First-generation college students (FGCS) experience a myriad of unique challenges when starting their university education, including perceiving themselves as being socially isolated on campus (Markowitz, 2016; Nazione et al., 2011; Wilkins, 2014), experiencing guilt as they leave behind academically family and friends (Banks-Santilli, 2015; Orbe,…

This guide to understanding school readiness in young children is essential reading for early years practitioners. It explores the concept of school readiness by unpicking what the term means for children and how we can define it in the context of the characteristics of effective learning. This includes ideas for promoting playing and exploring,…

With the recommendations provided here, educators can better meet the needs of transnational students, particularly those U.S.-born children returning with their families to Mexico.

For many students with disabilities, their school experience began or quickly became non-inclusive. As schools increasingly adopt inclusive practices, these students and their families may have questions or concerns. This brief provides strategies, suggestions, and resources for schools to help families understand and become a vital part of the…

This book explores research on processes that influence family-school partnerships in support of student learning and education. It highlights research related to culture, contexts, and development as families and schools work together to promote smooth transitions and academic achievement. The volume discusses research related to family and…

In 2011, pepnet 2 launched the Deaf Learner Initiative (DLI). The goals of this initiative were to examine the existing paradigms, programs, pedagogy and relevant research related to the educational and vocational needs of deaf learners. The DLI was comprised of a variety of activities including the Deaf Learner Symposium, the creation of three…

This investigation examines child and teacher perceptions of teacher-child relationships among 157 children (M age = 6.1) who attended 12 full-day kindergarten classrooms in a large urban school district. Children and teachers completed comparable assessments designed to measure perceptions of social support from teachers and they also completed…

While not discounting the importance of natural mentoring relationships, mentoring that occurs within the context of youth development (YD) programs may be particularly beneficial in the promotion of positive youth development (PYD). Effective, high-quality and enduring mentoring is associated with the capacity for youth to engage in high-quality…

The current article examines the experiences of successful Cambodian American students as a unique ethnic group to understand their patterns of social and academic college integration. Cambodian American students' sense of academic belonging related closely to perceptions of personal connections. Our data suggest that integration into the campus…

The effects of teacher practices in promoting student academic achievement, behavioral adjustment, and feelings of competence were investigated in a prospective study of 257 children in 14 first grade classrooms. Using hierarchical linear modeling and regression techniques, observed teaching practices in the fall were explored as predictors of…

General education classrooms provide a common milieu for understanding and appropriating results of classroom research projects, which are typically viewed as having little application outside their original contexts. Here, results of an investigation into the "sophomore slump," where grades and class attendance rates typically suffer, are…

This article describes a teacher's method of reaching a student who was terrified of the world. Providing him with a safe place of his own in the classroom enabled him to trust the world a bit. (MT)

A treasure hunt game is described as an approach for orienting mainstreamed disabled students to their new schools. Clues are supplied to help students identify roles of such school personnel as the principal, custodian, school nurse, and guidance counselor. (CL)

This book explores the ways in which pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties can be effectively engaged in schooling -- either in school or at home. It explains the social and emotional underpinnings of learning and presents practical strategies for aiding engagement. "Nurture Groups", originally devised and implemented in the…

This study explored the transition from preschool to kindergarten and identified factors that predict children's social and school adjustment in new school environments. (PCB)