High school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often struggle in the complex social and academic secondary environment. Current literature suggests postsecondary success is limited for adults with ASD, but little is known about the high school experiences of individuals with ASD that may be impacting their postsecondary outcomes. Focus…

School districts across the U.S. are experimenting with various reforms in an attempt to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary education and create greater access to postsecondary education for all students. One such reform initiative is the Early College High School (ECHS) model, which allows high school students to earn a diploma…

Taken from a larger study about life in high school classrooms from students' perspectives, this paper discusses how study participants pinpointed individual classrooms as the nerve centers in students' high school experiences. Punctuating the swirls of movement within school days, individual class periods contain clues about how students…

The research examining the correlates of academic achievement is immense. In particular, scores of studies have examined individual- and family-level variables that influence student achievement. Based upon Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological theory of human development, this study extends one step beyond previous studies and incorporates…

This study examined the reasons that four high school students who had previously refused to attend school willingly attended an alternative K-12 school for students with special needs. The two research questions that framed this study were (a) why do students who refused to attend their regular schools willingly attend Brookfield Park? and (b) in…

This article documents a collaborative, teacher inquiry process to uncover a diverse sample of 271 students from an urban high school reflect on teachers they admire and classes in which they feel the most comfortable. The findings indicate that the students described teachers in terms of who the teacher is as a person, the role that he or she…

Interviews with 75 suburban Chicago seniors from the top 15 percent of their classes confirmed the authors' hypothesis that the suburban affluent high school experience is viewed as a deadly boring process which must be endured. (Author/SJL)

It was hypothesized that confrontations between a strict teacher and misbehaving students would add drama and robustness to the classroom. In 88 secondary classrooms, robustness and teacher's control ideology and behavior were measured. The hypothesis was rejected; humanistic control behavior related to high robustness. A companion elementary…

This study compares the school climate perceptions of 1,634 ninth-graders in eight secondary schools on the variables of sex, race, and enrollment in schools with low or high suspension rates. (Author/SJL)

In a small secondary school in rural Georgia, this study sought to identify sample classrooms perceived by students and teachers as varying substantially in environmental robustness and to observe these classrooms to describe and contrast their structural features. Identified characteristics of high- and low-robustness classrooms are listed and…

The opening of a new alternative school in a suburb of a small midwestern city in 1995 provided the opportunity to elicit student perceptions of their past and current school environments. Students were asked at two different times to complete three short scales that characterized teacher, counselor and administrative responsiveness to them: the…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth (LGBT) continue to face extreme discrimination within the school environment. Existing literature suggests that LGBT youth are at high risk for a number of health problems, including suicide ideation and attempts, harassment, substance abuse, homelessness, and declining school performance. This…

A study examining student perceptions of teacher ethnic bias surveyed 2,409 Mexican American and non-Latino white adolescent dropouts and students from three communities in the southwestern United States. Although perceptions of teacher ethnic bias were not rampant, such perceptions existed to a greater degree among dropouts, Mexican Americans,…

This qualitative investigation studies the impact of belonging to a high school Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA or Alliance) on the lives of seven students. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted over a two-year time period. The author used voices of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and straight students to relate the experiences unique to each…