Youth-adult partnerships are a powerful means to nurture and amplify youths' voices and create social change. Drawing on our own framework, critical positive youth development, and our experience pilot testing the #PassTheMicYouth curriculum, we identified four promising practices to cultivate youth-adult partnerships. 4-H professionals can use…

Clinical sexual health consultations with young women often focus on avoiding "risks;" namely pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection transmission. They also typically fail to explore how contraception use can impact on the capacity to enjoy sexual relationships. In contrast, this paper argues that sexual pleasure should be a…

To attain the most academic success among adolescent English Language Learners (ELL), the efforts of all the people associated with them must be combined along with multiple resources. Integration of curriculum content, instructional strategies, assessment, cultural responsiveness, and community resources are all critical components of success.…

This article examines instructional strategies that middle school educators can use in inclusive settings in order to support the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) students. These nine strategies are appropriate for both typical and atypical learners in a whole group setting, but they are particularly useful…

Self-determination is essential to promoting successful transitions for students with and without disabilities. Numerous studies have found that positive relationships are central to the ability to be self-determined, thus making relationship building a key area to address to promote successful transitions. This article provides information on…

For all students, the academic demands of secondary school are numerous. Students must be able to read and write in a variety of content areas; determine the importance of what is being said by the instructor; take notes in a format that can be used later for review; and keep track of their materials, class requirements, and daily schedules. Most…

Adolescence is a challenging time for most young people, but for those with or at-risk of developing emotional or mental health conditions, it can be particularly harrowing. Studies indicate that 1 in 5 adolescents have some sort of serious emotional, behavioral, or mental health problem. Early identification and treatment can make a substantial…

All teenagers take risks as a normal part of growing up. Risk-taking is the tool an adolescent uses to define and develop his or her identity, and healthy risk-taking is a valuable experience. Healthy adolescent risk-taking behaviors which tend to have a positive impact on an adolescent's development can include participation in sports, the…

Including students with disabilities fully in the general education curriculum has become accepted in elementary schools, but issues such as teacher collaboration, standardized testing, gaps in skill levels, and scheduling challenges continue to pose significant obstacles to full inclusion in middle schools and high school. This article describes…

This paper describes an instance of a disadvantaged (urban) Australian government school that realized it had little alternative but to try new approaches; "old ways" were not working. The paper describes an ensemble of school reform practices, philosophies and strategies that give young adolescents genuine ownership of their learning.…

Discusses how young male voices change due to development during puberty, the make-up of their voices, and the effect male peers have on their decision to become a choir member. Explains how male adolescents can be encouraged to join the choir and how teachers can strengthen their male students' voices. (CMK)

Discusses the central areas of dispute over character education. Outlines an agenda for character education focusing on goals and practices. Addresses appropriate goals for character education proposing that civic literacy be embraced by character education advocates. Argues that character education in practice should adopt a developmental…

Presents a course entitled "Growing Up in America: Past, Present, Future" that focuses on children's experiences of growing up in different social settings, the transformations of growing up from the early modern era to the present, and the distinctions between the norms and actual patterns of children's experiences. Includes the course syllabus.…

Strategies for promoting moral development in early adolescence reviewed include the "plus-one" model, Deliberate Psychological Education, didactic courses in social studies, and a high school Just Community on moral reasoning. (CJ)

Spiritual development in adolescents is marked by the search for meaning, longing for solitude, urge for transcendence, hunger for joy, creative drive, and hunger for rites of passage. Educators can foster spiritual development by creating an environment where students can explore these yearnings and make connections within themselves, to other…