Social and emotional (SE) skills are related to many positive outcomes, including degree attainment, improved academic performance, and increased life satisfaction, and are often taught through social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. A positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For…

Because the pandemic exacerbated chronic absenteeism in many parts of the country, the need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. Accordingly, this study breaks new ground by examining high schools' contributions to attendance after accounting for individual students' prior absenteeism and other…

Nationally, school-based mental health (SBMH) is seen as an avenue to increase access to children's mental health services and promote mental health awareness. The current article describes the implementation of a statewide SBMH program focusing on partnerships between community-based providers and local school systems, with providers embedded…

High school administrators in the Carter School District (CSD) are aware of the negative impact exclusionary discipline has on students, but they exclude students anyway. This study used qualitative methods to answer the following research questions: How do high school administrators in CSD describe and explain their discipline decision-making?…

Drawing insights from a qualitative study with 15 newcomer immigrant students, this article examines the students' developing understandings of the meaning of diversity in school. Although contradictory, the students' collective narratives reveal a keen analysis of a complex social setting, in which race, language, and nationality are seen…

With the increase in school violence on campuses all over the country and the increased media attention that these incidents receive. The amount of pressure on school leaders to develop and implement interventions for students is mounting from all angles. Politicians, parents, students, advocates and others have been extremely vocal in their…

A sample of sexual- and gender-minority students (n = 65; 51.6% female; 55.8% White; M age = 16.94 years) reported more peer victimization, lower academic achievement, and poorer perceptions of school safety as compared to their heterosexual allied peers. Sexual- and gender-minority students demonstrating higher levels of sexual activity and…

For decades, research summarizing educational outcomes has indicated significant disparities, which continue to impact the academic achievement and wellbeing of Black students in Ontario. These concerns are further amplified due to the lack of disaggregated educational data, making it difficult to outline and address disparities for specific…

This study examines the role played by a limited number of fear-of-crime correlates in structuring variations in fear of violent victimization expressed by a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents who participated in the 2013 National Crime Victimization Survey School Crime Supplement. Results show that both male and female…

In recent years, there has been a growing social, educational, and public policy focus on investigating the correlates associated with youth carrying weapons in their communities and schools. Victimization and other correlates such as drug use and violent risk behaviors among youth have been linked to deviant behavior including weapon carrying.…

The response patterns of youth who witness bullying have potential to influence future occurrence and persistence of bullying behaviors. Prevention efforts have included an increased focus on bystander interventions; however, the majority of adolescents rarely intervene in bullying situations. When they do, they often display of mixed pattern of…

Background: Threat assessment is a widely recommended practice used by schools to investigate and respond to student threats of violence; however, students are often reluctant to disclose threats. Methods: We developed an online educational program for students to increase their understanding of threat assessment and the need to report serious…

Background: Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) high school students as well as related environment and school-level risk and protective factors were examined. Methods: Data was acquired from the 2015 CDC's Youth Behavior Risk Survey for Kentucky (N = 2577). Prevalence of substance use was calculated for…

This study aimed to understand the extent to which parent involvement, community involvement, and schoolwide violence-prevention initiatives reduced school violence, considering school racial/ethnic compositions and crime levels of school locations. We used school-level data collected during the 2009-2010 school year, covering elementary schools…

This study examines the impact of bullying victimization on school avoidance by proposing the following hypotheses: (1) Net of other factors, students who have experienced bullying victimization are more likely to engage in school avoidance behaviors; (2) There are protective factors that will decrease this relationship between bullying…