Over the past decade, there has been an increase of 1:1 laptop schools across the United States. Yet, minimal research exists which examines the experiences of school site administrators as they lead the implementation of a 1:1 laptop school initiative. This case study investigated the roles of principals and assistant principals leading 1:1…

School-age children are at high risk of experiencing traumatic and stressful events that can negatively impact their academic, emotional, and behavior performance. Students that have been exposed to a traumatic and adverse experience present with high rates of dropout, low academic performance, conduct problems, aggression, depression, and…

Knowledge about the role of empathy, emotional self-efficacy, and loneliness on early adolescents' depressive symptoms is scarce. The main aims of the study were to investigate the following: (a) the role of empathy and emotional self-efficacy (additive and interactive) on loneliness and depressive symptoms, taking into account gender differences…

In this study we explored students' perspectives and experiences engaging in an arts integration learning model during middle school through a pluralistic lens of creative engagement in learning. The sample included N=86 students in Grades 6-7 attending schools in fringe rural and urban locales from small and mid-sized cities in the Pacific…

This study used growth curve modeling to map risk by gender across the middle school transition. Participants included 609 (49.5% female) students in grades 4-8 in an urban school serving primarily African American youth from low-income communities. Results indicated that overall risk increased over time and was consistent over the middle school…

Latino immigrant children represent the fastest-growing population in the United States and families are frequently residing outside of the traditional migration destinations. These cities lack the infrastructure and resources to provide culturally relevant services and bilingual education that supports these youth. Following a social-ecological…

This study examined multiple risk behaviors (violence, delinquency, and substance use) among 240 African American and 262 Hispanic preadolescent boys from urban schools in the Midwest United States. Latent transition analysis allowed patterns of multivariate risk to emerge uniquely within and across these ethnic groups, highlighting patterns for…

This article examines the relationship between exposure to violence, fear of exposure to violence, and sexual risk among a sample of urban middle school youth. The sample included 911 seventh-grade students who completed self-report surveys. Approximately 20% of the sample reported at least one direct threat or injury with a weapon in the past 3…

Given the steady increase of students from diverse backgrounds in the U.S. educational system, in particular immigrant and Latino students, it is important to consider how to best support all students within our schools. The present study focuses on the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2) Behavioral and Emotional…

The comprehensive assessment of middle school student bonding is important for basic research and to evaluate interventions. In this study, the psychometric properties of three assessment tools found in the literature were examined individually and then combined to create a shorter survey. With minor modifications, the tools were found to be…

We reported findings of an exploratory validation study of a revised universal screening instrument: the Student Risk Screening Scale--Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE) for use with middle school students. Tested initially for use with elementary-age students, the SRSS-IE was adapted to include seven additional items reflecting…

Introduction: Group-randomized trials (GRTs) are one of the most rigorous methods for evaluating the effectiveness of group-based health risk prevention programs. Efficiently designing GRTs with a sample size that is sufficient for meeting the trial's power and precision goals while not wasting resources exceeding them requires estimates of the…

Background: Whereas dating violence among high school students has been linked with sexual risk-taking and substance use, this association has been understudied among early adolescents. We estimated the prevalence of physical and nonphysical dating violence in a sample of middle school students and examined associations between dating violence,…

This study examined adolescents' patterns of beliefs about aggression, and how these patterns relate to aggressive and prosocial behavior, and to risk factors associated with aggression. A sample of 477 sixth graders from two urban schools and a school in a nearby county completed measures of beliefs, behavior, and individual, peer and parental…

This study empirically derived a multiple risk factors model of the development of aggression among middle school students in urban, low-income neighborhoods, using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). Results indicated that aggression increased from sixth to eighth grade. Additionally, the influences of four risk domains (individual, family,…