Spina bifida, a congenital physical disability, is indirectly associated with difficulties in scholastic achievement, social development, and self-determination. Environment can have an impact on psychosocial development and impede functioning academically, socially, and vocationally. Counselors must be aware of the societal atmosphere to identify…

Game theory has been one of the most prominent theories in the social sciences, influencing diverse academic disciplines such as anthropology, biology, economics, and political science. In recent years, economists have employed game theory to investigate behaviors relating to fairness, reciprocity, and trust. Surprisingly, this research has not…

Increasing interest in multiple forms of nonacademic intelligences in addition to the well-established intelligent quotient (IQ) to explain individual success has triggered a need for clear establishment of the theoretical and empirical connection among these constructs. As such, this article explores the interrelationship that exists among three…

The infant and toddler years are a watershed of development in the emotional domain. These skills lay the foundation for positive social interactions, and ultimately, academic and life success. This article describes the development of three skills that are central in creating successful relationships: expressing emotion, understanding emotion,…

Written from the vantage point of both a mother and teacher educator, the author recounts the journey taken by Sarah, her 4-year old daughter, as she is introduced to and explores map making as a means of representing and making sense of familiar and unfamiliar places. Offering Sarah's experience as context, the author offers both a practical and…

In recent years nontraditional professional doctoral programs have been on the rise. Fueled by the demand of the new "knowledge-based" economy, these doctoral programs are becoming increasingly important in training professionals to become experts in their fields. As such, data on the learning outcomes of nontraditional programs becomes…

The frequent use of student self-report surveys in higher education calls into question the possibility of social desirability having an unwanted influence on responses. This research explores the potential presence of social desirability bias with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a widely used assessment of student behaviors.…

Mixed-race children are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and it is essential that educators are aware of the unique experiences of this student population. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to examine the experiences of mixed-race students in relation to their racial identity formation, their social…

Volumes 22 and 23 of the "Advances in Special Education" address the current top perspectives and issues in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) by providing chapters written by active researchers and scholarly university professors who specialize in this area. Volume 22 first delineates legal issues, themes, and…

Head Start, a U.S. federally funded program, prepares children for school through early childhood intervention in social-emotional and cognitive arenas. This article describes program evaluation survey results from the past 5 years of an 18-year collaboration between a university graduate art therapy program and 8 Head Start centers. Graduate art…

Examined how aspects of social-emotional learning (SEL)--specifically, emotion knowledge, emotional and social behaviors, social problem-solving, and self-regulation--clustered to typify groups of children who differ in terms of their motivation to learn, participation in the classroom, and other indices of early school adjustment and academic…

The organizers of the Decade for Childhood have formulated Ten Pillars of a Good Childhood as basic requirements for an optimal childhood. The pillars can be used to analyze the quality of childhood in homes and nations, and to guide policies and practices related to the experience of childhood. In this article, the author shall illustrate, pillar…

Research Findings: This study examined processes of change associated with the positive preschool and kindergarten outcomes of children who received the Head Start REDI (REsearch-based, Developmentally Informed) intervention compared to usual practice Head Start. Using data from a large-scale randomized controlled trial ("N" = 356…

The potential health benefits of early childhood education programs are quite large, especially for children living in poverty. In this report, authors Allison Friedman-Krauss and Steve Barnett set out the evidence regarding the short and long term health benefits to children from early childhood education programs, identify the features of…

In this "FastFacts," a state's Department of Education requests information from the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) on how the research defines skills in social-emotional development, approaches to learning, and executive function, to inform planned revisions to the early childhood indicators of progress for children…