Building and sustaining students' sense of belonging at school has been proposed by teachers and researchers as a means of stimulating students' intent or desire to learn and of reducing student attrition. This article will present the results of an inquiry into the literature on belonging to support the perspective that is it necessary, not only…

The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to discover personal reasons Millennial college freshmen, between the ages of 18-20, stated as obstacles to college retention. Fourteen students from a private college in the Midwest were selected to participate in an interview process. These students were asked a series of open-ended questions…

Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09)--a large nationally representative sample of US high school students--we employed multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationship between school characteristics and the likelihood that a student will drop out of high school. We used a multifaceted…

There is no more compelling case for high-quality school choice than hearing about the life-changing impact it has had on students and their families. In this instance, that choice comes in the form of a charter high school: the Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), an island of excellence in one of Ohio's poorest and most academically challenged…

An extensive body of work shows that parental monitoring reduces the likelihood of risky behaviors among youth, yet little attention has been given to the factors compelling parents to engage in monitoring behaviors. The current study examines the association between non-familial, adolescent relationships (i.e., school connectedness, community…

High rates of absenteeism are often an early warning sign for negative long-term outcomes. Typical high school attendance policies, especially those that are punitive in nature, can make attendance problems worse. Fortunately, evidence suggests that even small improvements in student attendance can lead to meaningful outcomes. To support this…

Despite significant evidence indicating its effectiveness in meeting the needs of academically gifted students, academic acceleration is not a popular provision in New Zealand schools. The literature suggests that parents and educators fear that removing students from their same-aged peers will damage their social-emotional development, although…

We test two models in which Latina/o students' school connectedness partially mediates the relationship between barriers (discrimination experiences at school and other educational barriers, respectively) and thoughts of dropping out of high school. Results of a moderated mediator analyses in a sample of 896 Latina/o high school students were…

The present study examined protective factors associated with the wellbeing of 93 youth from a refugee background resettled in Brisbane, Australia. Wellbeing was defined as an absence of psychological distress and the presence of subjective wellbeing. Students at Milpera State High School, a special English language school, completed a battery of…

This paper is a secondary analysis, using data from the South African 2015 cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). TIMSS is a trend study that assesses Mathematics and Science achievement and is designed to measure changes in the education system over time. The participants of the study included 12,514 learners…

We offer a theoretical argument in support of a culturally consonant character education approach that seeks to enhance positive outcomes (e.g., academic self-efficacy, school belonging, and civic engagement) among youth of color. We argue that cultural differences are an integral part of character development and that educators who incorporate a…

This study examined a multidimensional model of school engagement (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004) among low-income, urban Latino adolescents. Ecological theory suggests that students' school, family, and peer contexts influence their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement. Using qualitative methods of inquiry, this study…

The objective of the article is to examine what is 'taken for granted' in the policies designed to combat Early School Leaving (ESL) in Catalonia, identifying their implicit ontologies, causal assumptions and logics of action. In order to do so, the realist evaluation is applied. Specifically, this methodology has been applied to compare the…

This research investigated educational pathways into a Global Middle Class characterised by professional or managerial careers and cosmopolitan sensibilities. The focus was International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) alumni with upper-middle-class backgrounds at 'world-class' universities in Hong Kong. The first objective was to…

While research typically utilizes Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) to evaluate online education programs (OEP) compared to on-campus programs (OCP), little attention is given to other qualitative elements which enhance student social presence or faculty teaching presence. The authors examine the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and demonstrate…