the progress of children in day care centers and family day care homes are provided, together with interpretations and examples. The forms are for rating infants, two-year-olds, three-year-olds, and four- and five-year-olds. The Infant Rating Form is broken into segments…

Early evidence from an evaluation of the Child and Family Resource Program (a Head Start demonstration) suggests that this program influences parent-child interaction in ways that promote children's social and cognitive development. (Author)

This policy brief explores kindergarten readiness observation and its benefits to local and state level stakeholders; highlights efforts by California counties and other states to measure school readiness; and makes recommendations for moving toward statewide use of kindergarten readiness observation tools. Key points include: (1) Early efforts to…

In an effort to provide on a continuous basis information on the growth and development of Detroit's preschool students, a procedure for "Preschool Progress Reports" was implemented. The procedure requires teachers to record classroom observations of all students' skills three times during the school year on preprinted scan sheets, which…

Evaluative intervention research studies in pretend play are investigations that examine the potential of imaginative play in young children to demonstrate a relationship between play and cognitive, social, and emotional growth. A review of the research indicates that children who engage in imaginative play yield higher test scores than those in…

Aspects considered include cognitive and social development, the preschool prediction of learning disabilities, patterns of environmental processes in learning disabilities and mental retardation, environmental disadvantages, and biological determinants. (Author/DLS)

This methodological report documents the design, development, and psychometric characteristics of the assessment instruments used in the third grade data collection of the ECLS-K. The instruments examined include those developed to measure cognitive and socioemotional development. In addition, issues in analyzing longitudinal measures are…

Measures of quality are now in widespread use across states as part of quality improvement initiatives. For example, many states are currently using global measures of quality that were first developed for research and practice purposes (such as the Environmental Rating Scales) in their Quality Rating Systems (QRSs). Although global quality…