Despite significant progress in improving primary enrollment and attainment for girls in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in recent years, gender disparities in education persist and hinder opportunities for girls. Educational attainment for girls has plateaued in numerous countries, with only a few making significant strides in narrowing…

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…

In this scoping review, the literature on the relationship between dance and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) was consolidated. Research of various forms of dance on psychosocial outcomes among K-6 populations included: increased sense of belonging, violence prevention, and increased creative thinking and problem-solving responses. The dance form,…

School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) refers to "acts of sexual, physical, or psychological violence inflicted on children in and around schools because of stereotypes and roles or norms attributed to or expected of them because of their sex or gendered identity. It also refers to the differences between girls' and boys' experience of…

Negotiation is one of the most used conflict management procedures in the school context, since through an effective solution against violence is reached. This investigation considers personal and scholars variables that can influence negotiation efficacy in conflicts between elementary school students, namely sex, school grade, number of…

According to UNESCO, school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) involves acts or threats of sexual, physical, or psychological violence occurring within and around school, perpetrated because of gender norms and stereotypes, and facilitated by unenforced and unequal power dynamics. These acts or threats not only have detrimental effects on the…

South Sudan was embroiled in a civil war from mid-December 2013 to mid-September 2018. Nearly 400,000 people died, and several million were displaced. The economy nearly collapsed as the nation's output was severely reduced, causing inflation to soar. While prior research on the immediate humanitarian crisis in South Sudan has focused on forced…

As concerns about bullying in schools continue to grow worldwide, the topic has become a major focus of research. However, few studies have used a general strain theory framework to examine whether the exposure to family violence is associated with bullying perpetration. Using structural equation modeling, this study explores whether negative…

Community violence exposure is associated with increased depressive symptoms in adolescents. This study examined whether coping style moderates this relationship over time. Eighty-four low-income, urban adolescents (M[subscript age] = 13.36, 50% female, 95% African American) participated in two waves of a longitudinal study. Youth reported on…

Background: In this study, we examined the development of children's moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and physical education (PE) enjoyment through the Physical Activity as Civil Skill Program 2012-2014. Methods: Participants were 661 (265 intervention, 396 control) elementary school children in central and northeast Finland. The…

Bullying victimization is a pervasive problem nationwide and is related to students' psychological distress, including increased loneliness, anxiety, depression, helplessness, and suicidal behaviors. Importantly, not all students respond to peer victimization in the same way. This study examined the effectiveness of students' coping strategies in…

Girls' vulnerability to sexual violence and harassment is a recurrent theme in much of the literature on schooling in sub-Saharan Africa. Within this research, girls are often framed as passive victims of violence. By drawing on a case study, this paper focuses on 12 to 13-year-old South African school girls as they mediate and participate in…

This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the existence of negative spillover effects from children exposed to corporal punishment in the home (CPH). We find that interactions with peers suffering from CPH depress achievement in both math and language among Vietnamese fifth graders. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in the…

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature on the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in school-aged youth (i.e., [less than or equal to] 18 years). Inclusion and exclusion search criteria led to the identification of 96 articles published during a 25-year period. Articles containing international samples…

Evaluation studies often use stand-alone and summative assessment strategies to examine the impacts of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Gender-based Violence (GBV) prevention education programs. However, implementation research is yet to offer an integrative framework that can be used to investigate the implementation drivers that lead to…