Students drop out of school for a variety of reasons, yet are "pushed out" when they exhibit traits that are deemed undesirable to school officials, such as misbehavior and academic failure. While much of the previous research on pushouts views the phenomenon as a discrete occurrence often attributed to either misbehavior or academic…

This article considers the understandings of space and place amongst a group of disaffected students within an institution that had been in a state of flux over a number of years. The article explores ways in which students are positioned by institutions into specific spaces, ways in which they use those spaces to challenge authority and ways in…

The overall aim of this article is to analyse how a school's special needs unit in Sweden deals with children's agency and category work as they negotiate and categorise the problems that are encountered there. The data derive from an ethnographic study conducted in a Swedish special educational needs unit (SENU) attended by a group of five boys…

Research shows that school environment impacts significantly on students' mental health, future aspirations and feelings of school connectedness, which in turn can improve academic outcomes. The UK has seen rising numbers of academy schools in recent years which have been scrutinised for academic performance but overlooked in terms of important…

Solutions to the countless crises middle schools face are typically proposed by policy makers with little actual classroom experience. Meanwhile, essential insights from students on the issues they experience firsthand every day are largely ignored. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) can help, as social researchers collaborate with youth,…

Peer victimization is a pervasive problem among children and associated with numerous psychological and behavioural problems for all participants. Research is needed to understand the complex relations between factors that increase risk of victimization and its consequences. We used autoregressive cross-lagged modelling with self-report data to…

Background: The social-ecological environment of undocumented children of migrant workers includes varying levels of risk factors. Growing up in these conditions compromises children's development on all levels. Many of these children are in need of psychotherapy, however, due to limited resources, only a few of them receive mental health aid.…

Early school-leaving exerts substantial costs on the individual and society. The literature indicates that quitting school early is predicted by an enmeshed group of indicators including academic and behavioural difficulties in school, deprived economic background and disengagement with the educational process. The attitudes and background of a…

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of providing an intervention involving massage and yoga in a school exclusively for male disadvantaged adolescents who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires completed by teachers and pupils prior to, and completion of,…

This paper gives an account of a project undertaken by a multidisciplinary team, which included an educational psychologist, advisory teacher and behaviour consultant, to help revise and improve a school's behaviour policy and practice. At the onset, the team spent a great deal of time consulting with the teachers, parents but, above all, the…

Relations between early problem behavior in preschool classrooms and a comprehensive set of school readiness outcomes were examined for a stratified random sample (N = 256) of 4-year-old children enrolled in a large, urban school district Head Start program. A series of multilevel models examined the unique contribution of early problem behavior…

Through directing concerted efforts and educational services of seven Faculties of Helwan University towards socially underprivileged pupils in slum areas (EL-Marg area in big Cairo) this research project had two main aims: firstly, modifying a set of arbitrary behaviors of those pupils, in a trial to develop some behavior skills associated with…

Describes perspectives of several families whose children dropped out of school. Audiotaped interviews with 3 or more members of 12 families reveal hostile views toward schooling and a 2-generation history of poor academic performance. School was a series of academic failures, conflicts, disciplinary hearings, suspensions, and expulsions. Dropping…

The present study examined the relation between teacher ratings of student social functioning and academic performance and teacher-student relationship quality. Data were collected from 230 students and 20 teachers in two high-poverty, low-performing schools in a large urban school district in the Midwest. Students were 93% African American.…

Over 6,700 junior/middle and secondary pupils in Sheffield, England, reported high rates of bullying, which varied with year, gender, and school location. School size, class size, and ethnic mix were not linked with bullying; social disadvantage was to a small extent. (SK)