A vast amount of contemporary research has been devoted to defining effective school leadership roles and practices and measuring their influence on school processes, structures and outcomes. This paper examines the effects of trust in principals and school leaders' focus on instruction on teacher collaboration and teacher self-efficacy. Using…

Many schools use exclusionary discipline--such as suspensions and expulsions--to deter students from misbehaving and to protect students from the harms associated with exposure to student misbehavior. Research indicates that, while often implemented with good intentions, exclusionary discipline increases (rather than deters) misbehavior and risks…

Whereas defending victims can put an end to school bullying incidents, few witnesses engage in such behavior. This study aimed to explore the intention to defend victims among distinct witness profiles based on behavioral and psychological characteristics. Within the framework of the theory of planned behavior, we measured intentions, attitudes,…

Across the country, many schools have adopted restorative practices in an effort to improve school climate and student outcomes while reducing exclusionary discipline. Restorative practices are designed to proactively build community, improve relationships, and help students amend harm when conflict occurs. Using 6 years of student survey data and…

Peer-mediated interventions (PMIs) offer substantial benefits to middle school, high school, and post-secondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). However, with no valid and reliable measure to capture the ways in which the peers without disabilities are impacted, far less is known about the outcomes for these…

This study explores the impact of implementing a peer mediation program in a middle school setting through an action research framework, presented as a series of case studies. The group of students receiving the intervention are on one "team" in the middle school, sharing the same group of teachers. The team is on a lower academic track,…

Formative assessment can raise standards of achievement. In physical education, when formative assessment was incorporated into instruction, students performed better in terms of skills and were more on-task. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of formative assessment on success and response rate of a sixth grade badminton unit.…

This study evaluated the efficacy of School-Based Teen Courts (SBTCs) using a rigorous experimental trial with 24 middle- and high-schools randomly selected to receive SBTCs (n= 12) or to business-as-usual without any SBTC program (n = 12). Analyses examined school-level longitudinal growth models and individual-level pretest-posttest comparisons…

Three studies were to conducted to examine the correlates of adolescents' bystander responses to different forms of bullying in schools, namely generalized (based on individual differences such as being shy) and bias-based bullying (due to group membership such as being an immigrant or a refugee). Research on bystanders' responses to bullying…

Seven schools in an economically challenged area of an urban school district in central California implemented mentored peer mediation programs under the guidance of a university-K-12 partnership project, Mediator Mentors. Individual student outcomes for social-cognitive dispositions, perceptions of school climate, conflict strategy choices, and…

Previous research examined various factors of program design, specific program curriculum, and student and faculty attitudes, but repeated studies and methodology questions have been raised with some of the research. Much of the research in the field has examined specific program effectiveness where the researcher is the author of the program or…

Schoolwide support for higher achievement is essential. Students need a nurturing environment where they feel secure about learning, where the goal is success for every student and where students are confident they will receive mentoring and encouragement to prepare for their futures. Many schools are reinventing themselves to motivate students to…

This paper addresses elements of the bilingual program for English language learners (ELL) in Illinois School District U-46 (U-46). Beginning with the context of bilingual education in the United States, the paper also introduces the current state of bilingual programming in U-46. ELL initiatives in light of the U-46 partnership with the Stupski…

The Neshannock Township School District, which is located in New Castle, Pennsylvania, approximately 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, has a student population of approximately 1,300 students in grades K-12, and the junior/senior high school is housed in a single building with 50 highly competent and veteran teachers. Historically, the students in the…

Schools have increasingly been implementing peer mediation programs as a way to help students find peaceful means for resolving conflicts (Casella, 2000). Peer mediation is a process in which students that have been taught a structured, step-by-step model assist others to peacefully negotiate solutions to their interpersonal conflicts. In spite of…