Examines childrens gender behaviors through the use of videotaped observation of four children aged 3 to 5 years old at a university laboratory preschool. Reveals that gender behaviors in early childhood are integrated with student and peer behaviors and constructed by individuals interacting with the social world. Addresses the implications from…

A survey of 403 general and special education teachers found most had received no training in multicultural education even though most reported that cultural knowledge would help them understand the influence of their students' verbal and nonverbal learning/behavioral styles. Knowledge about the language of multicultural students and child…

Describes the work of the School Development Program in the Yale Child Student Center, which redresses imbalances in student performance and social and psychological development in urban schools. The program's use of the principles of child development in collaboration with schools is described, with examples from several school districts…

The pretend-play utterances of four students with hearing impairments and four normally hearing students in an integrated kindergarten were examined to investigate developmental differences between these two groups of children. Results indicate that the students with hearing impairments used significantly higher proportions of literal object…

Findings from a prospective longitudinal study of 46 boys with fragile X syndrome (ages 24-72 months) found that, although children varied widely, overall development was significantly delayed to approximately half of the rate of typical children. At every age tested, motor and adaptive development was higher than communication and cognitive…

North Carolina recently developed a licensure program requiring teacher training to include the three strands of child development, early childhood education, and early childhood special education. This article describes the new licensure, explains its effects on both preservice and inservice teacher education, examines efforts to help higher…

The six articles of this theme issue relate the history of empirical research in education to its sociohistorical background, examining the proposition that the rise of empirical research in education was linked to complex factors such as the rise of positivism in the 19th century or the institutional growth of an educational market. (SLD)

Describes the School Development Program of the Davis Street Magnet School, New Haven (Connecticut), a Comer school since the late 1980s. The program uses a number of strategies to develop literacy among students identified as problem readers. This Comerian approach enhances student development along six developmental pathways and strengthens…

Examines the role of parents as a significant social environment for children in transition to adolescence. Differentiates four groups according to perceived parental environment: children with conflict parents, with control parents, with partner parents, and with "easy-going" parents. Explores the familial contexts of these groups and…

Interview with artist Ilka List describes her research: collecting 1872 drawings from rural and urban second- and third-grade children to determine the impact of environmental experiences on children's art, sense of self, and cognitive and emotional abilities. Children with a broad range of outdoor, nature-oriented experiences had greater spatial…

Two authors weigh the evidence on starting to emphasize early literacy skills during preschool, discussing student-centered versus content-centered classrooms, looking at developmentally appropriate education, presenting their differing views on the subject, and responding to one another's opinions. Two sidebars discuss Project Headstart's…

Contradicting advocates' testimonials, the Alliance for Children wants a moratorium on adding more computers in elementary schools until research discovers how computer use affects young children. The alliance claims that computers and their entertaining software stifle creativity and distract children from each other, from adults, and from play.…

Parents of 180 Swedish children (ages 3-19) with different types of disabilities attending Computer Play Centers evaluated the importance of computers for their children within ten different areas of development. Parents had high expectations of the computer and believed computers helped develop their child's self-confidence, coordination,…

Argues that an evolutionary account provides insight into developmental function and individual differences. Outlines some assumptions of evolutionary psychology related to development. Introduces the developmental systems approach, differential influence of natural selection at different points in ontogeny, and development of evolved…

States that structural changes in families and schools may be necessary for children's moral development. Provides three ways families can better enable moral development, discusses how schools must change toward greater diversity in the student body and faculty, and offers two ways for schools to better foster moral development. (CMK)