Head Start is a federally funded preschool program for poor children designed to help close the gap between those children and their more advantaged peers before they begin public schooling. Given that Head Start appears to have positive long-run impacts on its recipients, a natural and important next question to ask is: What are the channels…

The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scale has been shown to be a significant predictor of later cognitive outcomes in many cultures. Therefore identifying factors associated with HOME could be used to promote child development. Maternal psychological well-being is often overlooked although critical in the creation of…

Camps can increase campers' self-esteem through "I-Can't funerals," camper information forms, noncompetitive atmosphere, positive behavior management, Socratic rule deduction, camper selection of activities, public commendations, and de-emphasis of physical attractiveness. Effects on self-esteem are given for each suggestion. Sidebars…

A longitudinal study of first graders found that children had a more internal locus of control, were more optimistic, and scored higher on an effectance motivation measure at the end of first grade than at the beginning but attitudes and self-esteem did not change. Some changes were effected by SES and academic success. (AtuhorRD)

Resilience is the capacity of a person to do well facing difficult conditions in life. This implies capacities of resistance and of positive construction. Discovering the ways to contribute to resilience in children can begin with examination of resilient children. Research has suggested five interlinking bases for resilience: (1) social support…

Several decades of research has demonstrated that students' perceptions about the amount of control they have over academic successes and failures contribute significantly to school performance. This paper reviews research studies that have investigated locus of control and causal attribution in the school setting. Suggestions are made for…

Polish and Finnish high school students (n=352) from academic and vocational tracks reported on the future planning they did in different contexts and completed measures of self-esteem and control over the future. Findings suggest that future planning reflects general developmental patterns in both countries, while self-evaluation reflects…