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This article synthesizes research on racial and ethnic patterns in school sanctions and considers how disproportionate discipline might contribute to lagging achievement among students of color. It further examines the evidence for... more
This article synthesizes research on racial and ethnic patterns in school sanctions and considers how disproportionate discipline might contribute to lagging achievement among students of color. It further examines the evidence for student, school, and community contributors to the racial and ethnic patterns in school sanctions, and it offers promising directions for gap-reducing discipline policies and practices.
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We examined the effects of a teacher coaching program on discipline referrals using records from 7,794 U.S. classrooms in secondary schools. Some classroom teachers took part in a trial: They were randomized to receive intensive coaching... more
We examined the effects of a teacher coaching program on discipline referrals using records from 7,794 U.S. classrooms in secondary schools. Some classroom teachers took part in a trial: They were randomized to receive intensive coaching in a focal classroom or to form a business-as-usual control group. The remaining teachers taught in the same schools as the teachers in the trial. Previous research suggested that the coaching program was associated with increasing equity in discipline referrals in focal, coached classrooms. The current study addressed whether effects found in the teachers’ focal, coached classrooms generalized to diverse classrooms in their course load. Results suggested that the coaching program had no generalized effects on reducing referrals with African American students or racial referral gaps in classrooms with coached teachers, relative to the control teachers and the other teachers in the schools. We offer implications for coaching programs and directions f...
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A large urban district ( N = 90,546 students, n = 180 schools) implemented restorative interventions as a response to school discipline incidents. Findings from multilevel modeling of student discipline records ( n = 9,921) revealed that... more
A large urban district ( N = 90,546 students, n = 180 schools) implemented restorative interventions as a response to school discipline incidents. Findings from multilevel modeling of student discipline records ( n = 9,921) revealed that youth from groups that tend to be overrepresented in suspensions and expulsions (e.g., Black, Latino, and Native American youth; boys; and students in special education) had similar, if not greater, rates of participation in restorative interventions than their peers. First-semester participants in restorative interventions had lower odds of receiving office discipline referrals (OR .21, p < .001) and suspensions (OR .07, p < .001) in the second semester. However, the suspension gap between Black and White students persisted. Implications for reform in school discipline practices are noted.
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Abstract: This longitudinal study followed 142 children to determine whether the quality of mother-child interactions, as measured in kindergarten, predicted high school academic achievement and attainment. Findings showed that,... more
Abstract: This longitudinal study followed 142 children to determine whether the quality of mother-child interactions, as measured in kindergarten, predicted high school academic achievement and attainment. Findings showed that, regardless of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and IQ, positive mother-child interactions in kindergarten were associated with an increased likelihood of high school graduation and, for some students, a higher grade-point average by 12th grade. However, mother-child interactions ...
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Black students are issued school discipline sanctions at rates higher than members of other racial and ethnic groups, underscoring the need for professional development that addresses this gap. In 86 secondary classrooms, a randomized... more
Black students are issued school discipline sanctions at rates higher than members of other racial and ethnic groups, underscoring the need for professional development that addresses this gap. In 86 secondary classrooms, a randomized controlled trial examined the effects of a 2-year teacher coaching program, My Teaching Partner Secondary (MTP-S). Results from the second year of coaching and the year after coaching was discontinued replicated previous findings from the first year of coaching-intervention teachers had no significant disparities in discipline referral between Black students and their classmates, compared to teachers in the control condition, for whom racial discipline gaps remained. Thus, MTP-S effects were replicated in the second year of coaching and maintained when coaching was withdrawn. Mediational analyses identified mechanisms for these effects; Black students had a low probability of receiving disciplinary referrals with teachers who increased skills to engage...
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Secondary school is a vulnerable time where stagnation or declines in classroom behavioral engagement occur for many students, and peer relationships take on a heightened significance. We examined the implications of... more
Secondary school is a vulnerable time where stagnation or declines in classroom behavioral engagement occur for many students, and peer relationships take on a heightened significance. We examined the implications of adolescents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; perceptions of relatedness with classroom peers for their academic learning. Participants were 1084 adolescents (53% female) in 65 middle and high school classrooms. Multilevel cross-lagged path analyses found that adolescents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; perceived relatedness with classroom peers subsequently predicted their increased self-reported behavioral engagement in that classroom from fall to winter and again from winter to spring. Higher engagement in spring predicted higher end of year objective achievement test scores after statistical control of prior year test scores. Implications are discussed for increasing classroom peer relatedness to enhance adolescents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; achievement.
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This study tests the impact of a randomly assigned professional development coaching intervention (MyTeachingPartner-Secondary; MTP-S) on teacher projections of their students’ educational attainment. Results indicate that students who... more
This study tests the impact of a randomly assigned professional development coaching intervention (MyTeachingPartner-Secondary; MTP-S) on teacher projections of their students’ educational attainment. Results indicate that students who report more behavior problems in the Fall of the academic year are projected by teachers to have lower future educational attainment in the Spring of the academic year. However, analyses further indicate that participation in the MTP-S intervention moderates the association between Fall student behavior problems and teachers’ Spring projections for student attainment, such that this link is not significant for students in classrooms where the teacher is participating in MTP-S. In fact, results indicate that teachers who participate in the intervention project better educational attainment for their students than teachers who are in a business-as-usual control condition, regardless of their students’ behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of the rol...
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Multilevel mediation analyses test whether students&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; mid-year reports of classroom experiences of autonomy, relatedness with peers, and competence mediate associations between early in the school year... more
Multilevel mediation analyses test whether students&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; mid-year reports of classroom experiences of autonomy, relatedness with peers, and competence mediate associations between early in the school year emotionally-supportive teacher-student interactions (independently observed) and student-reported academic year changes in mastery motivation and behavioral engagement. When teachers were observed to be more emotionally-supportive in the beginning of the school year, adolescents reported academic year increases in their behavioral engagement and mastery motivation. Mid-year student reports indicated that in emotionally-supportive classrooms, adolescents experienced more developmentally-appropriate opportunities to exercise autonomy in their day-to-day activities and had more positive relationships with their peers. Analyses of the indirect effects of teacher emotional support on students&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; engagement and motivation indicated significant mediating effects of autonomy and peer relatedness experiences, but not competence beliefs, in this sample of 960 students (ages 11-17) in the classrooms of 68 middle and high school teachers in 12 U.S. schools.
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ABSTRACT Research has shown that the school-based engagement of Latino families is lower compared with other racial and ethnic groups. One possible barrier to school-based engagement of this heterogeneous group of families might be the... more
ABSTRACT Research has shown that the school-based engagement of Latino families is lower compared with other racial and ethnic groups. One possible barrier to school-based engagement of this heterogeneous group of families might be the lack of cultural match between families and schools. Addressing this under-researched area, the current study examined ethnic match between Latino caregivers and teachers at seven Head Start centers in a large urban area in the Northeast. Participants were 294 Latino caregivers with children enrolled in Head Start programs and 37 Head Start teachers. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), findings indicated that ethnic match (defined by whether a caregiver and the Head Start teacher both identified as Latino) was significantly associated with teacher-rated family engagement. Having a Latino teacher explained a significant amount of the variance in school-based family engagement, beyond that accounted for by caregiver and teacher education. Implications for Head Start’s recruitment and training of teachers are discussed.
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CHAPTER 18 Bringing in a New Era in the Field of Youth Development WILLIAM DAMON ANNE GREGORY A QUIET REVOLUTION Professional fields that combine study and practice usually change gradually and only after stiff resistance. It took Western... more
CHAPTER 18 Bringing in a New Era in the Field of Youth Development WILLIAM DAMON ANNE GREGORY A QUIET REVOLUTION Professional fields that combine study and practice usually change gradually and only after stiff resistance. It took Western jurisprudence hundreds of ...
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Teachers today face high stress that can compromise their well-being, longevity in the profes-sion, and the quality of their interactions with students. Pre-referral interventions, which address individual student difficulties before... more
Teachers today face high stress that can compromise their well-being, longevity in the profes-sion, and the quality of their interactions with students. Pre-referral interventions, which address individual student difficulties before consideration for special education, may ...
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ABSTRACT. The authors investigated whether student-perceived parental involvement predicts improvement in aca-demic, behavioral, and relational outcomes for low-achieving adolescents. With a sample of 59 racially diverse 9th-grade... more
ABSTRACT. The authors investigated whether student-perceived parental involvement predicts improvement in aca-demic, behavioral, and relational outcomes for low-achieving adolescents. With a sample of 59 racially diverse 9th-grade students, the authors ...
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Problem-solving teams address student difficulties. Teams comprised of teachers, specialists, and administrators identify the student problem, develop individualized interventions, and assess student change. Teacher experiences of teams... more
Problem-solving teams address student difficulties. Teams comprised of teachers, specialists, and administrators identify the student problem, develop individualized interventions, and assess student change. Teacher experiences of teams are ...
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Little is known about parental involvement in the prereferral intervention team (PIT) process. To shed light on the role of parental involvement in PIT meetings and referred student outcomes, this study used a stratified sample of 88 PIT... more
Little is known about parental involvement in the prereferral intervention team (PIT) process. To shed light on the role of parental involvement in PIT meetings and referred student outcomes, this study used a stratified sample of 88 PIT student records from 14 elementary schools within one district. The records were randomly selected and reliably coded. Analyses revealed that greater parental involvement, measured in two ways—parent presence at PIT meetings and parent implementation of PIT interventions—was associated with an indicator of the quality of the PIT process. Parent presence at PIT meetings was also linked with a student outcome. When parents attended more PIT meetings, there was a decreased likelihood of referral for special education evaluation. Practical implications about why and how parents may influence the PIT process and student outcomes are offered.
Research Interests: Psychology, Educational Measurement, Adolescent, Schools, Students, and 15 moreHumans, Role, United States, Female, Achievement, Academic achievement, Male, Interpersonal Relations, Questionnaires, Youth & Adolescence, Cross Sectional Studies, Adolescent Behavior, Environment, Predictive value of tests, and Personal autonomy
Using a national data set, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we examined three dimensions of 10th-grade school climateunfairness, hostility, and victimizationas predictors of teacher-perceived student engagement and... more
Using a national data set, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we examined three dimensions of 10th-grade school climateunfairness, hostility, and victimizationas predictors of teacher-perceived student engagement and achievement in read-ing and mathematics ...
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This study investigated the relations between student perceptions of support and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence in a sample of 7318 ninth-grade students from 291 high schools who participated in the... more
This study investigated the relations between student perceptions of support and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence in a sample of 7318 ninth-grade students from 291 high schools who participated in the Virginia High School Safety Study. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that students who perceived their teachers and other school staff to be supportive were more likely to endorse positive attitudes toward seeking help for bullying and threats of violence. In schools with more perceived support, there was less of a discrepancy in help-seeking attitudes between girls and boys. Findings suggest that efforts by school staff to provide a supportive climate are a potentially valuable strategy for engaging students in the prevention of bullying and threats of violence.
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Qualities of adolescent-adult relationships across home and school environments are examined as predictors of academic growth in mathematics. An ethnically diverse sample of adolescents was drawn from the National Educational Longitudinal... more
Qualities of adolescent-adult relationships across home and school environments are examined as predictors of academic growth in mathematics. An ethnically diverse sample of adolescents was drawn from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, 1988. In separate analyses, adolescents’perceptions of (a) connection with parents and teachers and (b) regulation from parents and teachers uniquely predicted academic growth in math from 8th to 12th grade. Thus, assets across home and school were additive. No evidence supported a compensatory process in which less connection or regulation at home was compensated by the presence of these experiences in school. Within school, teacher connection was the strongest predictor for all adolescents, but a combination of connection and regulation, making up an authoritative teaching style, predicted even greater academic growth in math for adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
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While the achievement gap between African American students and white and Asian students is discussed widely in the media (eg Schemo, 2003), the gap in discipline between African Americans and these groups has gained much less attention.... more
While the achievement gap between African American students and white and Asian students is discussed widely in the media (eg Schemo, 2003), the gap in discipline between African Americans and these groups has gained much less attention. Few studies have explored teacher ...
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Research has identified successful transitions from middle to high school as critical for students’ academic success. Identifying risks and protective factors associated with challenge or success in the early years of high school is... more
Research has identified successful transitions from middle to high school as critical for students’ academic success. Identifying risks and protective factors associated with challenge or success in the early years of high school is crucial, especially for African American students who are disproportionately represented in the ranks of adolescents who underachieve in academics, receive school discipline sanctions, and drop out of high school. The present study examined risks associated with perceived discrimination and the protective function of school racial support and two aspects of African American adolescent identity (identification with academics and racial centrality). This study followed a sample of 46 low-achieving African American students through the first 2 years of high school. Findings showed that over and above the negative influence of discrimination and levels of ninth-grade classroom engagement, students’ identification with academics in the ninth grade was a strong predictor of tenth-grade classroom engagement. This finding points to the promise of identification with academics as a protective factor which could help adolescents reach their academic potential.
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: This study examined the association between school suspension rates and dropout rates in a statewide sample of 289 Virginia public high schools. The contribution of suspension rates on dropout rates was examined for both Black and White... more
: This study examined the association between school suspension rates and dropout rates in a statewide sample of 289 Virginia public high schools. The contribution of suspension rates on dropout rates was examined for both Black and White students, after controlling for school demographics (school racial composition, percentage of students eligible for Free and Reduced Price Meals, urbanicity), and school
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Social Justice, Civil Rights, Cultural Diversity, and 13 moreSchools, Humans, Child, Race relations, United States, Academic achievement, Social Environment, Education System, Educational Status, European Continental Ancestry Group, Expectation, Optimality Condition, and Supreme Court Decisions
Although there has been wide dissemination of research-based psychosocial prevention programs, a similarly strong research base to guide program implementation has been lacking. Program implementation has been particularly difficult for... more
Although there has been wide dissemination of research-based psychosocial prevention programs, a similarly strong research base to guide program implementation has been lacking. Program implementation has been particularly difficult for schools, due partly to insufficient understanding of how school ecologies interact with these programs. This study examined the effects of multiple dimensions of school climate on level and rate of change in implementation of a violence prevention intervention across three school years. Using multi-level modeling, the study found that teacher-reported support between staff and among teachers and students predicted higher average levels of implementation. Teacher-reported administrative leadership predicted greater growth in implementation across 3 years. Findings offer implications for an ecological model of program implementation that considers school-level contextual effects on adoption and sustainability of new programs in schools.
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Districts have been engaged in efforts to reduce &quot; differential processing &quot; of discipline-referred students based on their racial backgrounds. They strive for fair assignment of exclusionary consequences across racial... more
Districts have been engaged in efforts to reduce &quot; differential processing &quot; of discipline-referred students based on their racial backgrounds. They strive for fair assignment of exclusionary consequences across racial groups. The current study examines discipline records for one academic year in an urban school district (N = 9,039 discipline referred students) to identify the factors associated with equitable assignment of out-of-school suspension (OSS). Multilevel logistic regression found that student participation in restorative interventions substantially reduced the odds that individual students received OSS. However, such participation was only marginally associated with more comparable assignment of OSS to Black students relative to their White peers. Together these findings suggest that alternatives to suspension, such as restorative interventions, may yield benefits for all student groups, but they may result in only marginal narrowing of the disparities in suspension rates between Black and White students. This indicates that greater attention is needed to address the inequitable school contexts in which disparities arise.
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Multilevel modeling techniques were used with a sample of 643 students enrolled in 37 secondary school classrooms to predict future student achievement (controlling for baseline achievement) from observed teacher interactions with... more
Multilevel modeling techniques were used with a sample of 643 students enrolled in 37 secondary school classrooms to predict future student achievement (controlling for baseline achievement) from observed teacher interactions with students in the classroom, coded using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary. After accounting for prior year test performance, qualities of teacher interactions with students predicted student performance on end-of-year standardized achievement tests. Classrooms characterized by a positive emotional climate, with sensitivity to adolescent needs and perspectives, use of diverse and engaging instructional learning formats, and a focus on analysis and problem solving were associated with higher levels of student achievement. Effects of higher quality teacher-student interactions were greatest in classrooms with fewer students. Implications for teacher performance assessment and teacher effects on achievement are discussed.
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ABSTRACT Studies of adolescent conduct have found that both exemplary and antisocial behaviour can be predicted by the manner in which adolescents integrate moral concerns into their theories and descriptions of self. These findings have... more
ABSTRACT Studies of adolescent conduct have found that both exemplary and antisocial behaviour can be predicted by the manner in which adolescents integrate moral concerns into their theories and descriptions of self. These findings have led many developmentalists to conclude that moral identity‐‐in contrast to moral judgement or reflection alone‐‐plays a powerful role in mediating social conduct. Moreover, developmental theory and research have shown that identity formation during adolescence is a process of forging a coherent and systematic sense of self. Despite these well‐founded conclusions, many moral education programmes fail to engage a young person&#39;s sense of self, focus exclusively on judgement and reflection and make little or no attempt to establish coherence with other formative influences in a young person&#39;s life. The authors propose a new method, called “the youth charter”, for promoting adolescent self‐identification with a coherent set of moral standards.