What determines the focus of a researcher's interest, the sources of inspiration for a study, or the variables scrutinized? If we were to examine the antecedents of these decisions, they would surely emerge as accidents of circumstance--the personal experiences of the researcher, the inspiration of early mentors, the influence of contemporary colleagues--all tempered by the intellectual currents that nurture the researcher's hypotheses. Among the accidents that mold the careers of researchers is geographic location. The culture in which a research program emerges helps determine both its very subject and its method. The primary purpose of this book is to assist those interested in the scientific study of children's social competence in transcending the boundaries imposed both by geography and by selective exposure to the highly diverse schools of thought that have led to interest in this field. Most of these ideas were presented and exchanged at an Advanced Study Institute entitled "Social Competence in Developmental Perspective" held in Savoie, France, in July 1988. This Institute was attended by scholars from France, England, Northern Ireland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Canada, the United States and Brazil. Those who participated will recognize that the metamorphosis from lecture to chapter has necessitated many changes. In order to accommodate the reader who may be unfamiliar with the field, more attention has been paid here to identifying the theoretical contexts of the research described.

The authors draw upon scientific studies, theories, site visits, nd their own extensive experiences to describe approaches to social and emotional learning for all levels.

School activities alone are not always sufficient to ensure children’s academic progress or socio-emotional development and well-being. And the time when many children typically have the least adult supervision – immediately after school – is also the time that they are at the highest risk to act as perpetrators or become victims of antisocial behavior. Throughout A Blueprint for Promoting Academic and Social Competence in After-School Programs, which focuses on children in grades 1 through 6, noted experts identify the best practices of effective programs and pinpoint methods for enhancing school-based skills and making them portable to home and neighborhood settings. This volume: (1) Analyzes the concepts central to effective after-school programs. (2) Offers developmental, cognitive, and social ecology perspectives on how children learn. (3) Features more than 100 exercises that develop young people’s capabilities for academic, social, moral, and emotional learning – These exercises are ready to use or can be adapted to students’ unique needs. (4) Emphasizes young people’s development as students and as productive members of society during middle to late childhood and early adolescence. (5) Presents explicit theory and evidence that can be used to explain the value of after-school programs for budget proposals. This important book will find an appreciative, ready audience among the program directors who design after-school curricula, the educators who implement them, the mental health and social work professionals who help staff them, and the current crop of graduate students who will create the next generation of programs.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Adolescenceâ€"beginning with the onset of puberty and ending in the mid-20sâ€"is a critical period of development during which key areas of the brain mature and develop. These changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity mark adolescence as a period of opportunity to discover new vistas, to form relationships with peers and adults, and to explore one's developing identity. It is also a period of resilience that can ameliorate childhood setbacks and set the stage for a thriving trajectory over the life course. Because adolescents comprise nearly one-fourth of the entire U.S. population, the nation needs policies and practices that will better leverage these developmental opportunities to harness the promise of adolescenceâ€"rather than focusing myopically on containing its risks. This report examines the neurobiological and socio-behavioral science of adolescent development and outlines how this knowledge can be applied, both to promote adolescent well-being, resilience, and development, and to rectify structural barriers and inequalities in opportunity, enabling all adolescents to flourish.

In this groundbreaking book, nationally recognized leaders in education and psychology examine the relationships between social-emotional education and school success—specifically focusing on interventions that enhance student learning. Offering scientific evidence and practical examples, this volume points out the many benefits of social emotional learning programs, including: building skills linked to cognitive development, encouraging student focus and motivation, improving relationships between students and teachers, creating school-family partnerships to help students achieve, and increasing student confidence and success.

This clinically oriented casebook and text presents empirically supported interventions for a wide range of child and adolescent problems. Leading cognitive-behavioral therapists demonstrate assessment and treatment approaches that have been carefully adapted--or specially designed--to meet the needs of young patients. Following a consistent format, each chapter reviews the relevant literature and presents an extended case example bringing to life what an experienced therapist might do, why, and how to do it.

How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

This scholarly yet highly readable and practical text systematically covers the importance, development, assessment, and treatment of social skills of children and adolescents. Combining scientific rigor with a highly approachable and readable style of writing to create a practical and unique book, this volume provides a comprehensive overview of the increasingly important topic of child and adolescent social skills. A wide variety of tables, figures, and practical step-by-step guides enhance the material presented, making it particularly useful for practitioners while offering an extensive array of recent research and models of interest to researchers. The authors present a solid foundation of scientific knowledge written in a manner accessible to nonscientists and having ample practical implications and examples for educational and clinical practice. The book is divided into two parts--the first features a foundation for conceptualizing and assessing child and adolescent social skills, whereas the second focuses on the arena of intervention. An up-to-date and unique addition to the literature, this volume will be of interest to professionals who work with or study children across several disciplines including school and clinical child psychology, special education, counseling, and social work. Although many books and other professional materials on the social competence of children and adolescents are presently available, the knowledge regarding these social skills is expanding rapidly, and there is a tremendous need to keep it current. This book helps meet this need by not only synthesizing a great deal of recent work in the field, but also by providing new information and evidence that has not yet been published. It also bridges an important gap that sometimes exists between research and practice. For instance, some books on child and adolescent social skills are clearly written for the academician or researcher, and may have little apparent application for the clinician or practitioner. Other materials are written as practical assessment or intervention guides for the clinician/practitioner, yet sometimes lack supporting evidence and rationale. This book is aimed at both arenas.