Results of a national longitudinal study (Sloan Study of Youth and Social Development) indicated that most high school students have a fairly rosy view of their future careers that does not match the economic reality. Many receive little career counseling in high school and enter college with little sense of direction, which may limit their career…

Character education often uses exhortations and extrinsic inducements to make children behave and work harder. Extrinsic rewards and awards erode intrinsically motivated behavior. Programs should answer five basic questions, avoid indoctrination, and provide students with opportunities to construct meaning around moral concepts and to change…

Service learning is a versatile, developmentally appropriate strategy that integrates public service into student instruction and connects the classroom with the surrounding community and the world. Service learning promotes personal, social, and emotional growth; develops a sense of civic responsibility; provides leadership opportunities; and…

Fifteen gifted students (grades 1-6) in a magnet school participated in phenomenological interviews. The students described the social milieu of the school as the backdrop for the meaning of the experience of attending the school. Four themes emerged across magnet school experiences, others, role, personal development, and time. (Contains…

Asserts that play is an important medium for young children's learning, one that contributes to the child's cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development. Discusses the qualities that distinguish play from other activities, the skills children develop from exposure to a variety of play experiences at home and in the classroom, and…

Followed from infancy to age 7 internationally adopted children placed before 6 months. Found that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament related to higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Attachment security and maternal sensitivity…

Examined peer group contextual effects on relations between academic achievement and social functioning among Chinese 9-, 13-, and 16-year-olds. Found that peer groups were highly homogeneous on academic achievement. Academic achievement and social adjustment were associated at within-group individual and group levels. Group academic performance…

Reviews the developmental and psychosocial characteristics of the increasing number of school-aged persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Educational ramifications of these characteristics and strategies for providing safe teaching and learning environments are presented. (DB)

Studied adolescent personal and interpersonal characteristics, including social competence and thoughts on friendship and romantic interests during a camp reunion. Found that concurrent interest in relationships is a stronger predictor of social competence for participants with anxious histories, although participants with secure histories were…

Identified resilient, overcontrolled, and undercontrolled personality types among 7-year-old children. Found that resilient children, throughout adolescence, had higher academic achievement and fewer concentration problems and they more quickly developed a sophisticated understanding of friendship and an internal locus of control than the other…

Addresses the concern that society is raising a generation of children who lack a conscience. Examines the increasing number of youth who are not bonded to caring adults in home, school, church, or community. Explores ways to develop self-discipline and values, the role of society, virtue for delinquents, and altruism in action. (RJM)

Part of a series of articles on a new psycho-educational program that teaches antisocial youth to think and act responsibly. Discusses procedures for fostering mature moral judgment and describes the increased effectiveness of youth as peer helpers when trained in moral judgment, anger management, and other skills. (RJM)

This article discusses the interaction of infant social and cognitive development, and presents preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of infants with and without Down syndrome. Evidence suggests that the development of triadic (person-person-world) social interactions may be affected by limited information processing capacities in infants…

In St. Louis, Missouri, an innovative program has operated for 10 years to identify exceptionally gifted children from area school districts and bring them together in a full-time articulated program that blends acceleration and enrichment. Approximately 50 students in grades 1-12 are enrolled in the Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students.…

A case study of an academically gifted college student who committed suicide resulted in three sets of findings: those that reflected exclusively on the subject's life, those that compared his life with 3 previous psychological autopsies conducted, and those that reflected the parents' observations and experiences of his life. (Contains…