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The purpose of this study was to examine whether school discipline sanctions issued to female students are attributed to their racial background and developmental status and if this relation differs by teacher's racial/ethnic background and discipline philosophy. Drawing from a sample of 515 practicing educators from the United States, the authors used an experimental design to examine if teacher's discipline decision-making differed by student's race, student's developmental status, and teacher's racial/ethnic background and discipline philosophy. Results suggest that teacher's racial/ethnic background and discipline philosophy were the most salient predictors of discipline severity. Implications for future research on school discipline and Black girls are discussed.

Majority-race (black or white) elementary school children with and without a minority friend (black or white) in their classroom were compared on measures of social, behavioral, and affective characteristics. Analyses focused on 260 4th through 6th grade students who were racial majorities in their classrooms and had at least one reciprocated friendship in the classroom-based peer group. Overall, the results were consistent with the scenario that majority children with minority friends are high status, prosocial, and socially satisfied members of the peer group, compared to majority children without a cross-race friendship, although race and gender differences were observed. In contrast, class-level characteristics (e.g. class size, the proportion of participating children in each classroom of the majority race, and the number of minority-race children in the classroom) were not predictive of whether a majority child had a cross-race friendship or not. Implications for the current status of black-white relations among our youth were discussed.

Exclusionary school discipline has received national attention due to its association with juvenile justice contact. Research has demonstrated support for links between exclusionary discipline and negative outcomes such as school dropout and juvenile justice involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the intersections of race, gender, and disability in explaining the risk for juvenile justice contact using a state database, representing a sample of adolescent students. Controlling for individual, school, and community characteristics that are associated with juvenile justice contact such as, race/ethnicity, previous years' discipline rate, student retention from previous year, primary disability, whether the campus is a Title I school, as well as student body size and diversity, results suggest that disproportionality is prevalent when examining juvenile justice contacts, but the relationship among race, gender, disability, and discipline is a complicated one. Implications for understanding juvenile justice contact outcomes and future research for advancing the field are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND About one third of youth in the United States are overweight or obese and African American youth are at an increased risk for pediatric overweight and obesity as well as their complications. Physical activity has been identified as one determinant of overweight and obesity, and school bullying has been found to be associated with decreased physical activity. Guided by the Transactional Stress and Coping Model, this study examines how school bullying might impact the physical activity of white and African American healthy weight and overweight youth. METHODS: Existing, nationally representative, and complex survey data (N = 4509) from the 2005–2006 United States Health Behavior in School‐Aged Children (HBSC) were analyzed using multiple group structural equation modeling to evaluate study questions. RESULTS: Support for the hypothesized model was found such that bullying negatively impacted physical activity by way of increasing internalizing symptoms. Possible evidence for parental support, but not peer support, as a protective factor was also found. Results were generally similar for all groups, though some differences are discussed. CONCLUSION: School bullying is a risk factor for reduced physical activity, regardless of race‐ethnicity and weight. Implications for school health professionals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why is there a need to increase the racial/ethnic diversity of faculty in school psychology? Chiefly, school psychologists serve the most racially/ethnically diverse population: children in US schools. Therefore, developing a knowledge base that is inclusive of this wide range of perspective as well as growing a workforce that is reflective of this diversity is essential to effective service delivery. To achieve this goal, school psychology trainers must develop evidence-based, purposeful efforts to recruit and retain racial/ethnic minority students in doctoral programs. For these reasons, we called for a special issue on diversifying the field of school psychology. The purpose of this special issue is to advance the evidence-base in school psychology on how to increase diverse scholars and leaders in the profession. Moreover, the goal is to also evaluate the status of the profession in effectively recruiting and retaining racial/ethnic minority graduate students, mentoring racial/ethnic minority students to pursue careers in academia, and promoting faculty development and retention of racially and ethnically diverse faculty. Thus, the articles in this special issue will address critical areas where trainers can improve recruitment and retention strategies that will increase the racial/ethnic diversity of school psychology faculty, leaders, and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on bullying among students with disabilities is burgeoning. The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors for adolescents’ involvement in bullying across the bullying continuum. Drawing from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS2), 2,870 adolescents with disabilities were sampled. Results from multinomial regression analyses indicated that internalizing symptoms and interpersonal skills were significant predictors of victimization and bully-victimization risk, respectively. Disability status emerged as a significant predictor only for bullying behavior. Ethnic differences were found for victimization roles, but not for bullying, suggesting that Caucasian students were most vulnerable to being the target of bullying or serving dual roles as bully-victims relative to students from other ethnic backgrounds. Implications for these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of exposure on exclusionary discipline on the risk for dropping out and grade retention among students. Topics covered include the average dropout rate in U.S. high schools in 2011, the economic costs of exclusionary discipline, the examination of Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) records of the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and observations on the Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), a school-wide behavior management program.