Significant ethnic differences have been consistently documented on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) teacher rating scales. Whether these ethnic differences result from a teacher rating bias or reflect actual classroom behavior patterns is unknown. Ethnic differences between Caucasian and African American (AA) elementary…

To hear many educators tell it, their biggest problem these days is America's high expectations of school performance. The media keep repeating how the global economy soon will require nearly all young Americans to be fully prepared for post-secondary education. Legislators keep ratcheting up state-imposed and No Child Left Behind thresholds and…

The study examined the unique relationship between multiple dimensions of classroom behavioral adjustment problems and salient social-emotional competencies for urban Head Start children. These relationships were investigated using a hierarchical model that controlled for the variance in social-emotional outcomes attributed to age, gender, and…

This article explores psychometric characteristics of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS), one of the most widely used instruments to assess the prevalence of violent and other high-risk behaviors in secondary school settings. Response patterns were analyzed for a subset of 414 youths who indicated that they had carried a weapon to…

This study examined the influence of survey validity screening on the results from three group-administered school surveys administered to samples totaling approximately 5500 students in 19 schools. The estimated levels of risk behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and victim experiences were substantially reduced when respondents who gave multiple…

This article is a follow-up to a larger study of 23 interns, drawn from a sample of approximately 100 elementary interns, and their year-long development. Teacher vulnerability was a dominating theme of that study, and several sources were identified and explored that mostly paralleled those discussed in the wider literature including the external…

Sexual harassment is commonplace in schools, particularly among adolescents. Although information on this topic is typically gathered from students and teachers, this study collected information from school bus drivers. Based on feedback from 58 school bus drivers, 39 (67%) reported observing students making sexual comments or jokes. Almost half…

How do people help youth develop ethics in this complex world? What do they know about how young people think about right and wrong? Where and when are the teachable moments? One community in the southwestern United States decided to ask youth about their ideas, values, behavior, and aspirations--in essence, put themselves in the shoes of the…

Sociologists define norms as configurations of belief about behavior expected in various situations or circumstances. Members of social groups share these expectations for behavior. Accordingly, norms embraced by student peer groups influence the behavior of their members, which, in turn, affects the learning experiences of college students. In…

The current study examined the extent to which treatment integrity was increased and maintained for 4 teachers in their regular classroom settings as a result of performance feedback and negative reinforcement. Teachers received daily written feedback about their accuracy in implementing an intervention and were able to avoid meeting with a…

Objective: To test Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) in predicting future vigorous physical activity among college students. Methods: College students (n=350) completed a set of instruments measuring SCT constructs. Their vigorous physical activity was tracked for 4 weeks. Results: Exercise role identity, self-regulation, outcome expectancy value,…

We demonstrate graphical and analytical methods for multilevel (2- and 3-level) models using the analysis of observed microsocial interaction between parent-child dyads as an example. We also present multilevel path diagrams and argue that while not as compact as equations, path diagrams may communicate results better to a wider audience. The…

In this article, the authors describe 12 practical strategies identified as empirically effective in preventing behavioral escalation in students: (1) Reinforce calm and on-task behaviors; (2) Know the triggers; (3) Pay attention to anything unusual about the student's behavior; (4) Do not escalate along with the student; (5) Offer students…

How do we educate for peace in a context of pervasive social violence? This paper explores this question as it presents the development and evaluation of a South African peace education programme at pre-school level. The programme comprised a pre-school curriculum and a teacher development course and was developed in conjunction with a team of…

In recent years, university counseling centers have been challenged to provide services that are accessible to an increasingly diverse student population. With this focus, this study examined students' help-seeking attitudes and behaviors in relation to their gender, racial background, and their student status (graduate or undergraduate). Based on…