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Schools collaborate with the public health institutions, and teachers are mandated to screen for potential mental problems in their students. The case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) puts that role in evidence. Our main objective is to explore the reasons underlying teachers’ actions regarding the medicalization of ADHD-behaviors in elementary school children. The results showed that teachers participate in a great variety of actions before, during and after the clinical evaluation for ADHD. Teacher willingness to contribute to the medicalization process results from teachers a) caring about their students and wishing to improve their well-being; b) seeking to control students’ behaviors and their consequences, and c) feeling accountable for their teacher’s role as disorder spotter and their students’ success.

This paper aims to uncover if and how students’ levels of disruptive behaviors influence the association between being subjected to disciplinary actions and transferring schools or dropping out. Multilevel analyses were carried out on data of 1955 students in 25 urban secondary schools in Ghent (Flanders) that participated in the International Study of City Youth (ISCY). Results indicate that school discipline is a driving force behind student turnover, and for student mobility, but not for student dropout, school discipline is a stronger predictor for students who exhibit lower levels of disruptive behaviors in school. We suggest that these students feel like they are being treated unfairly and that these feelings prompt the decision to transfer schools.

This paper aims to determine and explain differences in the prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and medication intake in school-aged children in two distinct school systems in Flanders and Québec. For this purpose, we present detailed descriptive analyses of data from parents and teachers that were collected as part of a comparative international project. The data include information on teacher and parent suspicion, teacher ratings of ADHD-related behaviors in children, the desirability of medication intake according to teachers, and finally their beliefs about ADHD. In the discussion section, we suggest that these findings are best explained by cultural, educational, political, and social factors.

Transferring to another school or dropping out of education completely: the voluntary departure from a certain educational institution has considerable consequences not only for the student that makes the decision to leave, but also for the school and its student population in general. The objective of this article is to investigate the effects that dropout and mobility rates at the school level have on non-mobile students in terms of engagement and sense of belonging in school. Theoretically, this paper draws on peer effect research in dropout and mobility literature and on studies regarding the importance of social integration of students in school. Data was derived from thirty Ghentian schools, who took part in the International Study of City Youth-project (ISCY). Multilevel analysis was carried out to determine the effects of schools’ student dropout and mobility rates on engagement and sense of belonging of the non-mobile student population. Preliminary results show that non-mobile students exhibit lower levels of behavioral engagement in schools where there is a high inflow of mobile students. Moreover, their sense of belonging in school is negatively affected in schools with high levels of out-mobility. This effect, however, shows to be a composition effect, as it disappears when the schools’ socioeconomic composition is taken into account. In conclusion, this paper assesses if schools potentially get caught up in a vicious circle, in which high dropout and mobility rates of a school bring about lower levels of engagement and sense of belonging of non-mobile students, making those students in turn more vulnerable for negative educational decisions as dropping out or changing schools.

In recent decades significant changes in terms of relationships and family took place. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim argue that individuals increasingly shape their own biography and that who belongs to the family and who does not, in an individualized society has become an individual choice of the family members. An example of a late modern family with elective affinities is a single parent foster family, where singles choose to take in a child that they have no biological relation with. In the literature, this specific family form is only discussed to a limited extent. In this exploratory, qualitative study fourteen single foster mothers are asked about their experiences as single foster parents and how they deal with the challenges of foster parenting through in-depth interviews. Three areas of tension were found: the tension between self-centered motives to foster and the perception of foster care as a social engagement, the tension between the temporary nature of foster care and the extent to which the foster parents attach to their foster child and the tension between the private aspect of foster care and its institutional side. These experiences of tension and the ways in which two different, identified types of respondents deal with them are discussed by means of the theoretical framework of elective affinities of Beck-Gernsheim.

Students leaving secondary education prior to completion has been an issue of major concern in Western countries for decades. In the city of Ghent, where the data for our research was collected, up to 14% of all students previously enrolled in a Ghentian secondary school dropped out without acquiring any diploma or qualification. Beside these high dropout rates, the Flemish educational system is also characterized by extensive student flows between secondary schools. The objective of this article is to investigate the effects that dropout and mobility rates at the school level have on persistent students in terms of non-cognitive educational skills, such as engagement and sense of belonging in school. Theoretically, this paper draws on peer effect research in dropout and mobility literature and on studies regarding the importance of social integration of students in school. By including dropout and mobility rates at the school level, we want to investigate whether these processes go beyond immediate friendship relations and affect all students in a particular school. The data for this article is derived from thirty Ghentian schools, who took part in the International Study of City Youth-project (ISCY). Multilevel analysis will be carried out to determine the effects of schools’ student dropout and mobility rates on engagement and sense of belonging of the persistent student population. In this analysis a distinction will be made between in- and out-mobility. In conclusion, this paper will assess if schools potentially get caught up in a vicious circle, in which high dropout and mobility rates of a school bring about lower levels of engagement and sense of belonging of persistent students, making those students in turn more vulnerable for negative educational decisions as dropping out or changing schools.