Discusses marginality and the variety of experiences that influenced this prominent developmental psychologist to forge a career in child advocacy. Recounts the professional journey to connect research about child and adolescent development to the formation of sound policies and programs that might contribute to increasing children's prospects for…

Reflects on how the author has contributed to improving social policy through research by asking good questions, using best methods, and seeing and taking advantage of opportunities. Specifically describes her research, especially relating to children and poverty, and focuses on the designing of research to inform social policy. (SD)

Argues that research in the context of programs designed to promote the psychosocial competence of children and adolescents is an important road to understanding the fundamental anatomy of social development. Focuses on the theoretical work, research, practice and institutional inventions of the author's professional career. (Author/SD)

Argues that research with ethnic minority and subcultural groups is often stymied by measures developed on samples of European Americans. Offers recommendations to help researchers create measures that are sensitive to both the culture and the communities of research participants. Further presents steps used to create measures that are culturally…

Presents a framework and some practical examples for using rigorous implementation research to inform program outcomes and foster program development for developmental interventions. Focuses on: (1) role of process research, specifically developing developmental interventions; (2) characteristics of adherence process research; and (3)…

Explores the idea that workplaces have levels of moral complexity to assist in understanding how schools can create conditions that foster teacher's personal and professional growth. Focuses on: (1) social and moral complexity of the job of teaching; (2) schools as communities of development; (3) teacher development; and (4) effects on students…

Presents seven points, using research to examine research-policy connections, to illustrate the role of psychology in policymaking. Argues that it is appropriate for psychologists to concern themselves with policy, and it is essential that attention to policy become an important aspect of psychological research. (SD)

Argues that the psychosocial bases of achievement motivation, when integrated with principles of cultural anthropology and cultural psychology, will move both theory and research forward. Maintains that researchers should contextualize research questions, develop authentic means of inquiry, and acknowledge within-group differences. Presents…

Used qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how 40 Japanese mothers from working-class and middle-class backgrounds supported their child's transition to first grade. Found that mothers reported higher self-efficacy if they had one child, if their child was a boy, and if they had memories of being more frequently rejected by their own…

Used prototype methods of cognitive science to collect free associations of learning-related words and phrases from Chinese and American college seniors. Found that both cultures had a large set of conceptions about learning but that there was little overlap between the models of learning. Most striking was the near absence of references to hard…

Discusses findings of a cross-cultural study of the relation between self-perception of academic competence and achievement, and attribution of achievement to effort or ability. Considers problems in fitting Anglo-American motivation theory with Russian schooling practice. Calls for culturally sensitive, multimethod approaches in which individual…

Used quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine the implicit theories of intelligence of low-income adolescents of Mexican descent and the meanings they attached to these theories in four academic domains. Found that even students who were designated as entity theorists (intelligence as a fixed trait) on the basis of questionnaire…

Draws on research in cultural anthropology and cultural psychology to place the current movement toward qualitative methods of inquiry in historical perspective. Asserts that a new methodology of achievement motivation--one that seeks to identify the cultural and personal meanings of educational performance through methods that clarify its…

Notes that research has demonstrated the importance of parent-child interactions in developing literacy. Claims that parent literacy programs are effective in the children's literacy development. Proposes that research on the value of extensive interventions can suggest ways to improve parents' interactions with their children during the literacy…

Attempted to bridge home and school literacy contexts by involving families in literacy activities with their children to enhance children's achievement and interest in reading and writing. Activities included literacy centers in classrooms, teacher modeled literature activities, and writing and reading appreciation periods (WRAP). Results…