Background: School belonging has been linked to students' health and well-being. As US schools become more ethnically diverse, it is important to understand how schools can contribute to a sense of belonging for students from all ethnic groups. Methods: The present study examines the association between school interethnic climate, school…

The labor-market payoff to workers with associate degrees in healthcare and STEM occupations is very high in Massachusetts. We examine whether this induced a growing proportion of students in MA community colleges (MACCs) to earn an associate degree (AD) in one of these fields. We do this by using multinomial logit analysis to compare trends…

Prior research has shown that Black and Hispanic students are more likely to experience office discipline referrals than White youth, and the magnitude of these inequalities has been found to vary by gender. However, it remains unclear whether racial/ethnic and gender disparities in office referrals might be amplified among students in more…

Researchers developing questionnaire measures of personality, motivation, and self-regulation constructs related to students' achievement and persistence in STEM or other fields rarely have examined whether the items on the measures used are functioning differently across groups, which is necessary for accurate group comparison. The present study…

This study investigated the impact middle school tracking has on outcomes in high school and the factors associated with those outcomes. Utilizing data from a large, diverse school district, this quantitative study investigated the relationships between middle school and high school English course enrollment among 4,503 middle school students. The…

The beneficial relationship of school climate with various positive student outcomes has been demonstrated in several studies, though the relationship has not been thoroughly explored with regards to a student's likelihood of being suspended from school. The relationship of school climate and out-of-school suspensions was investigated using a…

This study was grounded in the social cognitive career theoretical framework (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The purpose of this four-year longitudinal study was to examine the factors that may have contributed to students' motivation to develop STEM interest during secondary school years. The participants in our study were 9th-11th grade high…

Within secondary English language arts (ELA), concerns about the use of whitestream curricula have fueled numerous studies regarding the authorship of works included in anthologies (Applebee, 1991; Hansen, 2005; Mikkelson, 2009; Pace, 1992; Rojas, 2010) and on the lists of required full-length titles (e.g., Applebee, 1989; Hoffman, 2007;…

Today's hyper-partisan world makes civil discourse across differences seem almost impossible for many adults, let alone young people. U.S. public schools are tasked with educating our young people with the goal that they each can be productive members of society. High-school students participating in an intergroup dialogue on race as part of their…

This study examined the influences of teacher support and school environment on 10th graders' mathematics achievements, controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, and mathematics self-efficacy, and the differential influences of these factors for White and Black students in the USA. A sample of 8,682 White and 2,020 Black students who…

In comparison to children, adolescents achieve significantly less physical activity (PA). Additionally, activity differences exist among genders and race/ethnicities. One means of influencing the PA habits of adolescents is high school physical education. Although PE class reaches students of all ages, genders, and races, motivation and…

School-based bullying is a serious issue facing adolescents within the United States and relational bullying and victimization behaviors within music ensemble classrooms have become a topic of inquiry among music education researchers. Using data from a convenience sample of high school youth enrolled in an instrumental music program, we examined…

We examined developmental changes in self-esteem from late childhood to late adolescence in African American girls (N = 124), comparing skin tone groups. Girls completed a measure of self-esteem when they were in Grades 5, 7, 10, and 12, and in Grade 12 their skin tone was rated on a 3-point scale (1 = "Light," 2 = "Medium," 3…

Although many facets of social status (i.e., socioeconomic status, gender, race) are fairly stable, limited work has assessed how youths' identification with their status changes over time. Subjective social status (SSS) refers to one's perception of standing or rank relative to others, and for youth status is generally in the context of society…

The U.S. workforce has been changing rapidly. Close to half of working adults are women, and as the U.S. population becomes ever more racially and ethnically diverse, so too does the labour force. Using data collected from 13-18-year-old teenagers over three time periods across two decades, 1992 to 2012, this study examines changes in the career…