Students who attend alternative schools are disproportionally at risk for adverse environmental, familial, and personal experiences that can lead to unrecognized learning problems, low academic achievement, mental health concerns, substance abuse, and legal involvement. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs include evidence-based…

Internationally, schools have recognised the need for supporting and improving the resilience of students, particularly those facing a multiplicity of challenges. However, social and emotional learning programmes, including those aimed at enhancing resilience, are often not evaluated thoroughly nor detail process and economic evaluations. This…

Schools are considered one of the primary settings in which prevention and intervention initiatives can be implemented successfully, reaching a large number of young people. Especially when promoting social and emotional learning (SEL), many adolescents benefit from universal programs implemented in the school context. This chapter embeds…

In order to define her educational philosophy, the author created the following action research project. Through it, she became aware of how all interactions and experiences each one has, no matter at what stage in life, impacts the way one thinks, feels, and acts differently. She challenged herself to create an environment for the children to…

This report presents findings from a feasibility evaluation of the Bridges to Pathways (Bridges) program. Bridges was a program for young men in Chicago between the ages of 17 and 21 years who were involved with the criminal or juvenile justice system and lacked a high school credential. The program offered intensive mentoring and case management,…

The paper explores the opportunities and challenges of combining media literacy and social-emotional literacy to promote mental health and well-being in school curricula. It describes the implementation of an experimental module within the program "Crescere insieme What's Up" (Growing up together What's Up). This upstream prevention and…

The estimated prevalence of one or more mental health disorders among children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 17 is 21% (Satcher, 2001). Similarly, research by Greenberg et al., (2003) estimated that 20% of school-age youth experience mental health problems during the course of any school year. Despite these high prevalence rates, the…

This systematic review aims to increase empirical understanding of the use of youth empowerment and youth empowerment programs (YEPs) as a strategy for developing psychosocial assets among adolescents. Despite the increasing popularity of involving young people in the processes that affect their lives and communities, little is known about the…

Recent efforts to improve American educational practices have focused on determining the efficacy of interventions and instructional practices via randomized controlled trials. Aligned with this effort, the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), the primary funding agency for experimental research in education, has organized grant funding into…

There is growing recognition of the impact of exposure to trauma on the social and emotional development of children and adolescents, and this recognition has spurred initiatives to improve the standard of care and increase the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of child trauma. Leaders of child traumatic stress (CTS) initiatives recognize…