The paper investigates reputational status dynamics (coolness and popularity) in a Hungarian primary school sample. The data derives from an emergent mixed methods research study, where one wave of a panel data collection (N = 754) was complemented with focus group interviews (N = 144) among sixth grade students (age 12-13). The quantitative…

In most Western countries, girls outperform boys in academic engagement, scholastic achievement, and school completion. In the current study, researchers assessed the developmental trajectories of European French and North African French boys' (N = 549; M[subscript age] = 11.9 years) perceptions of girls' and boys' ability to succeed in school.…

The middle school transition year poses known challenges to early adolescent adjustment, particularly for students from ethnic and racial minoritized backgrounds who face ethnic and racial discrimination from school personnel and classmates. Drawing on a sample of 711 African American and Latinx sixth-grade students attending 17 schools, we…

Supporting student wellbeing in schools is increasingly becoming a global priority. However, research and initiatives primarily focus on general wellbeing rather than subject-specific experiences. Given the pervasive levels of mathematics anxiety, negative attitudes, and disengagement in mathematics education, we argue for a more contextualised…

Although learning environments research has thrived for decades in many countries and school subjects, English classroom environment research is still in its infancy. This article paves the way for expanding research on English classroom environments by (1) reviewing the limited past research in English classrooms and (2) reporting the first study…

This study aims at disentangling the effects of status generalization and social identity processes on ability perceptions among early adolescents. Double standards theory predicts that people use different standards for making inferences about others' abilities based on social status. Social identity processes, however, imply that people evaluate…

This study examines developmental change across adolescence in the similarity of friends versus nonfriends. This differential in similarity is a key aspect of the organization of the peer context of development: The stronger the correlation between friends for an attribute, the more the attribute delineates clustering and divisions of friendships.…

Gender in physical education (PE) traditionally enacts discourses of hegemonic masculinities where girls are frequently positioned as the 'problem' regarding their disengagement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of mostly ethnic minority and low-socioeconomic status elementary school girls enrolled in an urban…

Scholarship on the 'manufacturing of citizenship' has focused primarily on European and American nationalism. Scholars have noted the scarcity of research on identity construction among children in the Diaspora. This study explores the role of the altruistic principle and the Middle Way approach (a political strategy for the resolution of…

The present study examined influences of sixth-grade student-reported parent educational involvement on early adolescent peer group affiliations at seventh and eighth grade. In addition, student gender and ethnicity were explored as possible moderators. Drawn from a large effectiveness trial, participants in this study were 5,802 early adolescents…

The purpose of this study was to examine any relationships between students' perceptions of the effects of school uniforms and student socioeconomic status. A survey was administered to 182 students in a charter school to gather perception information, and a separate survey was administered to parents to gather socioeconomic status information. An…

This research examined the process and conditions of social projection of biased ethnic attitudes to classmates in two samples of Grades 4-6 children (n = 342, M[subscript age] = 10.75, SD = 0.98; 49% girls; and n = 525, M[subscript age] = 10.49 years, SD = 0.96; 51% girls). Children reported on the ethnic group norm in their classroom and on…

This study examines the nature and implications of peer academic reputations in math and science classes for early adolescents' achievement beliefs and behaviors. The sample was 840 students (51% girls; 36% African American, 47% European American, 7% Latino, 6% Asian American, and 3% Other). About half the sample (47%) was from 27 fifth-grade…

The period of early adolescence is characterized by dramatic changes, simultaneously affecting physiological, psychological, social, and cognitive development. The physical transition from elementary to middle school can exacerbate the stress and adversity experienced during this critical life stage. Middle school students often struggle to find…

Data from 1,312 middle school students from nine states in the U.S. were gathered in spring 2015 during an NSF grant initiative featuring middle school environmental science curricular activities. Surveys related to STEM dispositions, career interest, climate change, creative tendencies and attitudes toward school were completed by participants,…