There is no evidence that physically restraining or putting children in unsupervised seclusion in the K-12 school system provides any educational or therapeutic benefit to a child. In fact, use of either seclusion or restraints in non-emergency situations poses significant physical and psychological danger to students. Yet the first round of data…

In this article I highlight recent (published after 2000) cross-cultural studies on the role of autonomous academic motivation and autonomy support in students' cognitive and psychological development. The self-determination theory (SDT) thesis of a universal beneficial role of autonomous motivation is supported by numerous empirical results from…

This study examined the associations between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and social and school adjustment (academic performance, peer relationships, school social problems) and the moderating roles of children's age and maternal parenting (affection and overprotection) in these associations. The sample consisted of…

Moving beyond simply documenting that political violence negatively impacts children, we tested a social-ecological hypothesis for relations between political violence and child outcomes. Participants were 700 mother-child (M = 12.1 years, SD = 1.8) dyads from 18 working-class, socially deprived areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland, including…

According to traditional theories of identity development, exploration of one's potentials and commitment to a coherent set of values, goals, and behaviors are important to healthy identity development. In this article, I examine how the Self-determination Theory framework provides an understanding of motivational processes that influence these…

Teachers' professional development is not exclusively concerned with supporting teaching and knowledge. Support is required for teachers to reflect on their existing practice and adapt new knowledge and beliefs to their own teaching milieu. Therefore, design policies that support teachers are very vital for professional development. Knowledge on…

Self-determination theory provided the theoretical framework for a cross-sectional investigation of elementary and junior high school students' autonomous motivation for homework. More specifically, the study focused on the role of teachers' support of students' psychological needs in students' motivation for homework in the two school systems.…

Successful school reform requires that administrators, teachers, and students internalize the value of improved teaching and learning and of the policies, structures, procedures, and behaviors implicit in the reform. This is most likely to happen when school personnel and students experience satisfaction of their basic psychological needs for…

With nearly six years of effort, the work of hundreds of institutions, hundreds of counseling center staff members, a dedicated advisory board, and a committed group of students and faculty at Penn State University, CCMH has realized some important goals. The movement towards an "Annual Report" reflects commitment to offering an annual…

The present paper is a case study that explores the study experiences and possible costs of success for the students accepted into the professional program in psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway. In this highly competitive environment, between 500 and 1000 students compete for 36 places during the introduction year. The study is based…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) initiated sweeping changes to the U.S. educational system. However, many have argued that NCLB is not accomplishing its stated purposes of improving education for disadvantaged students and closing the achievement gap. This policy analysis sheds light on the social and emotional risk factors that prevent…

The SEPA (Science Education Partnership Award) is a NIH (National Institutes of Health) program to provide science education to children K-12. In 2009, the NIH provided a supplement to develop a curriculum to inform students about factors that affect the mental health of native Americans. The goal of the current project was to develop a behavioral…

"Dramatherapy with Children, Young People and Schools" is the first book to specifically evaluate the unique value of dramatherapy in the educational environment. A variety of highly experienced dramatherapists, educational psychologists and childhood experts discuss the benefits to the children and young people, and also in relation to…

The past and current states of research on social comparison are reviewed with regard to a series of major theoretical developments that have occurred in the past 5 decades. These are, in chronological order: (1) classic social comparison theory, (2) fear-affiliation theory, (3) downward comparison theory, (4) social comparison as social…

Professional psychology's ability to meet older Americans' psychological needs and to simultaneously thrive as a profession will be closely tied to the federal Medicare program over the coming decades. Despite legislative changes in the 1980s providing professional autonomy to psychologists and expanding coverage for mental health services,…