Tier 1 school mental health programs for middle school youth often focus on healthy relationships promotion. However, the vast majority of these programs take a gender- and race-neutral approach (i.e., content that does not focus on the way that gender, race, and ethnicity intersect to shape relationships and mental health). Embedding these…

Within schools across the nation, disproportionality in school discipline policies and practices continues to impact many racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) students. To combat the detrimental implications of discipline disproportionality, systemic changes to policies, practices, and accountability for teachers and school staff are…

Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) functioning within schools has historically been considered in the context of educational impact. Currently, traditional models in education do not readily take into account changing ecological considerations for students, as they experience heightened population-wide academic and SEB concerns, increasing…

Purpose: The Santa Ana Unified School District received an i3 grant (Investing in Innovation; funded by the U.S. Department of Education Grant number U411C160074) to build on their existing school climate practices. Called the Enhanced Positive School Climate Model, the aim is to improve school climate, student-adult relationships, create social…

Adolescence can be a particularly difficult time for youth as they experience the physical, social, and academic changes that accompany maturation. One of the most critical challenges for schools is teaching adolescent students positive social and emotional skills, which are crucial for them to succeed academically and emotionally. "Strong…

Teachers and administrators across the United States struggle to maintain safe, civil, and community- and achievement-oriented schools. Disciplinary actions (such as school suspensions) and security measures (such as school resource officers/security guards and security cameras) are some approaches commonly used in schools to try to improve school…

In any K-12 classroom in America, chances are that at least one student is dealing directly with bullying, harassment, or another type of emotional or physical violence. What can teachers, principals, and school district leaders do to improve safety at their schools? There is some evidence that improving the social and emotional skills of both…

Teachers and administrators across the United States struggle to maintain safe, civil, community- and achievement-oriented schools. Disciplinary actions (such as school suspensions) and security measures (such as school resource officers/security guards and security cameras) are some approaches commonly used in schools to try to improve school…

Second Step is a social-emotional, skill-based, violence-prevention programme, which has been adapted for several European countries. The various versions of the programme (for kindergarten/preschool, elementary school, middle school) have been evaluated in a series of research studies. The outcomes and study designs of these studies are reported…

Numerous authors have reviewed research to determine which skills are considered fundamental to successful academic and social outcomes for students (Hattie, Briggs, & Purdie, 1996; Masten & Coatworth, 1998; Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1994; Zins, Weissberg, Wang, & Walberg, 2004). These skills include: (1) cognitive and…

This article provides an overview of the Writers Matter program, which allows adolescents to use their life stories as a vehicle for self-expression and writing skill development. Evaluations of the program have show increased writing skills among participating students in the areas of focus, content, organization, and grammar. Additional benefits…

This report summarizes 2009-2010 evaluation results of AISD's middle level education plan.

The second edition of this essential handbook provides a comprehensive, updated overview of the science that informs best practices for the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) processes within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to facilitate the academic success of all students. The volume includes insights from leading scholars…

Zili Sloboda, Sc.D., and colleagues at the University of Akron, Ohio, designed and evaluated "Take Charge of Your Life", a substance abuse prevention curriculum for 7th- and 9th-grade students delivered by D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) police officers. They designed "Take Charge of Your Life" to impact students'…

Social skill development is emerging as an important issue for educators and practitioners in their work with adolescent youth. This presentation will use the results from two ongoing research projects to examine the relationship between adventure-based programming and social skill development in the lives of diverse youth. The first project is…