The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of emotion regulation in the pathway to problematic alcohol use among adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specifically investigating the total effect of emotion regulation on problematic alcohol use and the indirect effect of emotion regulation through social…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social and psychological well-being of early adolescent schoolchildren. Participants were 309 youth (51% female, average age = 12.38 years) enrolled in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades of a single middle school located in…

The COVID-19 virus brought on a public health emergency that massively disrupted school systems and learning nationwide. During the 2020-2021 school year, many local education agencies (LEAs) in Pennsylvania and other states adopted remote learning to help slow the virus's spread. However, remote learning came with challenges for students,…

This study examines developmental change across adolescence in the similarity of friends versus nonfriends. This differential in similarity is a key aspect of the organization of the peer context of development: The stronger the correlation between friends for an attribute, the more the attribute delineates clustering and divisions of friendships.…

Many students' knowledge of fractions is adversely affected by whole number bias, the tendency to focus on the separate whole number components (numerator and denominator) of a fraction rather than on the fraction's magnitude (ratio of numerator to denominator). Although whole number bias appears early in the fraction learning process and under…

Background: Many students carry negative beliefs about nuclear radiation and have concerns regarding the safety of nuclear power. However, most of these students have not had any personal or educational experiences with nuclear radiation or reactors on which to form these opinions. Purpose: To examine the influence that a visit to a nuclear…

Many students' knowledge of fractions is adversely affected by whole number bias, the tendency to focus on the separate whole number components (numerator and denominator) of a fraction rather than on the fraction's integrated magnitude (ratio of numerator to denominator). Although whole number bias appears early in the fraction learning process…

Providing students with the opportunity to generate new content and share it with a wide audience invites students to compose texts with the care and conviction that cannot be duplicated when writing solely for the teacher. This piece documents one teacher's effort to engage 99 eighth graders with an authentic writing opportunity: the…

According to family systems and life course theories, periods of intense change, such as early adolescence, can disrupt stable family systems, leading to changes in family relationships. In this longitudinal study, we investigate 2 types of change in parental hostility and warmth toward their children during early adolescence (Grades 6 to…

The purpose of this research study was to explore trends in student test performance since the Common Core implementation in 8th and 11th grades in Pennsylvania. After receiving failing grades for the Pennsylvania State Standards when compared with other states, legislators adopted the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards in 2013. Much of this…

Fraction and decimal arithmetic are crucial for later mathematics achievement and for ability to succeed in many professions. Unfortunately, these capabilities pose large difficulties for many children and adults, and students' proficiency in them has shown little sign of improvement over the past three decades. To summarize what is known about…

This study investigates the influence of structural transitions to high school on adolescents' friendship networks and academic grades from 6th through 12th grade, in a direct comparison of students who do and do not transition. We utilize data from 14,462 youth in 51 networks from 26 districts (Promoting School-Community Partnerships to Enhance…

Purpose is an important aspect of character development and thriving in adolescence; yet, there is little research explaining how it develops or how contexts such as school can support its development. In this study, 1,304 eighth graders completed a survey that measured purpose as the integration of 2 dimensions-- beyond-the-self life goal…

As federal mandates continue to emphasize the use of standardized tests, academic research is needed to determine if reading intervention programs are helping to close the achievement gap between struggling readers and their grade level peers. Although previous research indicated that reading intervention can be an effective tool for increasing…

The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of the implementation of the Mystery Motivator intervention as an interdependent group contingency to decrease disruptive behavior in an urban eighth-grade general education science classroom. The study was conducted using an A-B changing criterion design. The effectiveness of the intervention…