Reviews a study in which poverty level families received weekly visits by parent educator personnel from the time a child is born to guide the parents in home learning activities for the youngsters. Results indicate fewer youngsters from the program need special education when compared to a control group. (SL)

Presents examples of unique contributions of individuals at private foundations to the emergence and growth of scientific research on child and adolescent development. Discusses specific leaders of the Carnegie Foundation and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund to demonstrate how influential individuals can be in determining major…

Chapter 5 of "Education of Exceptional Children, a review of the literature for the 3-year period since the issuance of "REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, Volume 36, No. 1, February 1966.

Explores Maria Montessori's notion that a young child's brain is significantly different from an adult's and that young children develop according to a series of predictable "sensitive periods." Cites numerous empirical studies that support these and other ideas Montessori postulated without the advantage of sophisticated scientific…

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A CHILD'S SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS AND HIS DEVELOPMENT WAS STUDIED. A MAIN AREA OF CONCERN WAS CULTURAL DISADVANTAGE AMONG CHILDREN FROM LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS. THESE CHILDREN NOT ONLY FELL BEHIND IN BASIC SCHOLASTIC GROWTH, BUT ALSO RESPONDED MINIMALLY TO THE FUNCTION OF THE SCHOOL. THE BASIC PHILOSPHY OF THE…

The purposes of this paper are: (1) to identify uses of the term social competence for preschool and early school children, with origins directly in research, and (2) to formulate a definition of social competence reflecting consensus across three different research perspectives. From an ethnological perspective, social competence consists of…

The needs of children have not been major forces in shaping child development research; the pressures of such influences as war, violence and poverty on their lives have received little attention. Changes in the child development sciences have been linked primarily to changes within the discipline. Educational research has been no more relevant to…

Suggests the need for detailed study of (1) behavior-environment interactions and (2) interdependencies within behavioral repertoires. Examines systems theory as a paradigm for both interpreting dynamic interrelationships and examining the complexities of learning and adaption. Argues for noninterventive studies of individual children's…

This collection contains revised versions of 15 state-of-the-art papers and 7 commentaries given at the first conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE). Each article surveys a single field relating to contemporary educational research in New Zealand, including the aims, methods, and significance of the studies…