The Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) is expanding its role as the premier policy and practice organization advocating for secondary school reform through its Science of Adolescent Learning (SAL) initiative. Learning and development research shows that adolescence is a time of great opportunity and risk. This unique stage of human…

Evidence around adolescent learning and development is clear: School-family partnerships matter. However, traditional methods for engaging families that narrowly define who is involved and what constitutes involvement fall short of promoting optimal outcomes. Meaningful family engagement practices involve reciprocal, two-way interactions between…

The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight several practical classroom examples of asset-driven acts of reciprocal care and content-driven community builders and icebreakers that highlight ways to "find the prize" inside each student by fostering an adolescent-centered community of care that is committed to both relationships and…

Only when we look at education from birth and follow the inner development of the child from the beginning can we truly see the child's psychological progress. Montessori states that personality cannot develop fully without freedom; even the formation of healthy social life requires freedom to associate, not coercion. The early childhood level…

In contrast to the focus on short-term, extrinsic goals in our society (e.g., wealth, prestige), positive youth development scholars have highlighted the need for parents and schools to help youths cultivate and plan for long-term, intrinsic, and meaningful goals (i.e., envisioning a meaningful future), arguing that envisioning a meaningful future…

As a nation built from the migration of peoples from every continent in the world, modern Australia developed a unique culture based on an egalitarian ethos. Recent research, however, suggests that social inequality is increasing and, in particular, social mobility is in decline. In this paper, I examine one aspect of social inequality that has…

This article is the result of years of study, both formal and informal; hundreds of hours of traditional and Montessori classroom observations; reading and digesting articles and books on secondary education, Montessori education, adolescent brain research, leadership, and best practices in education; and most enlightening of all, 20 years of…

After-school community-based spaces are often recognized in political and educational discourse as institutions that "save" and "rescue" Black youth. Such rhetoric perpetuates an ethos of pathology that diminishes the agency of youth and their communities. Through ethnographic research with 20 youth workers at a college…

Parental involvement and parent-school-community partnerships receive wide acclaim for making a positive difference in the educational and transition outcomes for youth with and without disabilities. Although the impact of parental involvement in education remains undisputed, secondary education traditionally emphasizes the emerging adult…

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…

The prominence of sport in American secondary school curriculum owes much to 19th-century child development theories, the most prominent of which, Von Baer's Law, held that youth passed through the same developmental gradations ontogenetically that the human race passed through phylogenetically; youth repeated in their development approximately…

The results from a study of adolescents' newspaper reading habits and consumer attitudes and behaviors indicate that newspapers play an important role in the acquisition of consumer behaviors during adolescence. (RL)

Investigated differences between male and female offender and nonoffender youths (N=117) in social perspective-taking. Subjects completed the Defining Issues Test three times--as self, teacher, and police officer. Results indicated 14- and 15-year-old offenders and nonoffenders do not differ in perspective-taking ability across three social roles.…

Americans can learn from the British the vital importance of having a positive developmental approach to working with adolescents. (Author/MLF)

This packet contains articles by and for teenagers and articles and tips sheets for educators and parents. Included are: (1) "What Teens Need from Teachers, Parents, and Other Adults" (Stephen Small); (2) "Visually Impaired, Deaf Teens Share Views"; (3) "Teens Benefit from Community Service" (Kelli Krueger); (4) "My Experience in Foster Care;" (5)…