This article draws out the implications for school and classroom practices of an emerging consensus about the science of learning and development, outlined in a recent synthesis of the research. Situating the review in a developmental systems framework, we synthesize evidence from the learning sciences and several branches of educational research regarding well-vetted strategies that support the kinds of relationships and learning opportunities needed to promote children's well-being, healthy development, and transferable learning. In addition, we review research regarding practices that can help educators respond to individual variability, address adversity, and support resilience, such that schools can enable all children to find positive pathways to adulthood.This work is situated in a relational developmental systems framework that looks at the "mutually influential relations between individuals and contexts" (Lerner & Callina, 2013, p. 373). This framework makes it clear how children's development and learning are shaped by interactions among the environmental factors, relationships, and learning opportunities they experience, both in and out of school, along with physical, psychological, cognitive, social, and emotional processes that influence one another-both biologically and functionally-as they enable or undermine learning (Fischer & Bidell, 2006;Rose, Rouhani, and Fischer, 2013). Although our society and our schools often compartmentalize these developmental processes and treat them as distinct from one another-and treat the child as distinct from the many contexts she experiences-the sciences of learning and development demonstate how tightly interrelated they are and how they jointly produce the outcomes for which educators are responsible.Key insights from the science of learning and development are that the brain and the development of intelligences and capacities are malleable, and the "development of the brain is an experience-dependent process" (Cantor et al., 2018, p. 5), which activates neural pathways that permit new kinds of thinking and
Improving our knowledge of the number of incarcerated youth with disabilities can assist educators, other professionals, and policymakers to develop more effective services for youth. This article reports the findings of a national survey conducted to determine the number of youth identified as having disabilities in the juvenile corrections systems in the United States. The data show that, when compared to the national average, there is an overrepresentation of students identified as having disabilities, especially emotional disturbance, in those systems.
r: special education has made considerable advances in researcb, policy, and practice in its short history. However, students fiom bistorically underserved groups continue to be disproportionately identified as requiring special education. Support for color-blind practices and policies can justify racial disproportionality in special education and signal a retrenchment to deficit views about students fiom historically underserved groups. We respond to these emerging concerns through an analysis of arguments that justify disproportionality. We also identify explanations of the problem and critique tbe views of culture that underlie these explanations. We conclude with a brief discussion of implications and future directions.
School discipline addresses schoolwide, classroom, and individual student needs through broad prevention, targeted intervention, and development of self-discipline. Schools often respond to disruptive students with exclusionary and punitive approaches that have limited value. This article surveys three approaches to improving school discipline practices and student behavior: ecological approaches to classroom management; schoolwide positive behavioral supports; and social and emotional learning. The article examines their epistemological and empirical roots and supporting research, suggesting ways to combine approaches.
This chapter summarizes the results of nearly 100 years of research on school-based social and emotional learning (SEL). The SEL field has grown out of research in many fields and subfields with which educators, researchers, and policymakers are familiar, including the promotion of social competence, bullying prevention, prevention of drug use and abuse, civic and character education, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, social skills training, and 21st-century skills. The chapter begins with a historical summary of theoretical movements and research trends that have led to today’s inclusion of SEL as part of many schools’ curricula, policies, and practices. Contemporary approaches that represent current policy and societal concerns are discussed in comparative terms. Based on the converging research evidence, this chapter identifies design elements and implementation quality characteristics of effective approaches to SEL. Recommendations for future practice, policy, and research are provided.
This article synthesizes foundational knowledge from multiple scientific disciplines regarding how humans develop in context. Major constructs that define human development are integrated into a developmental system framework, this includes-epigenetics, neural malleability and plasticity, integrated complex skill development and learning, human variability, relationships and attachment, self-regulation, science of learning, and dynamics of stress, adversity and resilience. Specific attention is given to relational patterns, attunement, cognitive flexibility, executive function, working memory, sociocultural context, constructive development, self-organization, dynamic skill development, neural integration, relational pattern making, and adverse childhood experiences. A companion article focuses on individual-context relations, including the role of human relationships as key drivers of development, how social and cultural contexts support and/or undermine individual development, and the dynamic, idiographic developmental pathways that result from mutually influential individual-context relations across the life span. An understanding of the holistic, self-constructive character of development and interconnectedness between individuals and their physical, social, and cultural contexts offers a transformational opportunity to study and influence the children's trajectories. Woven throughout is the convergence of the science of learning-constructive developmental web, foundational skills, mindsets (sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and growth mindset), prior knowledge and experience, motivational systems (intrinsic motivation, achievement motivation, and the Belief-Control-Expectancy Framework), metacognition, conditions for learning , cultural responsiveness and competence, and instructional and curricular design-and its importance in supporting in integrative framework for children's development. This scientific understanding of development opens pathways for new, creative approaches that have the potential to solve seemingly intractable learning and social problems. Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of knowledge about how children develop into whole individuals, how they become learners, and how contextual factors nourish or hinder their development. This knowledge comes from diverse fields, including neuroscience, developmental science, epigenetics, early childhood, psychology, adversity science, resilience science, the learning sciences, and the social sciences. To date, such knowledge has existed largely in separate fields of research, and has not been integrated such that its profound relevance to developmental processes becomes both visible and directly applicable to the settings in which children grow and learn. As a result, important knowledge remains underutilized, contributing to persistent disparities, challenges, and inadequacies in our education systems, other childserving systems, and the supports that we provide to families, practitioners, and communities. The ability to realize the fulles...
Building upon extensive research, Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools asserts that schools can prevent violence and its preceding behaviors by providing a supportive schoolwide climate and responding early to at-risk students' academic and behavioral problems. The Guide's fundamental premise is that none of its recommended policies or procedures should be used to harm or label children. It stresses developing climates that avert violence and its precursors, through prevention approaches, collaboration, and clear and effective policies. Early and imminent warning signs are highlighted, as are procedures for developing appropriate responses to warning signs, including interventions and crisis plans. The Guide's blueprint can be used and adapted to prevent violence and develop safe and effective schools and communities.
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