Due to the impacts of overrepresentation of historically marginalized middle school student suspensions on the prison pipeline, there is urgency in addressing disproportionality in suspensions in school districts nationwide. Although Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) models have shown an…

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federal program that provides free and reduced priced lunch to millions of low-income children in urban schools. Empirical research shows mixed results on the physical and nutritional health of urban students participating in the program. However, a considerable limitation of this literature is that it…

This study's goal was to identify patterns of risk and promotive factors across multiple social-ecological domains and their associations with adolescents' problem behaviors (aggression, substance use, and other delinquent behaviors), victimization, and distress symptoms. Participants were a mostly African American (79%) sample of 2711 middle…

Introduction: Studies have investigated the beginning of the decline in motivation during the transition of students to secondary school, with a low point in year 9. However, there are only a few studies that have researched the course of learning and achievement motivation separately for high-tracking school students, although--following the…

"Sexting" (electronic transmission of sexual pictures/messages) among early adolescents is associated with early sexual activity, a marker of increased sexual risk. The current study is a secondary analysis that examined the longitudinal relationship between sexting and first-time sex among a sample of early adolescents deemed "at…

School mobility, compounding socioeconomic inequities, can undermine academic achievement and behavior, particularly during middle school years. This study investigates the effect of a school-based integrated student support intervention -- City Connects -- on the achievement and behavior of middle school students who experience school mobility.…

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) has been shown to both engage and benefit students' learning of mathematics. However, there is evidence that group work is not always easy to facilitate, in part because educators lack details about learners' engagement during group work: the processes of problem solving involved, and how these are engaged. In…

Purpose: While the expectancy-value theory recognizes the significance of cost as an essential component, it has garnered minimal attention in physical education. Utilizing two separate datasets, we explored the degree to which the inclusion of cost in an expectancy-value-cost model could augment its predictive capability. Method: Study 1 utilized…

This work looks at how the infrastructure or conventions of practice and social arrangements govern local classroom literacy practices and how marginalized students resist the infrastructure and expose institutional change-making possibilities. Drawing from a longitudinal study, we analyzed five days of lessons that constituted a project in order…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) characteristically experience academic difficulties. There is growing evidence that the continuum from academic competence to underachievement is partially explained by executive function (EF; neurocognitive attention-regulation processes) and stress. Yet, there is scarce research…

The problem this qualitative case study addresses is the lower academic achievement of students in urban districts in the United States. In Baltimore City Schools, fewer than 20% of third to eighth grade students are on grade level, and over half of the students are below grade level. In addition, students may or may not appear connected or vested…

This program evaluation evaluated the effectiveness of the Positive Intervention and Supports Program in reducing the number of Office Referrals, In School Suspensions, and Out of School Suspensions when implemented with fidelity in a metro Atlanta Area Middle School. Archival data was used to determine if there had been any significant change in…

School-age children are at high risk of experiencing traumatic and stressful events that can negatively impact their academic, emotional, and behavior performance. Students that have been exposed to a traumatic and adverse experience present with high rates of dropout, low academic performance, conduct problems, aggression, depression, and…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) characteristically experience academic difficulties. There is growing evidence that the continuum from academic competence to underachievement is partially explained by executive function (EF; neurocognitive attention-regulation processes) and stress. Yet, there is scarce research…

The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto research study was to determine if restorative practices, an alternative approach to traditional discipline, reduced behavior incidents, promoted student academic achievement, and increased attendance for African American male high school students. This study involved a targeted population of 730…