The present 8-year longitudinal study had two goals. The first goal was to describe different trajectories of academic functioning during the transition to high school using a group-based trajectory method. The second goal was to determine if previous family and child characteristics (notably behavioural problems and prosociality) predict these…

Character includes the emotional, intellectual and moral qualities of a person or group as the demonstration of these qualities in prosocial behavior. Character education is an inclusive term encompassing all aspects of how schools, related social institutions and parents can support the positive character development of children and adults.…

This paper investigates the determinants and malleability of noncognitive skills. Using data on boys from the National Education Longitudinal Survey, I focus on youth behavior in the classroom as a measure of noncognitive skills. I find that student behavior during adolescence is persistent. The variation in behavior can be attributed to…

The study reports social-cognitive outcomes of interventions in a cluster-randomized school-based aggression prevention trial in low and moderate resource urban communities. Targeted social cognitions were aggressive responses, aggressive/prosocial fantasy, and normative beliefs supporting aggression. Participants were 1,484 early elementary…

This practicum was designed to reduce the instances of negative behavior exhibited by students in a special education setting. Various interventions were initiated and implemented, such as engaging students in conflict resolution workshops, involving student in extracurricular activities so as to help them use leisure time constructively, and…

The negative influences on children's development in war-torn Yugoslavia stimulated the development of The Good Will Classroom (GWC), an intervention program designed to promote tolerance, social responsiveness, assertiveness, and proactive behavior. This article describes the components and implementation of GWC, which is structured as…

This program is designed to assist teachers in remediating social behavior problems. The program is structured to provide for evaluation of circumstances surrounding the problem behavior, as well as assessment of the student's behavior at a level sufficient to remediate the problem. Twenty-three specific prosocial skills drawn from classroom…

Infants have definite personality characteristics from birth onward. Despite wide variation in infant temperament styles, ranging from easy to difficult, responsive parents and non-parental caregivers can ensure positive emotional-social development. This paper, which reviews various theories and research on personality development in infants and…

This book was written for educators at all levels and individuals who are concerned about making schools safe, orderly places. It offers guidelines to promote and increase peace in the schools. The introductory chapter, "Moving toward a Peaceable School," endorses the national commitment to violence-free, peaceful, and productive…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a program for improving social skills in order to increase cooperative behavior among elementary school students. The targeted students were from a fourth- and a sixth-grade classroom in a middle-class suburban community. The lack of social skills development interfered with positive…

This paper discusses the integration of peace education into early childhood education through the arts and humanities curricula, considering several pedagogical developments which indicate a more favorable climate for this integration, including: (1) aesthetic literacy programs, including peace museums and the role of children's literature; (2)…

This book is about managing a responsive classroom and teaching children to care. The aim of every chapter and technique is the creation of self-controls and community, defined as the capacity to care about oneself, others, and the world. The 16 chapter topics are: (1) goals of self-control and community; (2) techniques of the first 6 weeks of…

This annotated bibliography includes 438 selected references to books, journal articles, essays within edited volumes, and dissertations that provide significant information about peaceful societies. Peaceful societies are groups that have developed harmonious social structures that allow them to get along with each other, and with outsiders,…

This study reviews the literature on the social and behavioral characteristics of only children in China. Of 16 studies that reported differences in the characteristics of only and non-only children, only 2 indicated that only children exhibited more socially desirable behaviors than did non-only children. The remaining studies reported that,…

The view that values play a crucial role in how principals conceptualise and interpret school leadership is not new. However, very little of the research underpinning this view has been conducted in developing countries. Drawing on qualitative case study research into how principals in Jamaica conceptualise school leadership, this paper explores…