Undergraduate students (N = 932, 83.8% European Americans, 69.6% women) completed an online survey and reported their definitions of diversity, their attitudes toward incorporating diversity into the curriculum, and their motivations for learning about diversity issues. Findings revealed that students conceptualized diversity primarily in terms of…

The peer context is a central focus in research on adolescent risk behaviors but few studies have investigated the role of the peer context in the perpetration of adolescent dating violence. This longitudinal study examined between-subjects and within-person contemporaneous and lagged effects of peer attributes, measured with social network…

Developmental psychologists have become increasingly interested in how psychophysiological processes relate to adolescent peer functioning. This review discusses advances in the study of the psychophysiology of adolescent peer relations, with a focus on how the autonomic and neuroendocrine systems relate to antisocial behavior, victimization, and…

This research explored how older people describe their paths to late-life childlessness. In-depth accounts from 38 childless older people, age 63-93, highlight the complex journeys and diverse meanings of childlessness for male and female participants, single and partnered, including some who had outlived children. Positioning theory is used to…

Background: Several studies in recent years have indicated a link between socio-economic status (SES) of families and children's language development, including studies that have measured children's language through formal standardized test procedures. High numbers of children with low performance have been found in lower socio-economic groups in…

This research examines student information and communication technology (ICT) literacy and its relationships to a student's socio-economic status (SES), gender, and ethnicity of middle school students. We recruited 5,990 students from 13 school districts across the state of Florida. Student participants completed the Student Tool for Technology…

This longitudinal study examined how nightly variations in adolescents' study and sleep time are associated with academic problems on the following day. Participants ("N" = 535, 9th grade M[subscript age] = 14.88) completed daily diaries every day for 14 days in 9th, 10th, and 12th grades. Results suggest that regardless of how much a…

Although research is scant, there is a growing interest in the manifestation of the racial and cultural context on the schooling of biracial students. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the schooling experiences of 10 Black-White biracial students. Specifically, the goals of the study were to (a) identify the factors…

This article explores how school physical education (PE) can both reinforce stereotyped notions of the brown body as inherently physical while also allowing young people to gain educational success. Drawing on a critical ethnographic study of Maori and Pasifika (Pacific Island) youth in PE in New Zealand, the article explores how the academic…

Disadvantaged family socioeconomic status (SES) is often assumed to diminish parent training program effectiveness. In examining effects of SES, influences of initial problem severity have been largely ignored. In the present meta-analysis, we examined (a) whether there is a differential influence of SES on parent training effectiveness at…

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay investigates the feasibility of moving high-performing teachers to low-performing schools using administrative micro data from Missouri. I define teacher labor markets concentrically and construct models to allow teachers' local labor markets, within teaching, to influence their mobility…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effects of attending a state-funded 4K program located in a large southern Wisconsin suburban school district. Reading gains were measured as results of the Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum assessment given in the fall and spring of 4K, and then sequentially, kindergarten-reading…

English learners (ELs) represent one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. Given that language can serve as a barrier in EL performance, test accommodations are provided to help level the playing field and allow ELs to better demonstrate their true performance level. Test accommodations on the computer offer the ability…

Students living in poverty continually score significantly lower than their more affluent peers on reading and writing achievement tests. One reason this literacy difference or gap may exist is a mismatch between students' background knowledge relevant to the text and the texts the students read daily in classrooms. It is well documented that…

There is a relative absence of research that specifically uses Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) data to investigate the relationship between birthdate of kindergartners and later academic success in third grade. This quantitative study investigated school start age and academic success on the 3rd grade Reading TAKS in a sample of…