This study examines patterns of organized activity and their concurrent association with academic achievement, problem behavior, and perceived adult support in a sample of urban, early adolescent, middle school students (mean age = 13.01; N = 2,495). Cluster analyses yielded six activity profiles: an uninvolved group (n = 775, 31.1%), a multiply…

Purpose: Addressing substance abuse in rural America requires extending our understanding beyond urban-rural comparisons to how substance abuse varies across rural communities of different sizes. We address this gap by examining substance abuse prevalence across 4 geographic levels, focusing on youth (age 12-17 years) and young adults (age 18-25…

No matter how well teachers are prepared to teach, no matter what accountability measures are put in place, no matter what governing structures are established for schools, educational progress will be profoundly limited if students are not "motivated and able to learn". Health-related problems play a major role in limiting the motivation and…

In this paper we articulate an alternative approach to look at video games and learning to become a creator and contributor in the digital culture. Previous discussions have focused mostly on playing games and learning. Here, we discuss game making approaches and their benefits for illuminating game preferences and learning both software design…

Youth who experience either LD or teenage motherhood often drop out of school. Further, about 50% of young girls with LD become mothers by their early 20s compared to 28% of young women in the general population. There is therefore a high likelihood that teenage mothers with LD will drop out of school. Dropping out of school is of concern because…

With the explosion of technology, librarians are not the only ones who sometimes feel that reading has taken a backseat as a recreational activity. Readers are not reading like they used to. However, while overall readership is down in almost every demographic group, African-Americans, a faction traditionally considered reluctant readers, are…

Bullying negatively impacts the mental and physical health of student victims, bullies and bystanders. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme is an internationally recognized school based programme demonstrated effective in research. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Bullying Prevention Programme was effective for urban youth…

How smartness is defined within schools contributes to low academic achievement by poor and racial/ethnic minority students. Using Holland et al.'s (1998) [Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (Eds.) (1998). "Identity and agency in cultural worlds." Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.] concept of "figured worlds," this paper…

Nativity schools--there are over forty in urban areas throughout the United States--provide an important alternative to urban middle schools failing to provide their students with an adequate education. Nativity schools, which are privately funded, provide a year-round educational experience for at-risk urban children. They feature small classes,…

In this article the authors explore the relationship between concepts of identity and the purpose, process, and products of youth media arts organizations. Since the explicit mission of these organizations is to work with adolescents to explore and represent identities, the authors develop our understanding of how organizations conceptualize…

This study investigated the effects of the "Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention" (ERI) on growth rates in the early literacy skills of urban at-risk kindergarten students. Students participated in one of three groups: treatment-intensive/ strategic, treatment-benchmark, and nontreatment-benchmark. Treatment group students received…

Adolescent academic achievement is closely linked to numerous health outcomes. Studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between parental academic monitoring and adolescent academic achievement. Less is known about factors associated with parental academic monitoring, and research is particularly lacking with low-income, African American…

This study examines type-specific and cumulative experiences of violence among a vulnerable population of youth. Sixty high-risk, shelter-dwelling, urban youth were interviewed regarding their history of childhood maltreatment, exposure to community violence (ECV), and experience with intimate partner violence (IPV). Results show a high prevalence…

This paper uses household level data from National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) of India, the 55th (1999-2000) and the 61st (2004-05) rounds, to show that even with a significant wage incentive for schooling of urban children, the school drop out rate and child labour incidence are not small over this period. The parents' level of education…

Data from jurisdictions throughout California were analyzed to determine the impact of juvenile curfew laws on youth crime. It was hypothesized that jurisdictions with strict curfew enforcement would experience lower overall and serious crime arrests than jurisdictions with less strict curfew enforcement. It was also hypothesized that…