The study examined perceptions of family relationships and communication in 52 families who have an adolescent child diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) with a matched group of 52 families who have a child without LD. Parents and youth completed a self-reported "Family Relations and Communication Scales" assessment. Findings…

This article reports the findings of a study examining independent variables that contributed to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement of students with reading difficulties who participated in a technology-enhanced astronomy curriculum. The curriculum incorporated key elements of the Universal Design for Learning…

Today's adolescent student is thriving in a world where information and communication technology (ICT) encourages literate practices. These practices, described and theorized by studies of the new literacies, are not encouraged or supported in most school settings where traditional notions of literacy still dominate. Students in grades 6-8 at a…

Educators and policymakers have debated in recent years how best to improve academic performance in the middle grades. In the absence of outcomes-based research about what works, school districts have reshuffled grade configurations, bolstered their focus on "academic rigor," and worked to ensure that students are engaged in school as…

This report examines the student outcomes of Travis County Collaborative Afterschool Program (TCCAP) participants compared to non-participants. Students who attended the afterschool program at most campuses more often had better outcomes.

Increases in substance use prevalence among girls, as well as a lack of research conducted with urban girls of color, highlight the importance of understanding both predictors and outcomes of substance use abstinence (SUA) within this population. This study addresses gaps in SUA research through a longitudinal investigation conducted with urban…

In this study, the authors examined the relationship between teacher and student enjoyment. Based on social-cognitive approaches to emotions, they hypothesized (a) that teacher enjoyment and student enjoyment within classrooms are positively linked and (b) that teacher enthusiasm mediates the relationship between teacher and student enjoyment.…

Common in the research literature on bullying is the dichotomy of bullying and victim behavior. The present definition of a bully is a person who has engaged in repeated acts of aggression or harm to persons over whom he or she has power. The literature on bullies examines gender differences at length. However, the bully-victim literature has yet…

This study assessed the unique effects of racial identity and self-esteem on 259 African American adolescents' depressive and anxiety symptoms as they transitioned from the 7th to 8th grades (ages 12-14). Racial identity and self-esteem were strongly correlated with each other for males but not for females. For both males and females, an increase…

This research examined motivational trajectories during early adolescence in the United States and China. Upon their entry into middle school at 7th grade and every 6 months thereafter until the end of 8th grade, 825 American and Chinese children (mean age = 12.73 years) reported on their motivational beliefs (e.g., mastery orientation) and…

This technical report provides an overview of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), including a description of the purpose of the NYSAA, the processes utilized to develop and implement the NYSAA program, and Stakeholder involvement in those processes. The purpose of this report is to document the technical aspects of the 2013-14 NYSAA.…

Many external and societal factors influence health choices and behaviors, including health-related media messages. What people, especially youth, see and hear in health-related media messages often influences their overall health. Students, highly vulnerable to such messages, need opportunities to become media literate to reduce the effects of…

This study examined the longitudinal effects of five family factors (familism, parent derogation, parent-child communication, family alcohol problems, and family drug problems) on intensity of alcohol use among a sample of 451 African American and White non-Hispanic males from early to mid-adolescence (sixth through eighth grades). Results…

As a framework for our study, a broad set of themes related to the retention of students in music programmes are presented to enhance our understanding of how to retain band students. Data were collected from grade seven students comprising four focus groups. We used ethnodrama, an arts-based educational research approach, to represent results as…

Historically, two paths have developed in an individual and communal search for understanding and meaning: The study of science and the search for a higher spirituality. Although they should not necessarily be mutually exclusive, the history of science is littered with the collision of these two pathways, for rarely have they met without…