Monitoring the Future (MTF), which is now in its 36th year, is a research program conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The study is comprised of several ongoing series of annual surveys of nationally representative…

This study examines how a wide variety of diverse friendship group attributes affect changes in indicators of school performance, social behavior, and mental health between early seventh and late eighth grade. Nine hundred and one middle school students named their friends. Independent data from these friends were used to construct friendship…

A series of 13 survey questions based on a 50-50 spinner is used to explore school students' understanding of statistical variation in a chance setting. Five questions set the context by assessing understanding of theoretical expectation and representation of repeated trials in a stacked dot (line) plot. Four questions provide opportunity to…

Previous research has established that interest in a text is related to better comprehension and recall, but the impact of interest on comprehension in testing situations has not been widely investigated. This study used Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) to examine the relationship between students' interest in reading passages and their…

Assimilation theorists have long viewed inter-group romantic partnerships as indicators of racial equality. Although the past half-century has witnessed the erosion of anti-miscegenation laws and subsequent increases in the frequency of interracial marriages, these unions remain relatively infrequent. Low intermarriage rates may be partially…

This study found 20.4% of children attending a middle school located in rural Mississippi had used inhalants to "get high," a figure that is much larger than the national average. Many (3.4%) students reported they had used inhalants on 10 or more occasions. Inhalant use was most associated with being younger, ever smoking, riding with a…

This study tested the association between mother's early age at first birth and various life outcomes for her children in later adolescence and early adulthood. Data were analyzed from the Rochester Youth Development Study, an ongoing panel study of adolescents enrolled in seventh or eighth grade in Rochester Public Schools in 1988 ("N"=729). Boys…

Young people excluded from school are a group at an increased risk of drug use and antisocial behaviour during adolescence and later marginalisation and exclusion from society in adulthood. As part of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of the onset and development of adolescent drug use, young people who entered post-primary…

The purpose of this study was to examine age and gender differences in peer conflict, particularly in regards to conflict issues and resolution strategies reported by children and adolescents. Students from grades 4 and 8 (60 boys, 60 girls) were asked interview questions and given 3 hypothetical scenarios to respond to. Teacher and self-reports…

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of bullying behavior in adolescents from Cape Town and Durban, South Africa, and the association of these behaviors with levels of violence and risk behavior. Method: Five thousand and seventy-four adolescent schoolchildren in grade 8 (mean age 14.2 years) and grade 11 (mean age 17.4 years) at 72 Government…

This report describes district-level results from the 2007-2008 AISD Student Climate Survey.

Age differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the relationships of each to academic outcomes were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of 797 3rd-grade through 8th-grade children. Using independent measures, the authors found intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to be only moderately correlated, suggesting that they may be largely…

There is a well-developed literature examining the immediate consequences of experiencing maltreatment during childhood. However, because of the problems of conducting longitudinal studies which follow subjects over many years, less is known about the long-term consequences of maltreatment. Using the Rochester Youth Development study, a…

Since 1975, the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey has annually studied the extent of drug use among high school 12th-graders. The survey was expanded in 1991 to include 8th- and 10th graders. It is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and is conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The goal of…

Given its important role in mathematics as well as its role as a gatekeeper to future educational and employment opportunities, algebra has become a focal point of both reform and research efforts in mathematics education. Understanding and using algebra is dependent on understanding a number of fundamental concepts, one of which is the concept of…