In 2006-07, seven Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) middle schools piloted Algebraic Thinking as an alternate approach to teaching middle school mathematics. Algebraic Thinking was developed to help students in grade 6 reach higher mathematics courses by combining the regular and advanced middle school mathematics courses into one…

Interest in students who exhibit characteristics with difficulties in learning can be traced as far back as 1800. In order to better understand the complexities and causes of learning disabilities, many researchers (Bannatyne, 1968, 1974; Rugal, 1974) have investigated ways to better identify learners who struggle with academics. A strong argument…

This study followed a cohort of students from Grade 1 to Grade 11 in one struggling school district that had Reading Recovery (RR) in the Grade 1. The RR program is an intervention given only to students in the Grade 1 who are reading below grade level on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Assessment. The researched district had a high poverty, high…

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between grade level, perceptual learning style preferences, and language learning strategies among Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in grades 7 through 9. Three hundred and ninety junior high school students participated in this study. The instruments for data…

This study extends the existing adult literature on insecure attachment as a predictor of depression and anxiety by examining these pathways in a sample of adolescents. In addition, dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem were tested as mediators of the association between insecure attachment and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Youth (N =…

This study assessed age and sex differences in the prevalence and incidence rates of syndromal social anxiety (SSA), as well as the predictive role of depressive symptoms and stressful life events on the development and persistence of SSA. A sample of 1,439 young people, between 11 and 14 years of age, was assessed twice within a 12-month…

Previous research highlighted that pupils actively involved in bullying and victimization are prone to develop diverse psychological problems. The overall aim of our study was to investigate effects of different forms of bullying and victimization on coping with interpersonal stressors and psychological adjustment among children and adolescents.…

The annual event dropout rate describes the proportion of students who leave school each year without completing a high school program. The event dropout rates for the school year 2008-2009 of 2.04% for grades 7 through 12th and 2.89% for grades 9 through 12th are consistent with the dropout rates for the past four years. The event completion rate…

The effectiveness of mixed sensory mode presentation for beginning and experienced learners of Chinese characters as second language was investigated. Experiment 1 found that inexperienced 7th graders performed better on meaning recall in the mixed visual-audio mode than the visual mode presentation, but the superiority of these two formats was…

This report examines the student outcomes of Travis County Collaborative Afterschool Program (TCCAP) participants compared to non-participants. Students who attended the afterschool program at most campuses more often had better outcomes.

Increases in substance use prevalence among girls, as well as a lack of research conducted with urban girls of color, highlight the importance of understanding both predictors and outcomes of substance use abstinence (SUA) within this population. This study addresses gaps in SUA research through a longitudinal investigation conducted with urban…

Despite the importance of social support across the lifespan and extensive research on supportive communication between adults, little is known about how children or adolescents respond to the comforting efforts of their peers. The current study was designed to examine how 5th, 7th, and 9th graders evaluate six peer comforting strategies…

The development of intimate same- and other-sex friendships in Arab children and adolescents in Israel was investigated in relation to their perceived parenting styles. It was hypothesized that girls would show higher levels of intimacy than boys, and that cross-sex intimacy in both groups would increase with age, whereas same-sex intimate…

The AISD Student Substance Use and Safety Survey, administered annually to a random, representative sample of AISD students, provides self-report data on student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to substance use and school safety issues. This report summarizes results from the 2010-2011 school year.

Life, in general, is a series of ever-increasing challenges. Ideally, the lessons learned from previous experiences prepare a person for future ones. That isn't always the case, particularly when puberty hits. Despite the many environmental and personal variables converging at the same time, schools can be instrumental in guiding teens through…