Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model proposes that events in higher order social ecosystems should influence human development through their impact on events in lower order social ecosystems. This proposition was tested with respect to ecological violence and the development of children's aggression via analyses of 3 waves of data (1 wave…

In the United States, racial-ethnic differences on tests of school readiness and academic achievement continue. A complete understanding of the origins of racial-ethnic achievement gaps is still lacking. This article describes social equity theory (SET), which proposes that racial-ethnic achievement gaps originate from two kinds of social process,…

This research examined how motivation (perceived control, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), cognitive learning strategies (deep and surface strategies), and intelligence jointly predict long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement over 5 years. Using longitudinal data from six annual waves (Grades 5 through 10;…

Since 1990, Latin American immigrants to the United States have dispersed beyond traditional gateway regions to a number of "new destinations." Both theory and past empirical evidence provide mixed guidance as to whether the children of these immigrants are adversely affected by residing in a nontraditional destination. This study uses…

In the present study, quantitative and qualitative data are presented to examine individual and contextual predictors of bullying and victimization and how they vary by age and gender. Two waves of survey data were collected from 2,678 elementary, middle, and high school youth attending 59 schools. In addition, 14 focus groups were conducted with…

The impact of the Fast Track intervention on externalizing disorders across childhood was examined. Eight hundred-ninety-one early-starting children (69% male; 51% African American) were randomly assigned by matched sets of schools to intervention or control conditions. The 10-year intervention addressed parent behavior-management, child social…

This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that…

In the first longitudinal, population-based study of full-day kindergarten (FDK) outcomes beyond primary school in Canada, we used linked administrative data to follow 15 kindergarten cohorts (n ranging from 112 to 736) up to grade 9. Provincial assessments conducted in grades 3, 7, and 8 and course marks and credits earned in grade 9 were…

Do the positive effects of an intensive early childhood educational program extend into adulthood? FPG researchers used comprehensive longitudinal data from the Abecedarian Project to try to answer that important question. The Abecedarian Project was a prospective randomized trial involving primarily African-American families (98%) that began in…

Despite skyrocketing growth in its English Language Learner (ELL) population, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has been remarkably effective in improving outcomes for ELL students across the district. Achievement has increased, and gaps between ELL students and their native English-speaking peers have decreased. This success is intentional.…

Americans are struggling through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In recent years, a significant body of research and analysis has documented the breakdown of the middle class and the impact of the current financial crisis on family income, housing, and jobs. But few reports have examined these impacts through the lens of…

The presence and quality of friendships are posited to have developmental significance, yet little is known about the extent to which children without friends versus low-quality friendships compare on socioemotional adjustment. The current study utilized data from a subsample of 567 children (289 boys) participating in the NICHD Study of Early…

This study investigated how parental beliefs about children's emotions and parental stress relate to children's feelings of security in the parent-child relationship. Models predicting direct effects of parental beliefs and parental stress, and moderating effects of parental stress on the relationship between parental beliefs and children's…

This article examines the extent to which family wealth affects the Black-White test score gap for young children based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (aged 3-12). This study found little evidence that wealth mediated the Black-White test scores gaps, which were eliminated when child and family demographic covariates were held…

A crucial skill in scientific and everyday reasoning is the ability to interpret data. The present study examined how data features influence data interpretation. In Experiment 1, one hundred and thirty-three 9-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and college students (mean age = 20 years) were shown a series of data sets that varied in the number of…