The paper is a cross-case analysis of identity development of youth throughout their first year attending two alternative high schools. Alternative schools fall in an interesting space of being able to provide innovative and supportive opportunities that are different from mainstream schooling, yet also alternative schools are part of a mechanism…

Report on a longitudinal study of transfer, investigating dispositions in two participants' internships. Prior knowledge helped one student overcome negative attitudes toward school. With less experience and disruptive dispositions, the second student was less successful. Thick descriptions of their experiences are followed by implications for…

The present study examines the associations between peer acceptance and friendship with loneliness, self-esteem and school engagement in a sample of 180 primary school pupils (M age = 10.94 years old, SD = 0.82, age range: 9-12 years). Peer acceptance was evaluated through a sociometric procedure, the number of children's mutual friendships…

Student participation at school is receiving heightened attention through international evidence connecting it to a range of benefits including student learning, engagement, citizenship and wellbeing, as well as to overall school improvement. Yet the notion of student participation remains an ambiguous concept, and one that challenges many deeply…

In this mixed methods case study, we investigated the benefits of being a youth mentor to younger peers as part of the Fourth R: Uniting Our Nations Peer Mentoring Program for Indigenous youth. Data were collected from 11 youth mentors via interviews and returned to them for interpretation and meaning-making through a statement sorting and rating…

This article describes one Syrian student's experience coming to the United States to study at a private research university. Based on his time in the US, Musbah Shaheen asserts that the current practices of working with international students on college campuses contribute to the erosion of international students' cultural belonging. The ability…

This quantitative study investigates the role of satisfaction variables as predictors of institutional recommendation for over 45,000 international students at 96 different institutions globally. Using data from the International Student Barometer, it demonstrates which aspects of the university experience are most significant on students'…

Pupils have been found to be more motivated, engaged and dedicated to their education if they experience a sense of belonging in their school environment. This systematic literature review aimed to explore descriptions of how staff in secondary schools create a sense of belonging for their pupils. Databases, including PsycINFO: Ovid online,…

This study explored whether being told stories by a teacher in school 4 days a week for 10 weeks would lead to improvements in 6- and 7-year-old children's oral language, written language, and self-perception. We also explored whether these improvements would be greater than those experienced by an active comparison group that was read the same…

Although attendance numbers are rising in both populations, transfer students and first-generation students have lower retention and completion rates (Bonet & Walters, 2016; Seider, Clark, & Soutter, 2015). All students, specifically first-generation and transfer students, have a better chance of succeeding if they feel they are…

Vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industries, women make up less than one-quarter of the nation's STEM workforce (United States Department of Commerce, 2017). In particular, women who are the first in their families to attend college are alarmingly less present within STEM disciplines than those whose…

Although newly passed federal regulations mandate the provision of family-based aftercare supports for adolescents served in therapeutic residential care, very little research has been conducted to determine best practice. This efficacy and replication study compares the outcomes of youths and caregivers randomly assigned to On the Way Home (OTWH;…

Access to higher education can help tribal communities maintain political sovereignty, protect traditional knowledge and languages, and help close economic and social gaps (Adelman, et al., 2013, Brayboy, et al., 2012). Statistics indicate that too few Native Americans participate in post-secondary institutions and considerable research has gone…

The WCPSS [Wake County Public School System] Student Survey is administered each year to measure students' perceptions about their learning experiences. Approximately 70,000 students from grades 5 through 12 responded in the spring of 2019. The majority of students had positive perceptions of their schools and teachers, were hopeful about their…

Stage-environment fit theory posits that the interpersonal dynamics and structural (i.e. school-level) resources afforded by a student's academic environment can either support or thwart student thriving (e.g. achievement). Thus, it is important to examine how these factors impact student achievement at the student- and school-level. This…