In this article, we describe a year-long superhero storytelling project we facilitated with youth in a midwestern middle school. In this project, students read "Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spiderman," designed superhero stories set in their community, and presented artistic representations of their stories to their families and peers. We…

This dissertation examines the effects of neighborhood characteristics on Detroit Public School Community District students' attendance rates for the 2018-19 school year. First, I analyze the effects of daylight savings time, relative to school start time, on absences for elementary and middle school students. By observing the natural change in…

This project-based thesis aimed to facilitate the creation of a collaborative culture quilt that celebrates the diverse cultural backgrounds, heritage, and traditions of students and teachers. The curriculum focused on various artists from different cultures, expanding students' understanding of art and culture both inside and outside the…

The present study applied the social-ecological framework to explore factors associated with adolescents' experiences in bullying victimization in Taiwanese middle schools. Data include a random sample of 1,262 students, ages 13-15, from 43 middle schools in Taiwan's New Taipei City. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling was utilized to analyze…

This study uses a mixed-method sequential exploratory design to examine influences on urban adolescents' engagement and disengagement in school. First, we interviewed 22 middle and high school students who varied in their level of engagement and disengagement. Support from adults and peers, opportunities to make choices, and external incentives…

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' conceptions of and feelings about land use. Specifically: (1) What are students' conceptions of and feelings about land use? And (2) in what ways might students' conceptions and feelings vary by community setting and grade level? This study was qualitative and descriptive in nature and…

Compared with other ethnic groups, African American adolescents are exposed to higher levels of family and community violence, which contribute to poorer academic achievement. This study examines whether emotion regulation moderates the effects of exposure to family and community violence on academic achievement among low-income African American…

In disadvantaged neighborhoods African American girls are at elevated risk for exposure to violence and sexualization (Miller, 2008; Salazar, Wingood, DiClemente, Lan, & Harrington, 2004). Preventive interventions can promote resilience by supporting capacities such as social decision making and self-understanding (Masten, 2001). We report on…

This study examined whether promotive factors (future expectations, family warmth, school attachment, and neighborhood cohesion) moderated relationships between community violence exposure and youth delinquency. Analyses were conducted using N = 2,980 sixth to eighth graders (M[subscript age] = 12.48; 41.1% males) from a racially, ethnically, and…

This study examined how peer relationships contribute to young adolescents' adaptation in the face of exposure to community and family violence. It tested hypotheses about peers' role in processes relating exposure to behavioral and psychological outcomes, specifically, aggression and anxiety. Data were collected from 667 middle school students,…

The current study utilized a longitudinal design to examine the effects of neighborhood and parenting on 120 at-risk children's academic and aggressive outcomes, concurrently and at two later timepoints during the transition to middle school. Random effects regression models were estimated to examine whether neighborhood characteristics and harsh…

The authors describe themes of cultural persistence, political resistance, and hope in the art of one Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Midwestern United States. The themes are described across three contexts: community mural art, poetry from students in an alternative high school, and poetry from seventh grade students in a neighborhood middle…

The aim of this study is to identify an ecological prediction model of bullying behaviors. Based on an ecological systems theory, this study identifies significant factors influencing bullying behaviors at different levels of middle and high school. These levels include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. More specifically,…

The study explores how differences in rural community contexts relate to early adolescent alcohol use. Data were gathered from 1,424 adolescents in the sixth through eighth grades in 22 rural Northern Plains communities, as well as 790 adults, parents, teachers, and community leaders. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that community…

This study tested a social-ecological model of adolescent substance use. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate how systems, such as parents, peers, schools, and communities, directly influence and interact together to influence adolescent substance use. Participants included 14,548 (50.3% female) middle school students who were 78.6% White,…