In October 2021, a South Carolina judge ruled in favor of students who asserted that criminal statutes using broad and subjective language such as "disorderly conduct" and "disturbing schools" were unconstitutionally vague as applied to elementary and secondary school students, and put students at risk of arrest and criminal misdemeanor charges for...
Young parenting students (ages 18–25) are highly motivated to pursue a college education to improve not just their own well-being, but also their children's. However, young parenting students face many hurdles in navigating their pursuit of higher education, especially as they juggle school with their many other responsibilities—all while they them...
In the United States, the average lifespan of an adolescent varies widely by neighborhood. In 2015, an average 15-year-old could expect to live to age 79. However, teens living in the 1 percent of neighborhoods with the lowest life expectancies could expect to live to 70—a lifespan nine years shorter. Educational attainment, a key social determinan...
The U.S. Department of Education's School Climate Survey (EDSCLS) is a free, open-source school climate survey available for any local or state education agency to use to measure three domains of school climate: engagement, safety, and environment. The present study leverages EDSCLS data from 3,416 students from 26 middle and high schools in Washin...
From 2016 to 2020, a group of public schools and public charter schools in Washington, DC participated in the "Improving School Climate in DC" project (ISC-DC). ISC-DC was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ) under the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, and aimed to evaluate whether supporting schools through a re...
Child Trends developed El Camino: The Road to Healthy Relationships as a curriculum to prevent bullying and other forms of interpersonal conflict, both in-person and online. The program was designed for and piloted with students in District of Columbia (DC) middle schools—grades 6 through 8—to help them develop knowledge, attitudes, skills, and beh...
