Recent empirical research shows that air pollution harms student test scores and attendance and increases office discipline referrals. However, the mechanism by which air pollution operates within schools to negatively affect student and teacher outcomes remains largely opaque. The existing literature has primarily focused on the effects of…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the long-term effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on student disciplinary behavior, student academic progress and teacher absenteeism within the educational environment, using the theoretical framework of the Pro-Social Classroom theoretical model. Furthermore, by observing…

Because the pandemic exacerbated chronic absenteeism in many parts of the country, the need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. Accordingly, this study breaks new ground by examining high schools' contributions to attendance after accounting for individual students' prior absenteeism and other…

California's CORE Districts--a consortium of eight school districts serving a racially and socioeconomically diverse population of over one million students--have since 2014 led the way in deploying measures of social and emotional learning (SEL) and school climate and culture. Influenced by surging interest and research support over the past…

Minority students are suspended at a disproportionately higher rate compared with others. To reduce racial suspension gaps, four California school districts banned schools from suspending students for willful defiance, a category consisting of relatively minor disruptive offenses. I evaluate the impact of these policies on high school student…

This research examined the risk and protective factors of responders and nonresponders to a schoolwide implementation of positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) within an alternative school. Students completed self-perception measures of individual, school, community, and home systems. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated a…

The purpose of this study was to help parents, educators, and policymakers understand how to help transnational children adjust to their psychological challenges at school in the United States. A total of 109 Korean transnational adolescents aged 11 to 19 participated in this study. They had been staying in the country alone or with one of their…

The elements of school climate include the safety and overall well-being of students, as well as students' sense of connectedness and schools' discipline practices and physical environments. In 2012, 48% of suspensions in California were due to "willful defiance," an overly broad and subjective category defined as "disrupting school…

There is insufficient empirical evidence exploring associations between gang membership and school violence behaviors. Using a sample of 272,863 high school students, this study employs a structural equation model to examine how school risk and protective behaviors and attitudes mediate effects of gang members' involvement with school violence…

Teacher education programs can't prepare educators for everything that they might encounter on the job. Regardless of where they earn their degree--and even if they have had solid student teaching experiences before they claim their credential--new teachers are bound to face unexpected, upsetting, occasionally funny, and sometimes awkward…

Adolescents' sense of belonging in high school may serve a protective function, linking school-based relationships to positive youth outcomes. To advance the study of sense of belonging, we conducted a mixed method, factor analytic study (Phase 1 focus groups, N = 72; Phase 2 cross-sectional survey, N = 890) to explore the multidimensionality of…

Using Critical Race Theory as a framework, this article reveals how racism and stereotypes obstruct the academic success of black students. Through the use of focus groups, African American undergraduates from a large California State University campus, share the ways in which campus racism impacts their achievement potential as well as their…

Bullying prevention efforts have yielded mixed effects over the last 20 years. Program effectiveness is driven by a number of factors (e.g., program elements and implementation), but there remains a dearth of understanding regarding the role of school climate on the impact of bullying prevention programs. This gap is surprising, given research…

This study examines narratives of English learners who have either dropped out or considered dropping out as a result of their experience in high school. This research seeks to determine at which point students left or considered leaving school, which often goes undetected in traditional quantitative data collection methods. The common themes that…

Educators nationwide confront a troubling phenomenon: Increasingly, students leave high school unready for college, as evidenced by high rates of placement into remedial courses and low rates of college completion. Many students also lack either the attitudes or skills essential to succeed in a postsecondary setting, or knowledge of how to apply…