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Despite the known impact of exposure to adversity on academic outcomes, the role of adversity, particularly expanded forms of adversity, is overlooked within school discipline. Disproportionate application of exclusionary discipline is known to feed disparate educational and criminal justice pathways, particularly for Black and Indigenous males. The objective of this constructivist grounded theory study was to understand the experiences and needs of students who have been suspended or expelled, to inform practice and policy in education. The following research question was addressed: (1) What situations, supports or experiences have positively or negatively influenced the academic journey of students who have been suspended or expelled? Participants (n = 31) were recruited through suspension and expulsion programs in two school boards in urban and urban emergent areas of Ontario. Fifteen students, aged 14–19, were interviewed, (male, n = 11; Black, n = 10) and 16 multidisciplinary staff. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through constructivist grounded theory methodology. Three interconnected themes, exposure to adversity, connection, and access to resources emerged as influencing students who have been suspended or expelled. Exposure to adversity negatively impacted school success, reinforcing biased perspectives of students, blocking connection, and influencing access to resources throughout students' education, including at the point of discipline. The findings point towards the importance of explicit trauma-informed and culturally aware policy that fosters connection and ensures adequate resources for schools, communities, and students most impacted by expanded forms of adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study employed a syndemic framework to investigate the relationships between face-to-face and cyberbullying victimization, depressive symptoms, academic performance, and gender (female and male) in a nationally representative sample of adolescents who completed the United States 2015 Youth Risk Behavior System Survey. Path analysis results showed that both face-to-face and cyberbullying victimization are associated with low academic performance. Further, depressive symptoms may facilitate declining academic performance for both female and male students. After using a syndemic framework to analyze the joint risk presented by bullying victimization and depression, structural equation modeling showed two different pathways for students who experienced both face-to-face and cyberbullying: (1) for female students, depression fully mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and low academic performance; (2) for male students, depression partially mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and low academic performance. These study findings highlight the need for innovative interventions to address bullying victimization, depression, and low academic performance. Specifically, school health educators, counselors, social workers, and school administrators should work together to initiate programs that address the synergistic nature of bullying through gender-sensitive multicomponent interventions, such as concurrently implementing comprehensive screening protocols and a bullying reporting system in their school system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Experiencing school violence can have a detrimental effect on learning. However, it is unclear whether different types of school violence have different impacts based on gender. Moreover, there is insufficient understanding of the direct and indirect effects of experiencing school violence on academic performance through perceived school safety concerns and student depression. Objective: Drawing on ecological systems theory and adversity literature, this study examined the direct and indirect effects by gender of three forms of experiencing school violence (physical fighting, threats of weapon-related violence, and bullying), through school safety concerns and depression, on adolescent academic performance. Methods: Cross-sectional data were drawn from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior System Survey, a national sample of students in grades 9–12. Multigroup path analysis was conducted to test direct and indirect associations and gender differences. Results: Fighting, threats, and bullying were significantly associated with higher levels of school safety concerns and depression for students, which led to lower academic performance for both females and males. The majority of the effects, in both direct and indirect associations, were significantly greater among female than male students. Conclusions: The results of this study provide important insight into the complex relationships between experiencing school violence, perceptions of school safety, sadness and hopelessness and their relationship to academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]