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The middle school transition year poses known challenges to early adolescent adjustment, particularly for students from ethnic and racial minoritized backgrounds who face ethnic and racial discrimination from school personnel and classmates. Drawing on a sample of 711 African American and Latinx sixth-grade students attending 17 schools, we employed latent class analysis and latent transition analysis to explore the nature of and changes to perceived ethnic and racial discrimination during the beginning and end of sixth grade. We also examined the possibility that perceived ethnic-racial discrimination could be diminished through a school-based, universal program for teachers to improve the school ecology. Findings revealed four distinct classes concerning perceived ethnic-racial discrimination, with patterns over time highlighting the malleability of perceived ethnic-racial discrimination during the first year of middle school. Findings provide direct implications for understanding and improving ethnic and racial minoritized students' school experiences at the middle school transition.

Adolescents are in a dynamic period of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development. School-based interventions that focus on social-emotional learning, including the development of self-regulation skills, have been shown to have positive impacts on students' mental health and academic achievement. In this qualitative study, we examine health education teachers' and school counselors' views of their students' challenges and their strategies for supporting students' social and emotional development. We conducted 16 focus groups and interviews with 24 educators: 16 middle level health education teachers and eight school counselors. Our qualitative analysis of the transcripts indicated that both teachers and counselors described the contexts for students' challenges as related to academic/school pressures, social media, peer relationships, and home influences. Educators also identified students' challenges as being related to their developmental stage, challenges with impulsive behaviors, and difficulty regulating emotions. Strategies for supporting students' self-regulation included day-to-day interactions, skills instruction and practice, positive teacher-student relationships, and a structured classroom environment. Implications for professional development for middle level educators and the implementation of preventive interventions are discussed. [For the Grantee Submission, see ED628940.]

Perceptions of the ecology and middle school transition are examined in relation to interpersonal competence patterns (ICPs) of approximately 3,000 sixth graders (46.2% boys) including 415 students with disabilities from 26 metropolitan schools. Teacher ratings of students' academic competence, externalizing and internalizing behavior, popularity, physical attractiveness/athletic ability, and friendliness are used to determine students' ICPs. Using latent profile analyses, distinct ICPs are identified, including Model (high adaptive), Average, Tough (popular-aggressive), Passive (shy, withdrawn), and Troubled (low adaptive) for boys and girls, respectively. Although students with disabilities are overrepresented in Passive and Troubled ICPs and underrepresented in the Model ICP, 804 students without disabilities (367 boys) were identified in risk ICPs (i.e., Passive, Tough, Troubled) compared with 197 students with disabilities (128 boys). Risk ICPs are differentially associated with students' perceptions of the school ecology and the transition experience of students with disabilities. Implications for Multitiered Systems of Support and the tailoring of interventions are considered.

Although there have been several advances in the development of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to support students with disabilities, many rural schools struggle to use EBPs. Rural schools may experience challenges that constrain their potential to provide support for the implementation of EBPs. Furthermore, there may be a mismatch between EBPs and the circumstances, resources, and needs of many rural schools. Directed consultation is an intervention support framework designed to adapt the use of EBPs by using local data and stakeholders' insights to align strategies to the unique features and needs of rural schools, teachers, and students. This article considers the use of directed consultation to support the individualization and intensification of intervention for students with disabilities in rural schools. The establishment of rural research-practitioner partnerships is also discussed with the goal of developing a broad range of directed consultation content and delivery approaches.

This study examines concurrent and short-term longitudinal (i.e., academic year) relations between peer network racial/ethnic diversity and indicators of social and academic competence in a sample of African American, Latino, Native American, and White sixth-grade students attending rural schools (N = 481; 50% female). Results from two-level hierarchical linear models indicated that in the fall of sixth grade, peer network diversity was positively related to teacher-rated interpersonal competence for Native American youth and to peer protection from bullying for White youth. Students in more diverse peer groups had higher teacher-reported social and academic competence in the spring of sixth grade; these associations were moderated by racial/ethnic group, emerging most consistently for students of color. Results suggest benefits of peer network diversity in early adolescence and also highlight a need to understand mechanisms through which these benefits are incurred.

The "invisible hand" is a metaphor that refers to teachers' impact on the classroom peer ecology. Although teachers have the capacity to organize the classroom environment and activities in ways that contribute to students' social experiences, their contributions are often overlooked in research on students' peer relations and the development of social interventions. To address this, researchers have begun to focus on clarifying strategies to manage classroom social dynamics. The goal of this article is to consider potential contributions of this perspective for understanding the social experiences of students with disabilities and to explore associated implications for the delivery of classroom-focused interventions to support their adaptation. Conceptual foundations of classroom social dynamics management and empirical research on the peer relationships of students with disabilities are outlined and the potential of the concept of the "invisible hand" is discussed in relation to other social support interventions for students with disabilities.

A workshop with virtual consultation practice-based professional development model for self-regulated strategy development persuasive writing instruction was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. Nineteen general education teachers and 564 Grade 5 and 6 students in 16 low-wealth rural schools participated. Following training, teachers provided instruction in their inclusive classrooms. Results indicated that students receiving instruction improved in the number of persuasive elements and words written when compared with students in the control group. Differences in element type were evaluated with largest effects noted for reasons and explanations. Student group differences were noted with nonstruggling students having greater gains than struggling students.

Teachers are often at the forefront of efforts to help students struggling socially at school and their support may be particularly critical during the early adolescent developmental period after youth transition to middle school when social concerns become increasingly salient to students. Given their daily interactions with students, teachers have the unique opportunity to observe students' day-to-day experiences and can provide insight into the social challenges their students face. Our main study aim was to learn teachers' perspectives about the pressing social issues they see for students, the types of strategies they use to mitigate those struggles, and the barriers teachers face in supporting youth socially. To assess teachers' perspectives, we employed a qualitative study design and collected data from 39 middle school teachers who participated in 6 focus groups. Results reveal that teachers see students as highly concerned with peer acceptance, often at the cost of their academic engagement. To support students socially, teachers reported strategies such as establishing classroom expectations, having positive teacher-student interactions, and managing peer social dynamics. Barriers to providing support included difficulty keeping track of peer relationship and lack of understanding about how best to manage peer dynamics. Implications for teacher training and students' overall adjustment at school are discussed.

The present study examined the effects of teacher attunement to victimization on student perceptions of the bullying culture of their schools as a means of fostering a sense of belonging among early adolescents. Participants (n = 1,264) in sixth grade reported on the frequency that they had been bullied, and teachers were asked to report students who were "picked on." Teacher attunement represented the correspondence between self-identified and teacher-identified victims. Attunement at the beginning of the school year was related to positive changes in student reports that their peers would intervene in bullying; in turn, sense of belonging was greater when students perceived that their peers would intervene in bullying. Teacher attunement was indirectly related to greater belonging through its impact on student perceptions of the bullying context. [This article was published in "Journal of Early Adolescence," v36 n7 p989-1009 Oct 2016 (EJ1112554).]

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of a professional development program on sixth grade teachers' use of social dynamics management (SDM) practices. SDM practices represent teachers' active attempts to incorporate classroom social dynamics into everyday instructional and behavior management strategies. Sixth grade teachers (n = 17) from two middle schools were randomly assigned to receive the Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success (SEALS) or to a business-as-usual control condition. Teachers who received the training and consultation provided by SEALS reported more frequent use of SDM practices aimed at managing the general social dynamics of their students and supporting youth who are socially isolated. The latter effect was maintained at a post-intervention follow-up. These results build on a growing body of research on the role of teachers in shaping their students' peer relationships.

This study examines the ties of sixth-grade teachers to their interdisciplinary team colleagues and explores the dimensions of their efficacy beliefs for their own and their colleagues' teaching. Teachers (n = 238; 83% female, 88% White) from 26 middle schools completed surveys about the relational aspects of ties to team colleagues, the dimensions of their sense of efficacy for teaching, and their perceptions of team members' collective efficacy at fall, winter, and spring of one school year. Greater tie strength in fall predicted greater relational trust at winter and spring. Tie strength to teammates in fall predicted greater efficacy beliefs for classroom management and collective efficacy across the year, through greater relational trust midway through the year. The findings expand theorizing and reveal organizational processes that may be used to leverage teacher efficacy beliefs.

This study focused on academic and social correlates of collaborator preferences of African American and White sixth-graders in mathematics classrooms in fall and spring. Students' appraisals of emotional risk were examined as a moderator. Nomination procedures identified collaborator preferences, group affiliations, and social centrality; students self-reported engagement and emotional risk; school records provided achievement scores. Results indicated students preferred group affiliates, but not exclusively, as collaborators. Students with greater centrality, achievement, and engagement received more nominations. In the fall, high achievers received more nominations when appraisals of risk were high; whereas, engaged students whose appraisals of risk were low received more nominations. Results are interpreted in relation to coordinating social and academic factors in peer collaboration.

This study examined whether teachers perceived difference between youth with divergent self- and peer-reports of victimization who exhibit varying patterns of adjustment. Using an ethnically diverse sample of 1360 students from 5th grade classrooms (M[subscript age] = 12.01) in rural schools across the USA, we examined teachers' perceptions of four different victim groups identified using latent profile analysis: "convergent victims" (high self- and peer-reports of victimization), "self-identified victims" (high self-, low peer-reports), "peer-identified victims" (high peer-, low self-reports), and "nonvictims" (low self- and peer-reports). We found that teachers perceived meaningful differences between victim groups on academic (e.g., problems paying attention), social (e.g., popularity, liked by peers), behavioral (e.g., aggression), and psychological (i.e., internalizing) indices as well as students' involvement in bullying. Key findings include that convergent victims had more problems academically (i.e., paying attention in class) and were more frequently bullied compared to all other victim groups according to teachers. Teachers also viewed self-identified victims as having more psychological problems and as being more frequently bullied than nonvictims, although they perceived no differences between self-identified victims and nonvictims on indices of social functioning such as popularity, whether they were liked by peers, or whether they were a class leader. Implications for our understanding of different types of victims and suggestions for how teachers and school personnel may support them are discussed.

The development of independent behavior is a critical, challenging process for all youth as they pass through the high school environment into adulthood. Although most high school students gain skills related to independence, the independent behaviors of their peers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) plateau and decline. These skill deficits and resulting poor post-secondary outcomes for students with ASD highlight the great need for programming in this area. This article begins by defining independence and the influence of independence on post-secondary outcomes, and explores the factors that contribute to the difficulties in independence for individuals with ASD. Then, a review of school-wide positive behavior support and focused evidence-based practices (EBPs) related to independence is presented. Recommendations are made for practitioners and caregivers implementing interventions intended to support student independence, and recommendations for future research and practice are offered. [This paper was published in "Remedial and Special Education," (EJ1021071).]

Classroom social integration with peers is vital to students' school success, and all students can benefit from contact with peers who are different in various ways. Teachers are uniquely positioned to support the social adaptation of diverse learners but require an understanding of classroom dynamics. Moreover, teachers need strategies that help to leverage positive peer dynamics and that promote an engaged classroom climate for all students. Reflecting a person-in-context perspective, this review discusses the peer relations and social adjustment of students, particularly in classrooms with a diverse range of student characteristics and instructional needs, and proposes that teachers' use of social dynamics management strategies can foster classroom communities that support the involvement and adjustment of all students.

This describes the "scouting report" as an approach that social and behavior intervention specialists can use to help middle-level teachers create social contexts that support productive social roles and relationships of students with disabilities. Building from research on early adolescent social dynamics and context-based interventions to support students' adjustment in middle-level classrooms, this manuscript describes the scouting report approach as an information collection process that can be used to (a) guide the selection and tailoring of evidence-based interventions to address the social difficulties and support needs of students with disabilities and (b) manage general social dynamics in ways that promote a positive peer culture across the classroom. A step-by-step description of the scouting report process is presented along with sample scenarios to help guide intervention specialists as they provide consultation support to middle-level general education teachers who serve students with disabilities in their classes.

The present study examined the effects of teacher attunement to victimization on student perceptions of the bullying culture of their schools as a means of fostering a sense of belonging among early adolescents. Participants (n = 1,264) in sixth grade reported on the frequency that they had been bullied, and teachers were asked to report students who were "picked on." Teacher attunement represented the correspondence between self-identified and teacher-identified victims. Attunement at the beginning of the school year was related to positive changes in student reports that their peers would intervene in bullying; in turn, sense of belonging was greater when students perceived that their peers would intervene in bullying. Teacher attunement was indirectly related to greater belonging through its impact on student perceptions of the bullying context.

This study examined subtypes and stability/change in peer victimization involvement among students with exceptionalities. Data were collected over spring of fifth grade and fall/spring of sixth grade with 1,861 students in 36 rural schools as part of a cluster randomized trial of a context-based intervention (Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success [SEALS]) designed to support students' transition to early adolescence. More than 74% of students with disabilities were involved in peer victimization, and they were more likely to be nominated as victims and bully-victims than students without disabilities. Students with disabilities, but not academically gifted students, had more stable involvement in peer victimization over time. Being socially marginalized in the network differentiated peer victimization stability. Although there were no differences between intervention and control schools in students with exceptionalities' peer victimization involvement, students with exceptionalities in intervention schools were less likely to perceive classmates encouraging bullying. Implications of interventions to reduce the risk for peer victimization are discussed.

Directed consultation is presented as a professional development framework to guide and support teachers in the implementation of evidence-based interventions that involve contextual and process-oriented approaches designed to be incorporated into daily classroom management. This approach consists of four components: pre-intervention observations and interviews with school professionals, professional development workshops, online training modules, and team- and individual-level implementation meetings. In the current study, directed consultation was used to train sixth-grade teachers to use the Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Support (SEALS) program, a multicomponent intervention model, to promote productive and supportive classroom contexts during the transition to middle school. The current report involved classroom observations in 14 schools (7 interventions, 7 controls) as part of a broader cluster-randomized control trial. A total of 144 classrooms were observed in late fall of the sixth grade during ongoing professional development training activities and again in the spring at the completion of the SEALS training. As compared with control classrooms, teachers in intervention classrooms used more positive feedback and less negative feedback and redirection. Furthermore, teachers in intervention classrooms provided more effective use of classroom structure, feedback to students, behavior management, communication with students, groups and social dynamics, and motivation strategies. Results are discussed in terms of implications for professional development activities aimed at enhancing classroom management.

The development of independent behavior is a critical, challenging process for all youth as they pass through the high school environment into adulthood. Although most high school students gain skills related to independence, the independent behaviors of their peers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) plateau and decline. These skill deficits and resulting poor post-secondary outcomes for students with ASD highlight the great need for programming in this area. This article begins by defining independence and the influence of independence on post-secondary outcomes, and explores the factors that contribute to the difficulties in independence for individuals with ASD. Then, a review of school-wide positive behavior support and focused evidence-based practices (EBPs) related to independence is presented. Recommendations are made for practitioners and caregivers implementing interventions intended to support student independence, and recommendations for future research and practice are offered.

Peer cultures of effort and achievement influence early adolescents' academic adjustment. A randomized controlled trials design was used to test the extent to which aspects of peer cultures of effort and achievement were enhanced following teachers' participation in the Supporting Early Adolescents' Learning and Social Success (SEALS) intervention. Observational and survey data from teachers (N = 188) and survey data from 6th-graders (N = 2,453) in 36 rural schools across the United States were analyzed. Results indicated that in SEALS versus matched control schools, social prominence was more favorably associated with effort and school valuing, and peer group injunctive norms were more supportive of effort and achievement. Findings indicate that aspects of peer cultures respond to the school context and provide evidence of the efficacy of the SEALS model.

Decades of research indicate that many early adolescents are at risk for developing significant school adjustment problems in the academic, behavioral, and social domains during the transition to middle school. The Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success (SEALS) model has been developed as a professional development and consultation program to train teachers in universal (Tier 1) instructional and classroom management strategies to address the correlated risks experienced by students during this time. This article reviews the conceptual foundations of the SEALS model, provides an overview of SEALS intervention components, describes the SEALS professional development training and consultation framework, reviews preliminary findings of the impact of SEALS in rural school settings in the United States, and discusses research needs and future directions regarding the use of the SEALS model. (Contains 3 figures.)

The transition to middle school is considered to be a heightened period for involvement in bullying because the lack of a defined dominance hierarchy is thought to promote jockeying for social positions among students. Accordingly, this study examined bullying in peer ecologies at the beginning of the middle grade years in rural schools that did and did not have a transition to middle school. Thirty-six schools (20 with transitions, 16 without transitions) participated in this research with a sample of 1,800 participants (52% female) who were in sixth grade during the second year of data collection. Overall, 67% were White, 19% African American, 7% Latino, 2% Native American, and 5% other (multi-racial, Asian, unknown). Compared to schools without a transition, schools with a transition had fewer bullies following the move from fifth to sixth grade and the social dynamics in schools with a transition appeared to be less supportive of bullying. Further, students in schools with a transition reported being bullied less frequently in sixth grade and they perceived the sixth grade peer ecology as being more protective against bullying than did students in schools without a transition. In addition, proportionally more youth had controversial sociometric status in schools without a transition during sixth grade than in schools with a transition. Collectively, these findings suggest that risk for involvement in bullying may be elevated in schools that do not have a transition to middle school. They also bring into question the conventional view of the small K-8 or K-12 rural school as a peaceful and supportive peer community.

This study integrates diverse literatures on peer group influence by conceptualizing and examining the relationship of peer group injunctive norms to the academic adjustment of a large and ethnically diverse sample of rural early adolescents' academic adjustment. Results of three-level hierarchical linear modeling indicated that peer groups were differentiated by injunctive norms for effort and achievement. After accounting for prior adjustment, peer group injunctive norms predicted changes to students' school valuation and effort. Peer group injunctive and descriptive norms were moderately correlated; injunctive norms that were more discrepant from descriptive norms were associated with academic adjustment beyond the associations for descriptive norms. Peer group normative relationships did not differ by gender, ethnic minority status, or school configuration. Implications for understanding peer influence and for educational practice are discussed. (Contains 5 tables and 4 notes.)

Dynamic features of peer network experiences (membership fluidity and network interconnectedness) were examined for their role in African American and White early adolescents' sense of belonging in mathematics classrooms. Because these dynamic features are naturally present in adolescents' peer group affiliations, attention to them provides a more accurate representation of the peer experiences that adolescents actually encounter than research models that ignore these experiences. After controlling for fall classroom belonging, spring classroom belonging was greater for African American and seventh-grade students than for White and sixth-grade students. Multiple-group memberships promoted classroom belonging among African American and seventh-grade students but undermined belonging among White and sixth-grade students. Network stability did not differentiate belonging. Study limitations and implications regarding the nature of peer group experiences and the social bases of belonging are discussed. (Contains 2 figures, 1 footnote and 1 table.)

To introduce this special issue, the concept of the teacher as an ''invisible hand'' is presented as a metaphor to describe the potentially influential but relatively understudied contribution that educators are likely to have on children's peer relationships and their broader interpersonal growth. Building from conceptual work distinguishing between the role of adults and peers in children's social development, we summarize empirical support for the view that teachers are in a position to develop and guide the classroom as a society by simultaneously directing institutional expectations while also providing students with opportunities to collectively construct their own peer culture. Key social development constructs are reviewed from this lens, and the four articles and two commentaries that constitute this special issue are discussed in relation to their contributions to clarifying and extending current views of the role of teachers in school social dynamics. We conclude by considering intervention implications of this work, and we argue that teachers are the one professional in a child's life who have the opportunity to view the whole child in relation to the social ecology in which he or she is embedded.