We all have a sense of evil, but many of us do not ponder its nature or the ways in which our beliefs about evil shape what we teach and learn about the actions of citizens in historical or contemporary times. We argue that the word and concept of evil can be detrimental to the development of good citizens when it is used as a political and…

Three studies examined the communication of naïve theories of social groups in conversations between parents and their 4-year-old children (N = 48). Parent-child dyads read and discussed a storybook in which they either explained why past social interactions had occurred (Study 1) or evaluated whether future social interactions should occur…

Administrators and teachers face changes prompted by the shift to Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) offers a promising approach to supporting students in mastering new content standards, while also offering experiences that promote their sociopolitical…

Attending to the academic and social/emotional developmental needs of students has and continues to be a significant challenge for teachers and relatively little research examining the impact of teacher empathy exists. Empathy is an important skill for educators to facilitate the creation of a positive learning environment with students and…

Relationships between exposure to preschool education and children's academic and social outcomes have been documented in Western countries. There is a lack of comparable research in China, where preschool education is relatively formal, but rather flexible in arrangement. We conducted research at six public kindergartens in a large Chinese city…

Marriage is on the decline. Men and women of the youngest generation are either marrying in their late twenties or not marrying at all. Childbearing has also been postponed, but not as much as marriage. The result is that a growing proportion of children are born to unmarried parents--roughly 40 percent in recent years, and over 50 percent for…

This paper reviews the current literature on twice-exceptional students who are dual diagnosed as having giftedness and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This area of research is warranted because giftedness and ADHD present similarly but have different ramifications for performance and outcomes. In addition, research inquiry and…

Background: Mothers of young children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) and other disabilities (DD) have been reported to experience high levels of stress. This investigation examined the effects of parental stress on mother's participation in a Relationship Focused intervention (RFI). Methods: Mothers and young children who had either…

This article describes education solutions to child poverty. Through a focus on New Zealand, the article explores the meaning of child poverty, children's perspectives on child poverty and solutions, and modalities in citizenship, social and economics education to help address child poverty. Four modalities are proposed: centre our work in…

This study evaluated the extent to which developmental change in coordination of social communication in early infancy differentiates children eventually diagnosed with ASD from those not likely to develop the disorder. A prospective longitudinal design was used to compare nine infants at heightened risk for ASD (HR) later diagnosed with ASD, to…

In the past twenty years there has been a proliferation of targeted school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions. However, the lived experience of young peoples' participation is often elided, while the potential for interventions to confer unintended and even adverse effects remains under-theorised and empirically…

This study explores how motivational factors are associated with Taiwanese college students' cognitive, personal, and social development by incorporating both relatively global, static self-attributes, such as social-oriented achievement motivation and individual-oriented achievement motivation, which are considered to be culturally balanced…

In 2003-2007, the government of Uganda through the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), under the umbrella of UPHOLD and in Partnership with USAID, introduced cooperative learning as a "student-centered teaching approach" in some selected districts and schools in Uganda. This dissertation explored the current state and practice of…

Student success is at the center of successful regional engagement. Thus, the relationship between institutional outreach through the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) "stewards of place" paradigm and meaningful student participation in the effort is fundamental to the success of regional engagement. The…

The literature indicates increasing evidence showing the benefits of classroom-based, universal preventive interventions for mental health and the link between social and emotional learning and academic performance. The FRIENDS program has been extensively tested and has showed promising results not only for preventing childhood anxiety, but also…