The current study investigated the relationships between bonding social capital, perceptions of justice, and well-being (i.e. the level of depressive symptoms endorsed) in middle and high school students. Previous research has found personal belief in a just world (BJW) and bonding social capital to be associated with positive student well-being…

Students experience fluctuations in their motivation over time, including deficits in motivation. How students respond to motivation problems has consequences for their future persistence and performance in school. Therefore, it is important to understand how students reason about motivation problems when they arise. In this research, we focus on…

This study aimed to better understand the relationships between U.S. high school students' STEM-related educational experiences, expectancy-value attitudes, achievement, course-taking, and college major choices. Analyses employed data from three waves of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) and used structural equation modeling to…

This study explored racial differences in internalizing and externalizing problems among minority adolescents in impoverished urban communities. The study centered on a sample of 211 participants who were engaged in the 2018 Building Resilience Against Violence Engagement (BRAVE) programs. Their internalizing and externalizing problems were…

Within postsecondary education, we often equate students' need for support with socioeconomic status (SES). There is also recognition of the challenges faced by Black students while navigating higher education. Programmatic and policy efforts to address these issues often focus on singular aspects of students' identities, particularly for low-SES…

Student involvement is integral to transition planning for students with learning disabilities (LD). However, only a small body of research has examined the perspectives of high school students with LD related to this process. We conducted a systematic literature review and subsequent metasynthesis of 14 studies that met criteria and quality…

Dual enrollment (DE) programs allow high school students to take college coursework and simultaneously earn both high school and college credit. These programs have become increasingly popular in recent decades, with roughly one-third of high school students taking at least one DE course. However, the financial implications of taking DE courses…

The findings reported in this paper are based on surveys of U.S. high school students who registered and managed their science and engineering fair (SEF) projects through the online Scienteer website over the three years 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22. Almost 2500 students completed surveys after finishing all their SEF competitions. We added a new…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) youth experience more heterosexist bullying victimization than their straight peers, which contributes to mental health disparities. However, LGBQ youth may simultaneously experience other types of bias-based bullying (e.g., racist, cis-sexist, and able-ist bullying). Informed by intersectionality theory,…

Background: Sport-related concussions are a major public health problem with only 50% of concussed teens reporting their symptoms. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify individual and institutional factors that contribute to concussion knowledge, attitude, and reporting behaviors among US high school athletes. Methods: The…

The meta-analysis, that included 75 studies, examined the relationship between illegal drug consumption, on the one hand, and student academic and behavioral outcomes, on the other, for the middle school to college grade levels. The meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship…

Support from parents and school staff are important for adolescent well-being. However, few studies have examined the role of parental involvement and adult social support at school on high school students' mental health, specifically, suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). Data were collected from 362,980 high school students (51.85% female)…

Has the achievement of U.S. students improved over the past half century? Have gaps between racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups widened or narrowed? These and similar questions provoke near-constant conversation. But answers are uncertain, partly because research to date has yielded inconsistent findings. In this article, the authors bring…

Current data suggests that for every 1000 U.S. high school students only about a dozen from Racial and Ethnic Minority (REM) groups will obtain a STEM degree and pursue a STEM occupation. These numbers underscore the wealth of untapped talent in our high schools and the pressing need to broaden participation among REM students in STEM. Yet,…

The disparity in academic achievement in mathematics between White and non-White students has been documented across the country and discussed in depth in academic research. Ladson-Billings (2006) cited the "education debt" that the nation has allowed to grow as a source for this disparity. Anderson (2017) and Battey and Levey (2016)…