Many studies have established that there are important life-long benefits of attending pre-K. At the same time, recent research suggests that pre-K attenders may enter and exit kindergarten exhibiting less optimal social and learning behaviours than their non-attending peers, and little attention has been paid to what factors may contribute to…

Although academic benefits of pre-K are well established, the associations between pre-K attendance and social and learning behaviours are less clear. Some research suggests that pre-K attenders may enter and exit kindergarten exhibiting less optimal social and learning behaviours than their non-attending peers, and little attention has been paid…

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are increasingly used in clinical and school settings to promote psychological and social-emotional well-being among youth. However, the precise role of youth-animal relationships in shaping developmental trajectories is understudied. Research is needed to expand human-centric models of child development,…

Significant socioeconomic disparities exist across the neighborhoods where children grow up today, which may exacerbate inequities in children's educational opportunities (Leventhal et al., 2015; Leventhal & Dupere, 2019; Mijs & Roe, 2021; Reardon et al., 2018). Prior research documents associations between neighborhood socioeconomic…

The research-to-practice gap describes the well-documented phenomena of researchers and practitioners working in silos, embedded in vastly different contexts. This "cultural divide" has several causes, including ineffective collaboration, inadequate understanding of context, and insufficient dissemination and translation of research.…

Background: Early childhood is a formative period during which distinguishable development has projections of bearing desirable outcomes within an individual. Hence, physical, language, cognitive, emotional and social independence are healthy components of a typical child's development that early childhood development (ECD) educators deem…

Sexuality education is an essential part of a comprehensive curriculum for individuals with disabilities as emerging adults. Lack of socio-sexuality education for individuals with disabilities has been linked to limited resources and training for teachers/personnel, and restrictive attitudes. The present study examined the effectiveness of the…

School readiness includes a range of competencies and is influenced by both parental beliefs and teacher perceptions. Despite its significance, only a small number of states have an established definition of school readiness, which raises questions about how well stakeholder understandings align and the effectiveness of parental activities in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for people, including young children. This study focuses on how teachers and parents foster children's prosocial behaviours during online learning amidst the pandemic. Data were sourced from 100 articles on WeChat Official Service/Subscription Accounts (WOSA) -- a popular Chinese social…

Chinese international graduate students (CIGs), growing up without siblings, under China's One-Child policy, are particularly impacted by peer dynamics. This study explored the influence of peer dynamics and family structure on the academic motivation of CIGs in the U.S., using Bandura's self-efficacy theory as a framework. A single-case study…

Background: The implicit learning deficit hypothesis claims that impaired implicit learning underlies deficits in social-communicative abilities associated with developmental language disorder (DLD). However, previous research testing this hypothesis revealed inconsistent results and largely used process-impure sequential learning tasks. Aims:…

Maternal depression is a global public health concern with far-reaching impacts on child development, yet our understanding of mechanisms remains incomplete. This study examined whether parenting mediates the association between maternal depression and child outcomes. Participants included 841 rural Pakistani mother-child dyads (50% female).…

Schools that make an effort to promote social-emotional learning, character growth, and joyful learning may question whether and how to measure the effectiveness of such efforts. Yet, as Madora Soutter explains, measurement is an important way to ensure that all students, including those who are frequently marginalized, feel emotionally supported…

Ingroup favoritism influences third-party norm enforcement: Third-party punishers are more lenient when an ingroup member has been unfair. By contrast, in 2-party contexts, where punishers are the victims of unfairness, group bias effects are absent or inconsistent. Thus, group bias appears to be particularly influential when enforcing fairness…

Homeschooling is on the rise in many Western countries, reflecting families' growing preference for teaching their children at home, in a family environment. This increasing trend has a social derivative, as learning at home may develop alternative competencies. The objective of this research is to examine the effectiveness of homeschooling by…