Service learning, which combines community service with curriculum objectives, has several components: preparation, collaboration, service projects, curriculum integration, and reflection. Although opponents of mandatory programs criticize service learning as detracting from academics, studies indicate positive effects on academic achievement and…

Examines preservice teachers' exchange of dialogue journals with sixth graders. Finds that preservice teachers experienced the value of journal-based written and oral discourse activities for understanding and fostering both their own social and academic development and that of their younger partners. (PA)

This article introduces a framework to summarize areas of social cognition that affect the ability of students with Asperger syndrome to relate to others. A five-step approach to assessment is reviewed to provide information regarding the nature of students' social cognition and related skills. Informal assessment tools are then described.…

A review of 33 studies in which mainstreamed or included students with deafness were compared to another group found that hearing students were more socially mature than deaf included students, deaf students and their deaf classmates interacted more, and deaf students were somewhat accepted by hearing classmates. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This article explores a tenable explanation for the research finding that self-modeling is an effective intervention for students with behavior disorders. It was hypothesized that when participants view a change in their behavior, their memories and self-beliefs subsequently change to be in concert with that shown on the edited videotape. (Author)

Reports on experiments that examined the extent to which children's moral orientation is affected by the gender of characters experiencing a dilemma in children's literature. Children often responded to the character's dilemma by expressing a concern for others (care orientation) or focusing on issues of rights and justice (rights orientation).…

Compared social behavior of five-year olds from Germany and former USSR, and child-rearing belief systems of their mothers. Found that intensity of prosocial behavior was higher in German girls than in German boys or Russian girls. More Russian boys than girls showed at least some kind of prosocial behavior. Russian mothers described their…

Stresses the need for all students, even ones with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), to interact within cooperative learning activities. Asserts that cooperative groups help develop social studies knowledge, literacy skills, and global understanding. Presents practical suggestions for addressing the special needs of students with…

Suggests that children construe the world as they develop relationships with other individuals. Offers considerations regarding developmental changes marking the first year of life and argues that cognition is framed in public social exchanges and private dialogical thinking. (DLH)

To study the social-emotional development of triplets, 23 sets of triplets, 23 sets of twins, and 23 singleton infants (N=138) were followed from birth to 2 years. Maternal depression and social support were assessed in the postpartum period, mother-infant and father-infant interaction and the home environment were observed at 3 months, a…

This paper conceptualises a basis for understanding learning in workplaces. This comprises a duality between how access to workplace activities and guidance is afforded, on the one hand, and how workers elect to engage with what is afforded to them, on the other. This reciprocal basis for thinking, acting and learning is referred to as…

The overall issue of assessment during early childhood, and its relation to school readiness and other decisions, is currently widely debated. Expanding early childhood education and child care enrollments, better scientific knowledge about early childhood development, and decisions about public spending, necessitate careful consideration of which…

Definitions of school readiness tend to focus on social and academic competencies that children are presumed to need to start school ready to learn. However, a child-focused definition of school readiness is limited because it neither identifies processes that lead children to acquire these competencies, nor does it recognize children's dependence…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an approach that teaches self-regulation, self-monitoring, and social skills in school settings. SEL has been shown to be an effective method of reducing negative social interactions and increasing academic achievement. This article relates the experiences of one intermediate school principal and her staff as…

The Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee originated as an ad hoc committee and evolved to a broad-based movement for legal justice on behalf of seventeen youth convicted of murder and assault charges in connection with the Sleepy Lagoon case in Los Angeles in January 1943. This essay chronicles the multidimensional organizing to shift public opinion in…