We report findings from a 40 middle school randomized controlled trial of an adapted version of Coping Power (Lochman & Wells, 2002a) for middle schoolers, called the Early Adolescent Coping Power (EACP) Program (Bradshaw et al., 2019) to determine the impact of EACP on adolescents' mental health outcomes, as indicated by student self-reported…

International comparisons suggest that middle school American students compare poorly to their international peers in tasks that require spatial skills. This deficiency in spatial skills is more prominent in females and has been linked to a lack of developmental activities influenced by gender norms. These deficiencies are especially concerning as…

This study was an action research analysis of a competitive, after-school robotics program in the Woodland Hills School District. A longitudinal quantitative analysis was used to measure the effects of the after-school program on academic achievement and student engagement in school. Grade Point Average was measured before the program began and…

This mixed-methods outcomes study investigated the number of in-school and out-of-school suspension reports before and after the implementation of a preventative-based discipline method, classroom circles. The study was guided by five research questions, (1) What is the relationship between the use of classroom circles school-wide and ISS and OSS…

Artificial intelligence (AI) education in kindergarten through high school (K-12) is advancing in many countries, including the United States. The purpose of this research has been to better understand the impact of participation in an AI course on the sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students' overall interest, career interest in AI, and…

Peer bullying occurs frequently among middle school youth, negatively impacting students and the broader school climate. However, during these years there is a gap in translating empirically supported prevention science into school-based practices. This paper describes how the evidence-based Free2B bullying prevention multimedia assembly was…

This study examines the impact of special education on academic and behavioral outcomes for students with learning disabilities (LD) by using statewide Indiana data covering kindergarten through eighth grade. The results from student fixed effects models show that special education services improve achievement in math and English Language Arts,…

This study analyzed the impact of athletics on the academic achievement of middle school students in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. This study determined whether middle school athletics impact athletes' achievement more than middle school nonathletes. The study further analyzed achievement based on race and gender, and English and Math…

Civil, informed debate is essential for any healthy democracy. This is truer than ever judging from the often uncivil, fact-free public discourse one sees too often on television and social media. But does participation in formal debate training improve educational outcomes? While policy debaters historically have come from high-income public…

Youth participation in community-based, structured out-of-school time programs (OST) has been found to promote positive developmental outcomes by providing youth with resources to build interpersonal relationships and essential life skills. The increasing prevalence and multiplicity of youth participation in these activities leads us to expand the…

Young people's lives will be influenced by climate change and, in turn, climate change may itself be influenced by their future behaviour. Environmental education has thus to rise to the challenge of providing students with knowledge that will go beyond the simply factual and enable an understanding of the complexity of climate change. This paper…

There is an established gender gap in middle school math education, where female students report higher anxiety and lower engagement, which negatively impact their performance and even long-term career choices. This work investigates the role of digital learning games in addressing this issue by studying Decimal Point, a math game that teaches…

This dissertation was designed to examine and assess teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) during virtual instruction resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examined whether teachers' race/ethnicity, years of teaching experience, level of education, and gender separately and…

In the globalisation era, engaging youth in science and technology is a joint responsibility across nations. This study examined the effects of Global Korean Science Program (GKSP) on 608 Indonesian middle school students' attitudes towards science. Their science attitudes were assessed before and after the programme with Behaviour, Related…

This study investigated the role of using unplugged computing activities on developing computational thinking (CT) skills of 6th-grade students. The unplugged computing classroom activities were based on the Bebras challenge, an international contest that aims to promote CT and informatics among school students of all ages. Participants of the…