A program designed to enhance children's prosocial development was conducted in three suburban elementary schools for five years. Findings for students from kindergarten through grade four emphasize the need for supportive teacher-student relationships and opportunities for student decision making, autonomy, and collaborative interaction. (TJH)

Examines early childhood teachers' knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices related to academic degrees, supervised practical experience, content areas of child development and early childhood education courses taken, and years of employment in child care or education. (BB)

Ten children diagnosed with juvenile Battens disease were tested over a three-year period in general intelligence, memory, listening and speech, motor skills, and general learning. Results showed that the patients followed a predetermined pattern but that the time span for development of memory, communication, and behavior problems varied greatly.…

Reviews the controversy over the effects that various forms of computer use are likely to have on different children's learning, motivation, and social behavior. Considers difficulties in the current state of empirical research in this area, and offers recommendations for future research. (Author/BJV)

Reviews the current state of mental health services to children, youth, and families. The development of a continuum of care coordinated across the mental and non-mental health systems that naturally occur in all children's lives may vastly improve mental health services to children, youth, and families. (Author/BJV)

Reviews recent developments in the following areas of research on affective disorders and related syndromes in the preadult years: (1) psychiatric and diagnostic (nonbiological) studies; (2) hypothesis-testing and causal-explanation studies; and (3) studies of developmental psychopathology. Indicates directions for future research. (Author/BJV)

Child development can be fostered through relationships between older adults and children. Children's social isolation resulting from demographic, economic, and social changes can be addressed by means of intergenerational programs. During four developmental stages from infancy to adolescence, older adults can play a significant role in…

Maintains that pictures are one constant aspect of children's books. Reviews research on whether pictures hinder or facilitate the development of reading skills in young children. Provides suggestions on when and where pictures might provide instructional support. (CFR)

Describes parent-child activities during storybook reading, suggesting that interactive reading (constructing meaning) is more developmentally enriching than attending to story. Found that Curacaoan mothers were more concerned with child's understanding of story than with constructing meaning. Argues that parents should be trained in dialog that…

Notes that achieving school readiness for all children by the year 2000 will require a reconceptualization of the concept of readiness. Reviews some of the relevant history of readiness as an area of inquiry, and details the issues surrounding readiness, including school readiness versus learning readiness, and chronological age of entry versus…

Relates one kindergarten teacher's experiences while participating in a research project on the incorporation of portfolio assessments into student progress reports to parents. (BB)

Examined 39 mother-infant dyads to see whether qualitative differences in adolescent mothers are associated with differences in child functioning. Multiple measures of parental characteristics indicated that parenting expectations had a unique and differential power in explaining both objective child observation ratings and the mothers' Parenting…

Examines the role of language in providing individual quality care to infants in a group situation. Suggests that by using language, the natural medium of choice, the adult includes the infant in his caregiving, and this inclusion helps to set up the beginning of a network of communication that lays the foundation for mutual understanding between…

Reports on a study of the role of pupil age in scholastic performance among 4,123 Maltese primary-age students. Finds a strong and consistent age effect in Maltese, English, and mathematics achievement in three grade levels. Also finds that girls consistently outperformed boys in the three subjects. (CFR)

Examination of developmental scores of 198 infants and young children with Down's Syndrome attending exemplary early intervention programs found more similarity to other children in Personal Social and Adaptive Domains and less similarity in Communication and Cognitive Domains of the Battelle Developmental Inventory. These differences were…