By consolidating forty years of Zigler's research with the work of other major researchers in the field of personality, this book provides a single resource for students, researchers, and professionals working in the field of mental retardation. The basic focus is that although cognitive impairment is a defining feature, personality, emotions, and motivation play a significant role in the behavior of individuals with mental retardation. The comprehensive overview of the theory, research, and practical considerations provided in this book has relevance in identifying, educating, and integrating mentally retarded individuals into society.

Issues in the Developmental Approach to Mental Retardation is one of the first books exclusively devoted to applying the theories, findings and approaches used in work with nonretarded children to several types of retarded individuals. It defines the developmental approach and explores theoretical issues as they relate to retarded populations. Problems involving similar sequences of development, cross-domain relations, the environment, and motivation are all discussed, as is the importance of separating the various etiological groups for research and intervention purposes. This book will be of interest to professionals in the fields of psychology, mental retardation and atypical development. It is also suitable for upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mental retardation, developmental psychology and developmental disabilities.

Decades of research point to the need for a universal preschool education program in the U.S. to help give our nation's children a sound cognitive and social foundation on which to build future educational and life successes. In addition to enhanced school readiness and improved academic performance, participation in high quality preschool programs has been linked with reductions in grade retentions and school drop out rates, and cost savings associated with a diminished need for remedial educational services and justice services. This 2006 book brings together nationally renowned experts from the fields of psychology, education, economics and political science to present a compelling case for expanded access to preschool services. They describe the social, educational, and economic benefits for the nation as a whole that may result from the implementation of a universal preschool program in America, and provide guiding principles upon which such a system can best be founded.

Decades of research point to the need for a universal preschool education program in the U.S. to help give our nation's children a sound cognitive and social foundation on which to build future educational and life successes. In addition to enhanced school readiness and improved academic performance, participation in high quality preschool programs has been linked with reductions in grade retentions and school drop out rates, and cost savings associated with a diminished need for remedial educational services and justice services. This 2006 book brings together nationally renowned experts from the fields of psychology, education, economics and political science to present a compelling case for expanded access to preschool services. They describe the social, educational, and economic benefits for the nation as a whole that may result from the implementation of a universal preschool program in America, and provide guiding principles upon which such a system can best be founded.

Issues in the Developmental Approach to Mental Retardation is one of the first books exclusively devoted to applying the theories, findings and approaches used in work with nonretarded children to several types of retarded individuals. The editors and contributors define the developmental approach and explore theoretical issues as they relate to retarded populations. Problems involving similar sequences of development, cross-domain relations, the environment, and motivation are all discussed, as is the importance of separating the various etiological groups for research and intervention purposes. The contributors also examine the nature of development in specific etiological groups; types of retardation that are addressed include: cultural-familial retardation, Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, autism, and children with sensory and motor handicaps. This significant volume demonstrates how data from nonretarded development can inform work with retarded populations and how findings from children with mental retardation enrich developmental theory.

Presents and critically evaluates available research to determine which practices and approaches are best for retarded individuals and their families. Draws on current knowledge of normal development as source material.

By consolidating forty years of Zigler's research with the work of other major researchers in the field of personality, this book provides a single resource for students, researchers, and professionals working in the field of mental retardation. The basic focus is that although cognitive impairment is a defining feature, personality, emotions, and motivation play a significant role in the behavior of individuals with mental retardation. The comprehensive overview of the theory, research, and practical considerations provided in this book has relevance in identifying, educating, and integrating mentally retarded individuals into society.

One of the major domestic policy issues of our time is whether our nation can provide a more effective educational experience for our children. Economists have stressed that the quality of our educational system eventually defines the ability of our workforce, which in turn affects our competitive position in the world market. This issue has earned increasing attention in light of recent reports that students in many nations perform at higher levels of educational competence than children in America's schools. Inspiring Greatness in Education describes the 21st Century Schools program (21C), a whole-school reform model developed by Edward Zigler over 20 years ago and since then has been in a constant state of testing, implementation, and scaling up. The goal of 21C is to promote optimal child development, which should become manifest in sound educational performance. In practice, 21C provides preschool education as well as good-quality child care before and during the school years, in combination with a number of other family supports. This book will provide an in-depth case study examination of the experience of the Independence School District in Independence, Missouri. The Independence School District embraced School of the 21st Century concepts in 1988, becoming the first urban school district in the nation to do so. This book reveals and documents Independence School District's success as a national model for 21C programming, as well as the experiences, testimonials and opinions of parents, students, teachers, administrators and community officials. By focusing on the impetus and history of the 21C concept, its organic evolution and its applications at the Independence School District, this book is designed to inform, educate, and inspire all who read it and to serve as a model for other school districts that want to achieve similar successes.

Though the tremendous amount of recently-emerged developmentally-oriented research has produced much progress in understanding the personality, social, and emotional characteristics of persons with intellectual disabilities (ID), there is still much we don't know, and the vast task of precisely charting functioning in all these areas, while also identifying the associated fine-tuned, complex, and intertwined questions that crop up along the way, seems daunting and insurmountable.
The goal of The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Disability and Development is to update the field with new, precise research and sophisticated theory regarding individuals with ID provided by seasoned developmental theorists who have made original conceptual contributions to the field. This volume is divided into five general sections (ID and its connection to genetics, relationships, cognitive development, socio-emotional development, and development of language), with each focused on a domain of functioning or aspect of life that is inherent to an integrated, transactional perspective of development. While developmental approaches to understanding persons with intellectual disability will continue to emerge, this comprehensive volume is a must-read for specialists and developmental psychologists who must have the conceptual foundations for examining the developmental trajectories across persons with any of the many different ID etiologies.

Currently enrolling approximately 900,000 poor children each year, Head Start has served 25 million children and their families since it was established 44 years ago. Presidents and policymakers have embraced and scorned it. At times scientists have misguided it and the media has misunderstood it. Despite its longevity and renown, much of Head Start's story has never been disclosed to the general public.
The Hidden History of Head Start is a detailed account of this remarkable program. Surveying projects that were forerunners of Head Start, its birth during the Johnson administration, its fate during the presidency of George W. Bush, and the many years between--as well as what the future may hold in store for Head Start--Edward Zigler and Sally Styfco offer an inside view of the program's decades of service, detailing the ever-changing waves of politics, ideology, science, media interest, and public mood that oftentimes threatened the program's very existence. Providing a balanced assessment of Head Start's effectiveness, which has been a matter of debate since its inception, the authors also strive to answer questions that continue to pervade discussions about the program and its future. For example, why is Head Start, a leader of early childhood services, still struggling to prove itself? Why does it serve such a narrow segment of the population? And how can Head Start continue its mission as universal preschool becomes a reality? The Hidden History of Head Start will be of great importance to those who shape Head Start's future, and to those who wish to develop, research, and implement new early childhood programs. Students, historians, and scholars in the fields of early intervention and developmental science, as well as policymakers, will find here an invaluable resource as well as a fascinating chronicle of one of the foremost social programs in US history.

This book is a valuable source of information on the long-term effects of early intervention programs on the education of children living in economically disadvantaged areas and in other contexts. Early intervention programs such as Head Start enjoy popular and legislative support, but until now, policymakers and practitioners have lacked hard data on the long-term consequences of such locally and federally mandated efforts. Success in Early Intervention focuses on the Child-Parent Center (CPC) program in Chicago, the second oldest (after Head Start) federally funded early childhood intervention program. Begun in 1967, the program currently operates out of twenty-four centers, which are located in proximity to the elementary schools they serve. The CPC program's unique features include mandatory parental involvement and a single, sustained educational system that spans preschool through the third grade. Central to this study is a 1986 cohort of nearly twelve hundred CPC children and a comparison group of low income children whose subsequent activities, challenges, and achievements are followed through the age of fifteen. The lives of these children amply demonstrate the positive long-term educational and social consequences of the CPC program.

Everybody likes Head Start. The only clear-cut victory of the War on Poverty, it enjoys bipartisan support and is seen as a linchpin in the Clinton administration's plans to reinvigorate our educational system. Now, one of the founders of Head Start reveals the program's tumultuous history and suggests how it can be improved to ensure that our schools benefit all our children.