An alternative way to approach outdoor education in PHE, while still reaping its numerous benefits, is nature-based physical activity (NBPA). NBPA refers to physical activities that are done in natural areas, require little specialized equipment, can be participated in by the majority of youth, are cost-efficient, and can be implemented by PHE…

Areas of misalignment between children's experiences in preschool and kindergarten are increasingly viewed as contributing to the fade-out of preschool effects. The current study examined alignment and misalignment of classroom experiences across the transition from public pre-k into kindergarten. As part of a longitudinal cohort study, we…

Children's relationships with teachers in kindergarten are crucial for academic and social success. Research shows that teacher-child relationships are predicated, in part, on children's temperament. The "INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament" intervention was intended to improve children's and teachers' understanding of their and others'…

Teachers are often called upon to identify behavioral and emotional risk within their students by completing a variety of assessment tools. However, many teachers may lack the requisite skills to reliably identify students at-risk or use data derived from assessment tools to inform intervention. A series of trainings were developed to improve…

Using the guiding principles from Peter Johnston's best-selling professional resources, "Choice Words" and "Opening Minds," Peter and six colleagues began a journey to create just such classrooms-environments in which children meaningfully engage with each other through reading, writing, making, and discussing books. In…

The first five years of a child's life is a period of great opportunity, and risk. The cognitive and social-emotional skills that children develop in these early years have long-lasting impacts on their later outcomes throughout schooling and adulthood. The International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study was designed to help countries…

Ready for Kindergarten! Survey (R4K!S) is a readiness assessment of children entering kindergarten about students' knowledge and skills within the first six to ten weeks of school. There are many interpretations of what constitutes "readiness." Vermont's concept of children's readiness is multidimensional; it includes social and…

Teachers are responsible for delivering instruction; however, they may also serve as therapists, caregivers, stand-in parents, or even confidants to their students. Given the unique stressors and growing teacher turnover rates, there is a need to promote teachers' resilience and overall well-being. There are many social-emotional learning (SEL)…

Teachers are responsible for delivering instruction; however, they may also serve as therapists, caregivers, stand-in parents, or even confidants to their students. Given the unique stressors and growing teacher turnover rates, there is a need to promote teachers' resilience and overall wellbeing. There are many social-emotional learning (SEL)…

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore evidence of transformation as perceived by African American undergraduate students who participated in and persisted through community college study abroad programs in Ghana. Critical pedagogy, transformative learning, African ontology, and intercultural communication theoretical paradigms…

The majority of evidence on the interplay between academic and non-academic skills comes from high-income countries. The aim of this study was to examine the bidirectional associations between Ghanaian children's executive function, social-emotional, literacy, and numeracy skills longitudinally. Children (N = 3,862; M age = 5.2 years at time 1)…

Group processing is arguably the pivotal element when implementing cooperative learning (CL). It is the primary vehicle to help group members reflect on behaviors that impede or enable group work. Participating in group processing facilitates students' understanding of their own personal and social development as they recognize how they have…

Theoretical models posit real-time bidirectional processes between parents and children as integral to child development, yet few studies have examined such processes. In this study, cross-lagged autoregressive latent growth models were used to assess the dynamic organization of mother and toddler behavior across a snack-delay task. Maternal…

The purpose of this action research was to investigate social and emotional learning kernels/strategies that can be implemented by teachers at a U.S. elementary school to support students' social and emotional skills (SES) development. The implementation of school-wide social and emotional programs have demonstrated positive benefits for students.…

The term intellectual disability is broad and encompassing. Regardless of the severity of a child's intellectual disability, early education is important. This chapter discusses educational considerations of young learners with intellectual disability. Specially, the chapter focuses on academics, life skills, social skills and social development,…