The purpose of this study was to identify emotional, behavioral, and academic co-occurring risk profiles of third-grade youth and to understand how they are longitudinally associated with later outcomes in sixth grade. The latent profile analysis of data from a U.S. Midwest community sample of 1,785 third graders resulted in five classes of risk…

Understanding achievement and discipline trajectories of Latinx students is critical given disproportionate dropout/pushout rates of Latinx students from schools across the U.S. Using a Critical Race Theory framework, the current study examined longitudinal associations amongst a sample of (N = 1672) Latinx youths' school readiness at kindergarten…

The urban classroom environment presents unique challenges related to student behavior and classroom management. This dissertation investigates the effectiveness of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as a proactive approach to addressing these challenges. The study examines the impact of PBIS implementation in urban schools,…

Students with and without disabilities may be educated across various service delivery models (SDMs): general education, cotaught, pull-out, and self-contained. Still, evidence for their relative effectiveness at scale remains limited. Using longitudinal administrative data from Indiana, we measured the effect of different SDMs on test scores,…

The problem addressed in this study is that, in a rural Title I public school in the Northeastern United States, administrators have struggled to implement leadership strategies to support the reduction of student discipline issues in the classroom. The purpose of the study was to investigate how administrators implement leadership strategies that…

There is a paucity of research on the causal relationship between arts learning and educational outcomes. Investigating these relationships has become imperative as policymakers increasingly prioritize empirical evidence of educational impacts, which often leads to curriculum narrowing that favors traditionally-tested subjects. Employing a…

The meta-analysis, that included 75 studies, examined the relationship between illegal drug consumption, on the one hand, and student academic and behavioral outcomes, on the other, for the middle school to college grade levels. The meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship…

Research shows that discipline problems are prevalent in public schools and continue to be one of the greatest challenges in education. In "Building Bridges," author Don Parker shows educators how to address this issue head-on. He shares an array of evidence-based strategies to build teacher-student relationships and create a welcoming…

Educational inequalities persist between students of low socioeconomic status and their more affluent peers. At the same time, there is evidence of positive relations between student engagement and achievement. This multiple case study investigates a national project aimed at increasing student engagement and achievement through post-COVID-19…

Students experiencing homelessness spend their nights in various settings, including shelters, with friends/families (doubled-up), motels/hotels, and unsheltered contexts. Yet there is limited quantitative research on how educational outcomes vary by residential context. We analyze data from over 400,000 students in Houston Independent School…

We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students' academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence…

Suspensions and expulsions have long been employed in schools to discipline students for disruptive behavior and maintain a safe school environment. However, a growing body of research suggests that these types of disciplinary interventions negatively impact student achievement and increase both students' risk of dropping out and their likelihood…

In this study, the effects of some student (e.g., gender, bullying, etc.) and school variables (e.g., emphasis on academic achievement, clarity of teaching, etc.) on the TIMSS 2015 science and mathematics achievement of eighth grade students in Türkiye were examined by controlling for the socioeconomic status of the students at the student and…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has been shown to be a promising approach for improving a range of behavioral health and academic outcomes for youth. This study leveraged data from the scale-up of PBIS and a randomized controlled trial, both conducted in Maryland, to estimate the dollars saved per 100 students as a result of…

In 2015, the United States Congress replaced the "No Child Left Behind Elementary and Secondary Act" with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (P.L. 114-95), which identifies health and physical education as key components of a well-rounded education (Cooper, Greenberg, Castelli, Barton, Martin & Morrow, 2016). This followed a…