Introduction: Current literature recognizes that various socialization agents often shape political behavior. This study employs frameworks of political socialization and political agency to explore how extracurricular activities and political intentions established at age 16 influence aspects of political participation and civic engagement at age…

A major concern in science education is how to help students form science identity to increase their aspiration for STEM careers. Given the key role of experiences in individual's science identity formation, STEM experiences related to project-based learning (PBL) have received increasing attention in recent years. The purpose of this study was to…

Few studies holistically examine how students experience the multiple dimensions of school climate and resilience promoting characteristics, or how these two constructs may be interrelated. This study utilised a sample of 78,550 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students in California. Roughly half of the participants were female (52%), and roughly half…

High-quality early childcare and education (ECE) has demonstrated long-term associations with positive educational and life outcomes and can be particularly impactful for children from low-income backgrounds. This study extends the literature on the long-term associations between high-quality caregiver sensitivity and responsiveness and cognitive…

Background: Research on academic development has mainly focused on early time periods with less attention on individual differences in development in the later school years. Methods: To improve our knowledge of how students develop academically during later school years, this study used a multivariate growth model to investigate the developmental…

There is a heated debate about the efficacy of growth mindsets in predicting achievement and other key learning-related outcomes with some studies supporting and others failing to find evidence of growth mindset's adaptive effects. Moreover, past studies on mindsets have mostly examined it as a psychological variable with little attention to how…

When students look back on their most important teachers, the social aspects of their education are often what they recall. Learning to set goals, take risks and responsibility, or simply believe in oneself are often fodder for fond thanks--alongside mastering precalculus, becoming a critical reader, or remembering the capital of Turkmenistan. The…

We examined the relationship between high school and collegiate organizational involvement and their differential and collective effects on the development of leader self-efficacy, motivation to lead and leadership skill. Our goal was to better understand how the student leader development process unfolds at different points in time over young…

This study identifies student characteristics that predict participation in Transition Year, an optional developmental year (Grade 10) offered midway through secondary education in Ireland. One thousand eighty five students (51% female; mean age = 15.4 years) completed a questionnaire in Grade 9, providing information on demographic, attitudinal…

Background: Many studies have looked at students' mathematics achievement in the middle and high school years and the kinds of factors that are associated with their achievement. Within this domain, however, most research utilized cross-sectional data. Cross-sectional designs have both statistical and conceptual limitations. Few studies used…

Background/Context: Schools have attempted to address stratification in black and Latino students' access to higher education through extensive reform initiatives, including those focused on social supports. A crucial focus has been missing from these efforts, essential to improving the effectiveness of support mechanisms and understanding why…

Background: While there are numerous claims that physical activity promotes positive youth development, there is a need for more empirical research in this area. Many qualitative studies suggest a relationship between a youth development orientation and participants' attitudes and behaviors in physical activity programs. A quantitative analysis of…

Approximately 28% of students with disabilities do not complete high school (National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2005). This increases the likelihood that these students will experience low wages, high rates of incarceration, and limited access to postsecondary education. This article reviews evidence-based secondary transition practices…

In recent years, there has been heightened awareness of the importance of early childhood education and high school as intervention points in the educational lives of America's children. Less attention has been paid to the importance of the upper elementary grades and middle school and the role they must play in the preparation of students for…

Using data from a national study spanning 12 years, I examined the effects of several middle-school and high-school variables on completion versus non-completion of the bachelor's degree. All young people in the study had attended college with the purpose of attaining the bachelor's. Several variables had practically significant effects on degree…