The use of universal, evidence-based social-emotional curricula in early educational settings is expanding. Although these programs have the potential to enhance target outcomes, their success depends on the quality with which they are conducted in community settings. This chapter provides guidelines to practitioners who are planning to implement these types of interventions to ensure quality implementation and maximize effectiveness. First, it summarizes the most effective intervention models that are currently available for communities to enhance the social competence of young children. Next, the chapter defines the core process components of social-emotional interventions because these reflect high-quality implementation and are the primary mechanisms responsible for behavior change in participants. Instructional core components of social-emotional interventions include general teaching practices and specific promotion strategies. There are a number of ways to assess implementation, but the most common approaches include indicators of fidelity, dosage, and quality of delivery.

Multiple intelligence (MI) theory has drawn considerable attention primarily from psychologists and educators. Some critics of MI theory argue that it is not grounded in empirical research and cannot, therefore, be proved or disproved on the basis of new empirical findings. The understanding that intelligences operate on specific content can also help to distinguish them from sensory systems. From a neuropsychological point of view, the critical test for MI theory will be the ways in which intellectual strengths map onto neural structures and connections. Uses of MI ideas within and outside formal educational settings hold great promise. In particular, new digital media and virtual realities offer numerous ways in which learners can master required knowledge and skills. MI ideas are likely to endure within the worlds of education, business, and daily practice, like the terms emotional intelligence and social intelligence, they are already becoming part of the conventional wisdom.