Over the last four years, the Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation have worked together to identify exemplary, and often lesser-known afterschool programs across the nation. For the past two years, efforts have focused on finding innovative afterschool programs serving middle school students. This focus was developed to address the need for…

Self-determination is essential to promoting successful transitions for students with and without disabilities. Numerous studies have found that positive relationships are central to the ability to be self-determined, thus making relationship building a key area to address to promote successful transitions. This article provides information on…

Bipolar disorder is a relatively common mental disorder that often has its onset during the college years. This means that students simultaneously face both the challenge of late adolescent development and the challenge of adapting to a major mental illness. As a further complication, the college environment is not well suited to the kinds of…

Lack of money has long kept promising preventive programs from expanding. Existing government-funded programs are furthermore subject to budgetary cutbacks or complete loss of funding. Moreover, preventive programs traditionally offer no accountability for success or failure. This leaves government entities in a bind where if they invest their…

Inequality in education and other domains of life stands in the way of economic and civic progress in the United States. It forestalls social mobility and economic productivity and impairs social cohesion. As a result, national and international leaders--from big-city mayors to Pope Francis--recognize that, as President Obama (2013) put it,…

Much research has been dedicated to the difficulties LGBTQ individuals face. Further, school counselors have been challenged to assist LGBTQ individuals in the school setting. Being aware of the specific issues and being educated about specific ways to assist these individuals enable school counselors to be more effective clinicians (DePaul,…

Understanding the nature of brain development in adolescence helps explain why adolescents can vacillate so often between mature and immature behavior. Early and middle adolescence, in particular, are times of heightened vulnerability to risky and reckless behavior because the brain's reward center is easily aroused, but the systems that control…

In the social transition between childhood and adolescence, boys draw on discourses of masculinity that address the male body in constituting themselves as adolescents. They make themselves as no longer children and acquire a sense of themselves as adolescents by performing bodily practices that position them within some of these discourses.…

Some young people naturally flourish in school; others struggle due to difficult life circumstances. There is also another group of young people who have no substantial issues or barriers but are still at risk of disengaging from learning. Through research, it is known that the majority of young people who are not in education, employment or…

Adolescent African American females face multiple obstacles that hinder their educational success. High school completion and college attendance rates remain lower for African American females than those for other racial and gender groups, while pregnancy rates for African American teens are higher. Group work holds promise for meeting the…

Middle school general music may be a student's last encounter with school music. A practical book with accessible pedagogical resources on middle school general music is needed for methods courses and music practitioners' use. The book "Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Middle School General Music" presents numerous ways to engage…

The research is clear on the importance of student connectedness to school. Adolescents who feel connected to school and perceive the adults there to be caring are more likely to be academically and socially engaged. Middle school is a critical time for students to feel connected to school, but these grade levels present greater challenges to…

Using contemporary research methodologies with young people can, and does, pose many ethical challenges for researchers keen to fully incorporate principles of participation and voice into their research endeavours. Adding to the challenge, when the project is grounded outside of an academic context in a not-for-profit community setting, ethical…

Typing the term "juvenile justice reform" into a Google[TM] search will result in 60 pages of entries. But what is meant by juvenile justice reform? What does it look like? How will one know when it is achieved? This article defines juvenile justice reform, discusses the principles of effective reform, and describes the practice of…

Inhalant and prescription medication abuse, particularly among adolescents, are serious problems in our society. Several risk factors associated with inhalant and medication abuse among adolescents have been identified. As a result, adolescents may suffer multiple consequences in a range of developmental areas. The purpose of this article is to…