Researchers have made convincing arguments for the benefits of a smooth transition to school. The passage through this significant social change may have a lasting influence on children's progress. For example, social, emotional and academic difficulties in the early years of schooling have been shown to persist through school and into…

Research exploring the experiences of college student athletes has traditionally revealed low levels of academic achievement and success. This was especially true of minority college athletes, who demonstrated lower graduation rates than their majority counterparts. However, more recent data suggests the reverse of this trend may now be true. The…

Mexican American adolescents are now the largest linguistically and culturally diverse ethnic group in our schools today. Acculturation difficulties of adapting to a new culture may effect adolescent achievement in school. Mexican American adolescents may be torn between their ethnic heritage and the culture of the U.S. They must master a new…

High rates of aggressive-disruptive behavior exhibited by children during their initial years of elementary school increase their risk for significant behavioral adjustment problems with teachers and peers. The purpose of the present study was to examine the unique and combined contributions of child vulnerabilities and school context to the…

Background: This study took place in the context of recent legislation enacted in several countries--including France--and aimed at promoting inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities. It focuses on young children with autism and examines the links between the children's characteristics and their weekly hours of regular-classroom…

This investigation examines teacher and child perceptions of teacher-child relationships and early school adjustment among children (N = 157) in low-income urban schools. Consistent with prior research, findings indicated that teacher-child relationships were associated with early school adjustment; however, the strength of this association varied…

Why do students leave college and how can colleges retain them? Researchers and administrators have been asking these questions for decades and have discovered that student persistence is a complex phenomenon. First-year student departure from postsecondary institutions is a concern for most colleges and universities. U.S. colleges and…

This study addressed the extent to which social class position structures a sense of belonging at college, and the ways in which belonging informs adjustment to college. Among 322 liberal arts college students, social class background was significantly associated with a sense of belonging at college and was marginally related to academic…

The National Household Education Survey, a nationally representative data set (N = 4,306 high school students and one parent of each), was analyzed to describe characteristics of adolescents, the nature of their service activities, and academic, behavioral and civic outcomes associated with service (voluntary compared to school-required and by…

A qualified conclusion of the study is that undecided students are less satisfied with the college environment in terms of the measures used in this study than were decided students. (Author)

Peer victimization among schoolchildren is a common problem that predicts serious maladjustment. In this article, the authors define peer victimization, provide a brief overview of the history of research on the topic, and review prevalence rates, common measurement approaches, and the correlates of peer victimization. This review leads to…

Many adult students with learning disabilities have entered postsecondary schools in recent years. Many of these students experience cognitive, emotional, and behavioral limitations that may act as obstacles in their educational processes and subsequent careers. Research has shown that self-determination skills can help ameliorate the effects of…

This study investigates 311 first-year students' psychological and behavior adaptation to college and the mediate role of coping strategies and social support. The investigates reveal that: (1) first-year students who are from countryside, live in poor families, speak in dialects or major in science and engineering have poorer adaptation to…

The author relates that she was an introvert child. It has always taken her time and energy to find her place in a group. As a grown-up, she still needed quiet time to regroup during a busy day. In this article, the author presents an interview with Marti Olsen Laney, author of "The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child." During the interview,…

Responses of 178 first-semester, male college students to a questionnaire of grief reactions during the transition process revealed grief was affected by: (1) being first in one's family to attend college; (2) distance from home; and (3) frequency of home visits. Higher grievers, regardless of ethnicity, evidenced greater pessimism toward college…