Adolescence is often portrayed in a negative light in Western culture, with teens being viewed as rebellious and irresponsible. Yet, there is substantial cultural and individual variability in views of teens. The empirical research to date is limited in that it mainly examines whether teen stereotypes are influential at the individual level. Teen…

Middle school students' prosocial behavior, classroom engagement, and sense of belonging tend to decline across the school year. This study addressed whether these declines are associated with students' perceptions of their relationship with their teacher and the extent to which their teacher promoted respect among classmates. Self-report surveys…

In this study, the authors assessed the contribution of engagement (on-task behavior) to the mathematics problem-solving performance of seventh-grade students after accounting for prior mathematics achievement. A subsample of seventh-grade students in four mathematics classrooms (one high-, two average-, and one low-achieving) from a larger…