This article considers how pervasive remains the idea of fixed innate ability in relation to state education, and criticises on ethical and other grounds the language of ability as currently heard.

In times of difficulty, it is easy to see what many policymakers value. It would seem that many of them view the arts as a noncrucial element of a child's school curriculum. They want to cut music because they do not value music for its own sake, nor can they see how music could possibly help students in math, reading, or science. But what do the…

Much is known about how having a teenage mother influences children's outcomes, but the relationship between teenage fatherhood and children's health and development is less well documented. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, the authors investigated how teenage fathers matter for children. They expected teenage fathers'…

Consonants and vowels have been shown to play different relative roles in different processes, including retrieving known words from pseudowords during adulthood or simultaneously learning two phonetically similar pseudowords during infancy or toddlerhood. The current study explores the extent to which French-speaking 3- to 5-year-olds exhibit a…

The regulation of affective arousal is a critical aspect of children's social and cognitive development. However, few studies have examined the brain mechanisms involved in the development of this aspect of "hot" executive functioning. This process has been conceptualized as involving prefrontal control of the amygdala. Here, using functional…

This paper discusses issues relevant to gifted children's readiness for school. It raises a number of questions that challenge thinking about what is meant by school readiness. Gifted children can often be ready for school entrance before the age traditionally considered appropriate. Their complex developmental profiles challenge accepted notions…

Temperament dimensions influence children's approach to and participation in social interactive experiences which reflect and impact children's social understandings. Therefore, temperament differences might substantially impact theory-of-mind development in early childhood. Using longitudinal data, we report that certain early temperament…

Studies in sensory neuroscience reveal the critical importance of accurate sensory perception for cognitive development. There is considerable debate concerning the possible sensory correlates of "phonological processing", the primary cognitive risk factor for developmental dyslexia. Across languages, children with dyslexia have a specific…

Cognitive development is a cultural process. More experienced cultural members and the practices, institutions, and artifacts of the culture provide support and guidance for children as they develop knowledge and thinking skills. In this article, the authors describe the value that is added to our understanding of cognitive development when…

This systematic review sought to understand the individual characteristics of incarcerated youth within the major risk factor domains identified by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). A comprehensive search of the literature from 1979 to 2013 identified 85 articles of individual-level risk characteristics that…

In this paper, we investigate whether and how mathematics factors into students' performance in IT learning. The involved cognitive levels of students learning mathematics and hence problem solving, are correlated to how well they are able to transpose their knowledge and apply it to problem solving in the IT field(s). Our hypothesis is that if…

This article analyzes the longitudinal development of differences in academic skills between children of Turkish origin and children of native-born German parents from age 3 to 6 in Germany with a focus on the role of immigrant parents' acculturation to the receiving society. Growth curve models show that Turkish-origin children start with lower…

This study was an investigation into the ways in which two classes of six- and seven-year-old children in Hawaii talked about the media. The children were shown video clips from a variety of media and asked to respond both orally and in writing. The qualitative data gathered in this study were researcher notes, video and audio-taped focus group…

Research Findings: This study investigated the joint influence of maternal cognitive readiness to parent and children's self-esteem on children's academic achievement and behavioral adjustment in the classroom at age 10. Participants were 153 adolescent mothers and their firstborn children. Findings indicated that low levels of prenatal maternal…

In the UK, mainstream schools can decide to exclude students because of their behaviour. Students are then placed in pupil referral units (PRUs, sometimes known as short-stay schools) until their needs can be more thoroughly assessed so that they can then be placed appropriately. This article outlines the development of one particular approach to…