Higher education students face various challenges that often negatively impact their retention rates. Combining multiple challenges leads some students to focus less on academic priorities and their potential retention. Some students begin using drugs and/or alcohol to cope with the stresses, sometimes negatively affecting retention. The negative…

This article discusses concepts related to character strengths and positive youth development and how these ideas can be applied to improve outcomes among gifted young people. A theory with roots in public health, The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI), is discussed with examples applied to gifted populations. Practitioners and researchers from…

Annually, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) collects, analyzes, and reports to the Governor and Legislature on disciplinary infractions and their consequences, as reported by school districts, to meet the requirements of the Public School Safety Law, N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 through 48. This report includes statewide information on…

Background: School-based substance use prevention is important, yet many educators are not trained in the curriculums. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in educators' knowledge about substances and confidence in delivering drug education before and after participating in educator trainings, as well as overall perceptions of the…

This study explores trends and disparities in school discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the persistence of racial gaps in exclusionary practices. Using student-level data from Arkansas from 2017/18 to 2022/23, we study how disciplinary outcomes relate to student race while controlling for factors such as the type and frequency of…

Decades of the authors working in higher education--as a student affairs professional and a person in long-term recovery (Becki), as a counselor and counselor educator (Eran), and as scholars studying collegiate recovery (both)--have yielded countless stories of the primacy of recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs) among students, staff, and…

Recovery praxis epistemology, outlined here as the ways of knowing that emerge through experience, reflection, and storytelling, offers a means to produce scholarship and practice to improve the lives of individuals touched by substance use disorders, an invitation to support recovery. To recognize the knowing that comes from experience and…

Objective: To compare the prevalence and trajectories of risky health behaviors in sexual minority (SM; lesbian/gay/bisexual/questioning/asexual) versus heterosexual undergraduates across their first year of post-secondary. Participants: First-year undergraduates (N = 704, M[subscript age] = 17.97 years, 24% SM) from a midsized Canadian…

Objective: Residential is a common treatment setting for youth with high-severity substance use disorders (SUD). This study evaluated the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and medication for youth in residential SUD treatment. Methods: Youth in Massachusetts state licensed and funded SUD residential programs completed questionnaires assessing…

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with disparate health and educational outcomes. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine the relationship between ACEs and academic performance among U.S. children and adolescents. A total of 20 articles were included for a descriptive synthesis and 11 articles…

This paper examines violence against parents and peers and violence in schools using Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory. We aim to establish connections between these forms of violence, perpetrator characteristics, and conclusions about the influences at different ecological layers. Through in-depth empirical research, we reviewed police,…

Iredell-Statesville Schools was awarded a School Climate Transformation Grant in 2019. INSPIRE: Interventions to Nurture Students and Provide Individualized Responsive Environments, was an innovative approach to improving behavioral outcomes for the district's highest risk students by reshaping schools' culture, staff, and systems through…

Objectives: Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs) promote educational continuity, professional identity formation, and community-based care, and are widely used in rurally focused medical education. While their academic resilience has been noted during systemic stress less is known about how such stress affects the personal lives and…

College recovery programs (CRPs) are university-funded programs that focus on recovery efforts for students experiencing substance use disorders through peer support, increasing academic performance, and providing dedicated professional staff and physical space on campus. This article provides experiences highlighting the benefits of CRPs and the…

Substance use--when people use drugs, alcohol, or tobacco in ways that can harm themselves or others--remains a persistent problem in the United States. Substance use can result in negative consequences, including poor school performance and diminished mental health. Research suggests that prevention programs for school-aged children may help…