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Despite numerous educational reforms, elementary school children in the United States continue to lag behind their peers from other developed countries on reading, math and science outcomes. Many interventions focus on strategies aimed at increasing the amount of classroom work children undertake. However, the key to improving outcomes may lie in out of school enrichment activities that facilitate learning. Drawing from Eccles Expectancy-Value theory(Simpkins, Fredricks, & Eccles, 2012), the current study focuses on assessing the impact of parent-fostered enrichment activities on child academic outcomes in the first three years of elementary school. Using secondary data from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study -Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K), we find that parent educational expectations for their children influence their participation in enrichment activities. These enrichment activities significantly impact reading, math and science outcomes although their impacts vary as a function of the type of enrichment variable examined. Examinations of a moderating role of per capita income do not yield significance in the data. Finally, longitudinal analyses suggest direct effects of parent expectations in grade 1 on academic outcomes in grade 3 but no indirect effects of parent expectations on later academic outcomes via participation in enrichment activities. These results are discussed considering relevant literature and implications for parent and teacher practices are proposed.

Psychiatric comorbidities are common in youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and can have a negative impact on adaptive functioning and quality of life. Research has primarily focused on individual characteristics associated with internalizing problems such as age, intelligence, and social functioning. However, developmental theory supports the notion that individual level factors are necessary but not sufficient to understand the mental health of youth with ASD. Using the Family Ecology Framework as a guide, the purpose of this study was to examine how peer and family contexts are associated with anxiety and depression symptoms of adolescents with ASD. Using data from adolescents with ASD (13-17 years old) and their primary caregivers (N = 166), this study tested a conditional process model in which youths’ social-communication skills were associated with their mental health symptoms indirectly via experiences of peer victimization, with family competence acting as a buffer against the negative impact of peer victimization on anxiety and depression symptoms. Results suggest that the peer context is important when considering the mental health of adolescents with ASD. Specifically, deficits in social-communication skills were associated with higher levels of parent-reported anxiety and depression symptoms through increased adolescent-reports of peer victimization; however, the hypothesized buffering effect of family competence was not statistically significant. Findings from this study suggest the benefits of utilizing developmentally sensitive, contextual approaches when examining psychiatric comorbidities in adolescents with ASD.

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Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p.55-65). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-116). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2008. / "Publication number: AAT 3323041."

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2005. / "Publication number AAT 3207094."