Early childhood educators are key to delivering early childhood education and care (ECEC) for the benefit of children, their families and society alike. For the benefits of ECEC to be realised, however, the educators who deliver these services need to be well. Despite growing attention to attracting and retaining a high-quality early childhood…

"Intervention on a String" sought to examine puppets and puppetry in the education domain. This research project sought to examine puppets in the classroom to see if their inclusion helped raise levels of student engagement, socialisation, and participation. Moreover, this project sought to understand how and why puppets, as pedagogical…

With increasing evidence highlighting the link between psychological factors such as self-esteem, self-efficacy and optimism on employability outcomes, this paper reports an evaluation of a unique student experience initiative called 'Life Design' developed to support the professional and personal development of undergraduate students. First year…

Two challenges identified for psychology higher education are supporting entry students' transition, and supporting graduates' transition into employment. The evaluation of the first phase of a cross-age mentoring action research project targeting these issues is presented; eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level psychology pupils in…

Several areas in the UK allocate children to secondary schools based on exam results at age 11. While many studies have investigated how attending academically selective schools affects pupils' subsequent educational attainment, we know very little about how grammar attendance affects other outcomes, such as pupils' self-confidence, academic…

Under Singapore's inclusive education policy, children with mild physical disabilities are integrated into mainstream schools. There is currently no known published research yet in Singapore on the outcomes of inclusion for children with physical disabilities. Internationally, recent research had compared the school experience of children with…

Parental income and wealth contribute to children's success but are at least partly endogenous to parents' cognitive and noncognitive skills. We estimate the degree to which mothers' skills measured in early adulthood confound the relationship between their economic resources and their children's postsecondary education outcomes. Analyses of…

As a society, we are looking to schools to be or become settings where our children learn the skills for successful adulthood. We are asking educators to teach an increasingly heterogeneous population of students, some of which face additional learning challenges. Many of these students have--or will have--a significant need to develop not only…

Learning and Work Institute is an independent policy and research organisation dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion. This report sets out the findings of research and consultation carried out by Learning and Work Institute (L&W) for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on learning…

Recently, researchers have begun to employ rigorous statistical methods and developmentally-informed theories to evaluate outcomes for students retained in non-kindergarten early elementary school. However, the majority of this research focuses on academic outcomes. Gaps remain regarding retention's effects on psychosocial outcomes important to…

It is well understood that wilderness expeditions improve well-being; however, there is little supporting quantitative data. The aim of this study was to measure the impact of wilderness expeditions on self-esteem (SE) and connectedness to nature (CN) and assess whether benefits varied according to participant and expedition characteristics. SE…

In the spring of 2009, we started a concert band programme at a high school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In the fall of 2011, we returned to the school to measure the impact of participating in a concert band on the students' attitude and outlook. During our initial and return visits, we measured feelings of self-esteem, optimism, positive…

The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of an e-mentoring program and the impact of participation on at-risk high school students enrolled in dropout prevention programs. The quality of the program was evaluated based on the ease of implementation, use of technology, and overall satisfaction. Indicators of student's self-esteem,…

The development of preschool children of Aboriginal heritage is jeopardized by the inter-generational transmission of risk that has created, and continues to create, social disadvantage. Early intervention programs are intended to mitigate the impact of social disadvantage. Yet, evidence of the effectiveness of these programs for children of…