Many higher education institutions review the disciplinary and criminal history of applicants to assess potential threats and ensure a safe learning community in the college admissions process. This review is often criticized for exacerbating the opportunity gap and racial disparities for marginalized populations and creating barriers to college…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has become the world's largest comparative assessment of academic achievement. While hundreds of studies have examined the factors predicting student achievement in PISA, a comprehensive overview of the main predictors has yet to be completed. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic…

Schools are frequently seen as the hubs of the community, providing resources and a gathering place for members of the community. The process of surveying the community in order to identify unique needs within the community, and then intentionally forging partnerships capable of ameliorating the specific needs, are strategies used by community…

Proponents of homeownership policies often argue that homeowners participate more actively in community life and civic affairs than renters. Although research suggests higher rates of participation among homeowners, the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship are unclear. On one hand, the locally dependent financial investments homeowners…

Productive ageing recognises the contribution of older people to economic, social and cultural growth and helps build a sustainable community. Being involved in community life is good for individuals and good for society. However, we know very little about the participation of and contribution by people aged 50 and over in rural communities. This…

The purpose of this study was to examine individual, family, peer, and community risk and protective factors associated with past-30-days alcohol and marijuana use among African-American adolescents living in rural and urban communities. This study used data collected from 907 tenth- and twelfth-grade African-American students who completed the…

Ongoing demographic, social, economic and cultural changes point to the dynamic and continually changing contexts of rural areas in Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, the influence of such changes on the lives of older people remains under-explored, particularly the question of how older people perceive, connect to and engage in their…

This study extends research on dimensions of sexual minority experience by examining differences between bisexual and lesbian/gay adults in adaptation to sexual orientation stigma. The authors investigated sexual orientation self-disclosure, connection to community, and 4 identity-related variables (internalized homonegativity, stigma…