Our study focused on strengthening the individual self-efficacy of low achieving 8th graders reducing drug-specific peer pressure through theoretical and practical training. The subject of the intervention was based on a substance-specific life skills program offering both teacher-centered and student-centered teaching approaches. A cluster…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a classwide positive peer reporting intervention known as "tootling" in conjunction with a group contingency procedure to reduce the number of disruptive behaviors in a third-grade inclusive classroom. Nineteen elementary students including four students with disabilities (i.e., specific learning…

The original purpose of this study was to test several types of anti-cannabis messages. Analysis of the results led to a second, post hoc purpose: to explain why pre-intervention substance usage rates varied so greatly between the sampled schools. Participants were Australian ninth-grade students at a state government high school and a…

This study sought to determine the relative contributions of individual, family, peer, and community risk and promotive factors in explaining alcohol and tobacco refusal attitudes among 227 African-American adolescents (ages 12 to 17) from urban and rural areas. Hierarchical linear regression (HLR) results revealed differences in the predictive…

African American adolescent males are one of our nation's most vulnerable populations. They lag behind their female counterparts in education, labor market participation, and career development. Several studies have found self-efficacy (e.g., an individual's beliefs in their capabilities to produce a desired result) improves the life chances for…

The first aim of the present study was to examine associations between different aspects of adolescent friendship relations (i.e., frequency of contact with friends, trust in friends, and perceived friends' deviance) on one hand, and adolescent problem behavior and self-esteem on the other hand. The second aim was to determine whether the findings…

Objective: Alcohol abuse among college students is associated with a quality of life burden. The current study replicated and extended previous research on protective behavioral strategies (PBS) by examining relationships between PBS use and negative alcohol-related consequences. Method: A national sample of 29,792 U. S. college students who…

The influence of deviant peers on youth behavior is of growing concern, both in naturally occurring peer interactions and in interventions that might inadvertently exacerbate deviant development. The focus of this special issue is on understanding the moderating and mediating variables that account for peer contagion effects in interventions for…

This monograph appears midway through the development of a book on the future of teaching, scheduled for publication in the fall of 2010. The book is a team effort, undertaken by 12 accomplished educators from across the United States, who have agreed to systematically study and speculate about public education and the teaching profession in the…

In this study a representative sample of 880 elementary and secondary teachers currently teaching in 33 schools across the state of Arizona were asked about their perceptions of how their ELL students were faring under current instructional policies for ELL students. Teachers were surveyed during the Spring of 2010. Overall findings show that most…

Aims: The aim of this article was to investigate the factors associated with ecstasy use in school-aged teenagers. Methods: This was a longitudinal study of adolescent drug use, which was undertaken in three towns in Northern Ireland. A questionnaire was administered annually to participants. In this article ecstasy use patterns amongst a cohort…

Talent identification and development processes are important components of many dance programmes, yet talent is notoriously difficult to define and its identification may rely on intuitive judgements. Taking a systematic approach to the study of dance talent could enable researchers and educators to better determine what talent actually "is," the…

The role of context in the development of child aggression was studied. The effects of peer aggregation and group composition on aggression development in intervention contexts and classroom contexts were compared using 71 elementary school children. We hypothesized that, due to peer group effects, group-trained children would benefit less from a…

According to a paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, first-year college students who are assigned roommates with video-game consoles study 40 minutes less per day, on average, than first-year students whose roommates did not bring consoles. And that reduction in study time has a sizable effect on grades: First-year students…

Previous research studies on how to promote student participation in asynchronous online discussions have largely focused on the role of the instructor or tutor as facilitators. Not many investigated student facilitation. This article reports a qualitative study examining the facilitation techniques used by student facilitators to attract their…