Reviews research on friendships of delinquents and nondelinquents. Contrasting theories and research have pointed to both the distinctiveness of delinquent friendships and the commonality with normal friendships. Greater conflict, poorer attachment quality, lesser ability to repair relationships, cognitive distortions, and poorer social-cognitive…

Children's ideas strongly shape classroom life in Japanese elementary schools. Japanese children identify goals for self-improvement, work hard to achieve them, and then choose new goals. Events like the Yotsubashi Festival are not diversions from the curriculum, but designed to help children develop socially, emotionally, ethically, and…

The Social Awareness Inventory (SAI), which assesses individual differences in eight social-perceptual styles, is introduced and applied in three studies. The model is derived by crossing the three binary dimensions of target (self or other), perspective (own or other's), and content (overt appearance or covert experience). The SAI appears to…

Formal schooling generally does not include education in interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, although helping children develop socially and emotionally is important in academic progress. Describes the implementation of a social skills training program for elementary and middle school students called Connecting with Others: Lessons for Teaching…

States that Zionist national identity in Israel today is split between a liberal, secular, Post-Zionist civic identity and an ethnic, religious, Neo-Zionist nationalistic identity. Describes the historical underpinnings of the two mutually antagonistic identities and reflects upon how each affects the perceptions of the boundaries of the…

Reports that the educational experience of Israeli Jews from Islamic countries (Mizrahi Jews) demonstrates the struggle between egalitarian rhetoric (a critical multiculturalism with a social-democratic character) on one hand and a practice of segregation (an autonomist multiculturalism with fundamentalist features) on the other. (Contains 78 end…

In the last two decades, the Israeli educational system has transformed from a state controlled and financed bureaucratic system into a decentralized, partly locally controlled, and increasingly privately financed system. Argues that these changes cater to the educational interest of middle and upper middle classes and undermine the principle of…

Discusses nine works of young adult fiction that address themes of standing up for others as well as for one's true self, of daring to be different, and of finding the courage to go against the tide. Considers use of the books in small group and classroom discussions. (JPB)

Discusses the role of knowledge and education in the development of Hong Kong and Shanghai in light of the recent East Asian economic crisis. Considers four major issues in educational development: (1) quality and equality; (2) relevance of education; (3) policy making; and (4) knowledge production and utilization. (CMK)

The efficacy of a mediational model for predicting child behavior problems (N=45 five year olds) from marital discord measures was assessed. Indirect relations between marital discord and both social withdrawal and aggression in the child are discussed. Working models of parents' behaviors are found to guide the child's behavior. (EMK)

Analyzed one-year gains of children with severe disabilities, children with mild/moderate disabilities, and typically-developing children, in segregated or integrated preschools. Found that segregated programs had smaller adult/child ratios and shorter operating hours than integrated programs. Children with severe disabilities in segregated…

Studies French children who had diverse day care experiences to determine whether day care is a risk factor in socio-emotional development. Finds that early day care is associated with increased social competence and not associated with behavioral problems; contradicts a similar U.S. study. Suggests difference may be due to poorer quality U.S. day…

Discusses children's experiences with stress, using key concepts of the cognitive-transactional model. Relates stressors to cognitive appraisal, identifies coping strategies, lists resources, and offers suggestions for interventions in the classroom. Recommends identifying and responding to daily stressors with children, facilitating coping…

Assessed psychometric properties of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:S-E), a screening instrument for 3- to 63-month-olds. Found that internal consistency was generally high. Test-retest reliability between parents' classifications was .94. Overall sensitivity was .82; overall specificity was .92. Parents reported easy…

A case study investigated the effectiveness of a new self-contained classroom with curriculum that was differentiated for 24 highly intellectually gifted fourth-and fifth-grade students. Results indicate the self-contained classroom provided a challenging learning environment for the students, but students' response to this more challenging…