For more than two decades, the concept of student engagement has grown from simple attention in class to a construct comprised of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components that embody and further develop motivation for learning. Similarly, the goals of student engagement have evolved from dropout prevention to improved outcomes for lifelong…

The influx of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) into the educational arena and the services they need have generated mass controversy between various pedagogical circles. It is estimated that an astounding 10% of the entire school-age population (about four million children) have been diagnosed with this disorder. The…

This study provides a quantitative approach to analyzing college students' levels of self-actualization. Specifically, it addresses the distinction between students from non-rural and rural hometowns relative to their level of self-actualization. Students from five public state schools, in one Midwestern state, were surveyed. Self-actualization…

Peer relations during middle childhood and adolescence are an important part of children's social and emotional development. Children and adolescents pick up essential social and communication skills from their peers as they move into late adolescence and early adulthood. Peer conflict is not necessarily a bad thing; disagreement and conflict are…

Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) is working to make high-quality voluntary preschool universally accessible to every 4-year-old in Los Angeles County by building upon the existing early care and education system. This brief provides a snapshot of children and families participating in LAUP center-based programs in the fall of 2007, at the…

Although preventive interventions that include both parent and child components produce stronger effects on disruptive behavior than child-only interventions, engaging parents in behavioral parent training is a significant challenge. This study examined the effects of specific risk factors for child disruptive behavior on parent attendance in…

Research Findings: This study examined the stability of preschoolers' peer play behavior across the school year and the relations between emotion regulation, receptive vocabulary, and the trajectory of social competence deficits. Participants were 331 preschool children attending Head Start; they were primarily African American and from a low-SES…

A number of recent publications have highlighted the need for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to be offered "timely" and "appropriate" support in relation to the development of their social skills. One such reported method is the utilisation of social skills groups, although only a small evidence base currently exists demonstrating…

The study adopted a person-centered approach to examine whether clusters of children could be identified on the basis of temperament profiles assessed on four occasions from infancy to early childhood, and if so whether differing temperament clusters were associated with subsequent differences in behavior problems, social skills, and school…

Aim: Subcortical band heterotopia (SBH) or "double cortex" is a malformation of cortical development resulting from impaired neuronal migration. So far, research has focused on the neurological, neuroimaging, and genetic correlates of SBH. More recently, clinical reports and small sample studies have documented neuropsychological dysfunction in…

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to investigate how neighborhoods and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage impact school readiness over time. School readiness was measured using the Early Development Instrument (EDI) for 3 populations of kindergartners in 2001, 2003, and 2005 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. EDI results…

Two distinct lines of inquiry have explored factors contributing to children's social competencies. One line of study has documented a relationship between children's social problem-solving skills and behavior in peer interactions. The second line of inquiry documents an association between child-rearing practices and children's social competence.…

This document is one of eight in a series of guides designed to help teach and counsel troubled youth. It cuts across the areas covered in the other guides (coping skills, social skills, and school skills) to present 20 important lessons for troubled youth. Individual lessons in this guide focus on gangs and gang membership; special education;…

The teacher's guide presents a set of seven lessons designed to help students understand friendship and peer relationships. The lessons focus on: (1) the desire to feel loved and accepted; (2) behaviors designed to gain acceptance from others; (3) ways that other people may use one's need for acceptance to influence one's behavior; (4) the…

The newsletter describes two projects of the Teaching Research Infant and Child Center (Oregon) which are developing assessment systems for use with severely emotionally disturbed (SED) adolescents. The first project focuses on job-related social behavior while the second project addresses social behavior in community settings. An introductory…