The psychological literature on the development of gestures during the first year of life has been limited. It has mainly focused on the development of pointing at around 11 months of age, considering it "the" gesture that allows triadic interactions. However, recent studies have argued for the importance of earlier ostensive gestures…

Social justice development is likely influenced by a range of contextual experiences. We examined the ways in which emerging adult students' experiences with families, peers, and religious congregations were associated with their own social justice outcomes. Participants (N = 288; 65.4% = women) completed a survey of social justice attitudes,…

Problem solving is an important cognitive skill that children use to plan and navigate various developmental and social tasks. Although previous research was theory-grounded and systematic, to our knowledge, no research has observed and documented children's problem solving as a primary objective in naturalistic developmental contexts, such as…

Advantageous inequity aversion emerges relatively late in child development, yet the mechanisms explaining its late emergence are poorly understood. Here, we ask whether children begin to reject advantageous inequity, a costly form of fairness, once reputational concerns are in place. Specifically, we examine the role of peer monitoring in…

Are students coming to your class lacking focus, having difficulty connecting with you and their peers, falling behind, or acting out when you instinctively feel they could do better? Do you sometimes feel like you don't have the capacity as a teacher or school leader to give students the support they need to learn and thrive? This book makes the…

Ever wonder why teenagers are so quick to adopt Instagram, Snapchat, and other forms of social media? Or take up X Games sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding? This Alliance for Excellent Education report explains how changes in the brain make adolescents more likely to be influenced by their peers, take risks, and even become disengaged…

Persisting socioeconomic gaps in school readiness have inspired research examining aspects of the pre-K experience that could reduce these gaps. A strategy that deserves consideration is the socioeconomic diversity of classrooms. In this literature review, we use ecological theory as a framework to present outcomes of socioeconomic diversity in…

As American society has become increasingly aware of the plight of sex trafficked American children, attention has shifted from delinquency to victimhood (Mitchell, Finkelhor, & Wolak, 2010) with a corresponding awareness of the trauma that victims endure. This reconceptualization is incomplete without a larger understanding of the…

Research Findings: As policymakers expand access to preschool, the sociodemographic composition of preschool classrooms will become increasingly important. These efforts may create programs that increase the concentration of children from low-income families or, alternatively, foster the creation of socioeconomically diverse preschool classrooms.…

Over the past twenty years, economic conditions, deteriorating public support, governmental and societal demands for accountability, and greater numbers of students from historically underrepresented groups have increased pressures on colleges and universities to provide a meaningful education to students while meeting ever increasing expectations…

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…

Adolescence is a period of development particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol use, with recent studies underscoring alcohol's effects on adolescent brain development. Despite the alarming rates and consequences of adolescent alcohol use, gifted adolescents are often overlooked as being at risk for early alcohol use. Although gifted…

This article reviews research conducted on social comparison processes in the classroom since Festinger proposed his theory of social comparison. It covers the theoretical framework of social comparison theory, and it is organized around the following themes: motives for social comparison, dimensions of social comparison, direction of social…

Recent structural and functional imaging studies have provided evidence for continued development of brain regions involved in social cognition during adolescence. In this paper, we review this rapidly expanding area of neuroscience and describe models of neurocognitive development that have emerged recently. One implication of these models is…

A clustered randomized design was used in which 28 inclusive preschool classrooms were randomly assigned to receive 2 years of training and coaching to fidelity in the LEAP (Learning Experiences and Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Their Parents) preschool model, and 28 inclusive classes were assigned to receive intervention manuals only.…