Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the extent to which differences were present in Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement by student demographic characteristics for Grade 6, 7, and 8 students in Texas schools. In the first investigation, the degree to which Disciplinary Alternative Education…

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…

Background: A substantial proportion of adolescents, particularly girls and minority youth, fail to meet daily physical activity (PA) recommendations. Social support contributes to adolescent PA, but studies examining this relationship have yielded inconsistent results and rarely focus on diverse, urban populations. Aims: This study examines the…

The present study reports on an investigation of the generalizability of the technical adequacy of the Positive Experience at School Scale (PEASS) with a sample of students (N = 1,002) who differed substantially in age/grade level (i.e., adolescents in middle school as opposed to children in elementary school) and ethnic identity (i.e., majority…

Background: Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the…

School belonging (i.e., social connectedness to school) has positive implications for academic achievement and well-being. However, few studies have examined the developmental antecedents of school belonging, particularly for students of Mexican origin. To address this gap in the research literature, the present study examined reciprocal relations…

Relationships among bully victimization, bully perpetration, ethnic identity, and subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) were examined in a group of urban, ethnically diverse early adolescents. Indices of subjective well-being correlated with participants' scores on bully victimization and…

We investigated the effect of participating in two domains of extracurricular activities (sports and performance arts/clubs) in Grades 7 and 8 on Grade 9 academic motivation and letter grades, above baseline performance. Participants were 483 students (55% male; 33% Euro-American, 25% African American, and 39% Latino). Propensity score weighting…

This study examined the contribution of classroom format on teaching effectiveness and achievement in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Secondary data analyses of the Measures of Effective Teaching database included 464 US classrooms. Classrooms were defined as self-contained if a generalist teacher provided instruction on all subjects…

Past studies have shown positive correlations between the arts and academic achievement when the arts were integrated into the literature curriculum. Other studies have shown positive associations between the arts and other areas of the curriculum, such as mathematics and science. Considering the Theory of Change, which employs understandings in…

Schools with very few and relatively low-performing marginalized students may be most likely to trigger social identity threats (including stereotype threats) that contribute to racial disparities. We test this hypothesis by assessing variation in the benefits of a self-affirmation intervention designed to counteract social identity threat in a…

Racial/ethnic (R/E) socialization is widely practiced in R/E minority families. However, only recently have models been developed to understand how parents' R/E socialization messages influence adolescent development. The primary goal of the present study was to clarify and extend existing work on R/E socialization in African American (Black)…

One provocative explanation for the continued persistence of minority achievement gaps involves the performance-dampening anxiety thought to be experienced by minority students in highly evaluative settings (i.e., "stereotype threat"). Recent field-experimental studies suggest that modest, low-cost "buffering" interventions…

This study of 1,601 students in the middle years of schooling (Grades 5-8, each student measured twice, 1 year apart) from 200 classrooms in 44 schools sought to identify factors explaining gains and declines in mathematics engagement at key transition points. In multilevel regression modeling, findings showed that compared with Grade 6 students…

The United States Department of Education (2005) cited that during 2005-2006 academic school year an estimated 2 million students across the nation were eligible to receive after-school services. The after-school tutoring program is one of the most effective instructional strategies to assist low-performing students to meet criteria mandated by…