As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates existing racial inequities, the spotlight shines on Minnesota's gaps in income, health care, housing, and college completion rates. Most notably, COVID-19 is significantly impacting K-12 education. Forced to evacuate school buildings and shift to teaching and learning online, this is a necessary…

Background/Context: The transition from high school to college marks a critical juncture for students planning to pursue higher education, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds. Unfortunately, many of these students are left to navigate complex financial aid requirements, registration processes, and academic placement with…

This essay shows how one professor teaching "Introduction to Buddhism" sought to counteract his students' view that Chinese and Tibetan forms of Buddhism represented a deviation from a "pure" Indian Buddhism rather than worthwhile forms of creativity and religiosity in themselves. A simple comparative assignment that asked a…

The purpose of this research is to determine whether the achievement gap between Black and White students differs significantly between Minnesota public charter schools and traditional Minnesota public schools. The reading and math proficiency gaps between Black and White students in Minnesota are among the largest in the nation. Despite the fact…

Juvenile recidivism is a serious public health concern. Using statewide administrative data, this study examined the independent predictive value of childhood maltreatment on repeat offending and compared risk factors for recidivism between 698 first-time juvenile offenders with maltreatment and their propensity score matched sample of 698 without…

Background: The purpose is to determine if altering school breakfast policies and the school breakfast environment will positively impact adolescent beliefs of the barriers and benefits of eating breakfast. Methods: There were 904 adolescents from 16 rural high schools, Minnesota, in the BreakFAST Study who reported eating breakfast fewer than 4…

Many researchers have used the standard Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess decision-making in adolescence given increased risk-taking during this developmental period. Most studies are cross-sectional and do not observe behavioral trajectories over time, limiting interpretation. This longitudinal study investigated healthy adolescents' and young…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

Public school district leadership is dominated by males while teaching is dominated by females (Blount, 1998; Glass, Björk, & Brunner, 2000; Grogan, 1996). Some may not recognize this as a problem while others might refer to this underrepresentation as a glass ceiling, a sticky floor, a concrete wall, or a glass cliff. In any case, the…

This study leveraged data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (N = 243) to investigate the predictive significance of maternal sensitivity during the first 3 years of life for social and academic competence through age 32 years. Structural model comparisons replicated previous findings that early maternal sensitivity…

Despite recognition that youth civic engagement is multidimensional, different modeling approaches are rarely compared or tested for measurement invariance. Using a diverse sample of 2,467 elementary, middle, and high school-aged youth, we measured eight dimensions of civic engagement: social responsibility values, informal helping, political…

This article examines postcollege criminal convictions among students who recorded a substance use-related arrest while attending college from 1996-99. Specifically, this study assesses whether Greek or athletic membership offered protective or elevated odds of a conviction over the next 14-17 years, relative to non-Greeks and non-athletes. The…