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Gender is ever present in education preparation, school materials, curriculum, and school systems. To improve our knowledge about different facets of gender and the extent to which the depiction of gender has changed over time in picture books, there is a need to dig beneath the surface of questions about gender representation in picture books. Given that in-service teachers have proximity to approximately 75 million K-12 students, how in-service teachers think about gender, gender representation, and their own experiences with gender socialization have important implications on how K-12 students think, act, and feel about gender. In this study, we focused on teachers' responses to a semester-long assignment about the selection and review of picture books. Specifically, we captured teachers' perceptions on gendered images evidenced in picture books and to what extent there are changes (i.e., economical, emotional, physical, political, and social) in the central character throughout the book. We also explored if perceived changes were different based on the gender of the characters. Teachers reported four types of changes among the characters in the picture book. Emotionally changes in the books' central characters emerged as the most commonly reported change among our participants.

Previous research has demonstrated initiation of alcohol during adolescence has a negative effect on both school attendance and missed instruction due to behavior. Utilizing longitudinal data comprised of primarily Black American youth between ages 11 and 18 (N = 931), both the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol initiation were analyzed using a piecewise growth curve model. Results indicated that alcohol initiation negatively impacted school absences, but this effect was unique and independent of the age at which alcohol was initiated. The number of days of missed instruction due to school violations was also negatively impacted, but the effect was found to be more detrimental to those youth initiating alcohol at a younger age. By age 18, early alcohol initiators had a significantly greater number of days of missed instruction due to school violations, yet did not differ in the number of school absences. Implications of the results are discussed.

Limited culturally responsive knowledge, skills, and engagement among school leaders contributes to significant racial disparities seen in diverse student outcomes (school pushout, rates in school discipline, and opportunity gap) and remains a pernicious problem for public schools in the United States. Also, school leaders and teachers often lack authentic engagement contributes to a sense of belongingness and connectedness among students, families, and school staff and systems. Thus, the primary purpose of the study was to explore principals' beliefs and insights about both school leaders' and students' engagement behaviours and their contribution to cultural competence, school climate, and educational achievement. Qualitative data were collected using structured interviews with 40 school leaders from a large urban school district located in the mid-West. Thematic coding was used to analyse the data and emergent themes were identified based on principals' responses. Results derived from their narratives and data analysis generated five major themes. The findings cohered with the existing literature related to communication methods, professional development trainings, and ways of being that impede and facilitate cultural competence, school climate, and leader and student engagement. Preliminary recommendations for future research and practice are offered.

Using multicultural children's literature is one way to help preservice teachers build cultural knowledge and awareness about diversity. Another possible practice, not commonly used, is the addition of emerging technology in conjunction with conventional instructional approaches. In this article, we reviewed incorporating a lesson about homelessness in preservice teachers' (N = 46) respective curricula. We provided an illustrative example of the class and assignment process employed to facilitate preservice teachers' knowledge, skills, and awareness that can be used with K-12 students who are experiencing homelessness. The goal of these assignments was to initiate or continue the conversation about building knowledge related to effective teaching practices about diversity in general and homelessness in particular. In this article, we shared an innovative instructional strategy that might lead to a shift in educators' approaches, a move toward more diverse curriculum.

The resegregation of public schools in the United States continues to place African American students at an academic disadvantage with--oftentimes--limited educational resources and fewer qualified teachers. Providing African American students with skills and strategies to succeed has never been more urgent. Metacognition, often defined simply as "thinking about thinking," is a construct and process that may explain how students can improve and control their thinking and learning. Given the educational inequality African American students often face, providing strategies--with which they have control--may help empower students to better navigate and make the best of their daily academic experiences and environment composed of limited physical and human resources. Toward this end, recent research on metacognition looks promising and may be one viable option to enhance academic achievement among students. In this article, we consider three related areas that inform African American youth educational experiences: (a) the history of the educational context which African American youth have long faced, (b) the laws that have historically and currently buttress and inform the educational landscape for African American youth, and (c) one potential solution (i.e., metacognitive knowledge, skills, and awareness) to reduce or ameliorate some of the problems outlined in the history and laws that have been implicated in the low levels of academic achievement among some African American youth. Following the review of these related literature bases, we offer recommendations on how the extant literature bases may inform directions for future research that is focused on metacognition and that is ethically and culturally responsive.

The immediate concerns and aftereffects of parentification in the United States are well documented. However, the correlates of parentification in international communities are less known. This psychometric study explored the validity of a Swahili version of the Parentification Inventory (PI; Hooper, 2009) with a sample of 279 Kenyan adults. Factor analysis produced a 3-factor structure, but with fewer items (N = 17) than in the original PI (N = 22). Recommendations for using the PI--Swahili Version are discussed.

While previous research has shown alcohol use to increase developmentally throughout adolescence, the age of alcohol initiation has rarely been incorporated into developmental trajectories. Simultaneous estimation of the effects of early alcohol initiation was made in relation to the recency and frequency of alcohol use utilizing a sample of 1,209 low-income, minority adolescents initiating alcohol between 12 and 18. Significant effects of both age of alcohol initiation and gender were found. Initial alcohol use was higher the later the adolescent initiated alcohol use. Following initiation, trajectories of the recency and frequency of alcohol use for female adolescents increased more rapidly the earlier they initiate alcohol use, while trajectories for male adolescents increased independent of their year of initiation. Modeling age of initiation using piecewise growth models provided more informative results regarding early alcohol initiation effects as compared to traditional longitudinal model.

Suicidality is a significant public health issue for adolescents (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Leading causes of death reports, national and regional, 1999-2015, 2015). Cultural factors such as gender, race, and poverty may place some adolescents at an increased risk for suicidality. The school context has been offered as a setting that may serve as an effective prevention and intervention point for buffering suicidality. Given that adolescents spend a significant amount of time at school, school connectedness, or the sense of belonging to a school community, may be a significant and positive protective factor against social isolation. Undergirded by Joiner's (Why people die by suicide, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2005; The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior: current empirical status, 2009) interpersonal theory of suicide, the current investigation explores the relation between suicidality (i.e., suicide ideations and attempts) and school connectedness. Using a large longitudinal data set (N = 2335), results of two logistic growth models found that school connectedness serves as a strong protective factor for suicidality among Black American adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods. Results showed that school connectedness reduced the probability of suicide ideations and attempts over time and for both females and males. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed.

An extensive body of work shows that parental monitoring reduces the likelihood of risky behaviors among youth, yet little attention has been given to the factors compelling parents to engage in monitoring behaviors. The current study examines the association between non-familial, adolescent relationships (i.e., school connectedness, community connectedness, and peer relationships) and parental monitoring. The data used come from the Mobile Youth Survey (MYS), and from 2006 and 2011, resulting in a longitudinal sample of 3,287 adolescents. Longitudinal growth modeling reveals strong associations between non-familial relationships and parental monitoring, along with gendered effects across time. Implications for parental monitoring and delinquency in a low-income, Black American sample are discussed.

This article advances a balanced discussion of the extent to which varied outcomes are evidenced in adulthood after one has been parentified in childhood. Recommendations are provided that may help counselors avoid the potential overpathologizing of clients with a history of parentification. Suggestions for clinical practice are put forth for all counselors.

There are clear, empirical associations between teaching behaviors and students' affect. Yet no study to date has investigated whether teaching behaviors (i.e., instructional, organizational, socio-emotional, and negative) impact students' affect differently based on race/ethnicity. This gap in the literature is concerning given the substantial academic and mental health disparities between African American (AA) and European American (EA) students. Thus, the present study examined whether differences exist in the associations between teaching behaviors and affect in AA and EA high school students. Participating AA and EA high school students (N = 968; 60.2% EA) completed the Teaching Behavior Questionnaire and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale for Children. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found a positive association between instructional teaching behavior and positive affect in EA but not AA students; this association was significantly stronger in EA than in AA students (p < 0.05). There was a positive association between socio-emotional teaching behavior and positive affect (p < 0.05) for AA and EA students; race did not moderate this finding (p > 0.05). Finally, there was a negative association between negative teaching behavior and positive affect in EA but not AA students; race did not moderate this finding (p > 0.05). Regarding negative affect, socio-emotional and negative teaching behavior were positively associated with negative affect (p < 0.05) in EA and AA students, respectively. Race did not moderate these associations (p > 0.05). The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

High levels of school connectedness have been shown to be associated with positive outcomes for adolescents (e.g., higher levels of self-worth and higher test scores); however, the impact of school connectedness during early adolescence has not been studied in relation to school-related outcomes during later adolescence. The current study explores the effects of school connectedness in middle school (MS) on high school (HS) outcomes in a sample of Black Americans living in low-income areas of Alabama. Results indicate that higher levels of MS connectedness were significantly related to a higher probability of enrollment in the last 2 years of HS, higher levels of school connectedness in HS, and lower probability of suspensions in HS. High levels of school connectedness in middle school were significantly related to positive outcomes in HS.

Using exploratory factor analysis, we examined the factor structure of data collected from the Race-Related Events Scale, which assesses perceived exposure to race-related stress. Our sample (N = 201) consisted of diverse caregivers of Head Start preschoolers. Three factors explained 81% of the variance in the data and showed sound reliability.

Siblings have been shown to influence youth substance use and violent behavior. However, limited research has examined sibling-influences on sexual activity, particularly among urban Black youth. The current qualitative research was an exploratory study to describe discussions among siblings about sex and sexual health. Individual interviews were conducted with 15 Black youth (7 male, 8 female) from New York City ages 16 to 19 years. Participants were recruited from community agencies serving low income youth. Results indicated that youth had discussions about sex with their siblings. Discussions among siblings included information about sex, conversations about sexual activities and advice about sexual relationships. Some gender differences were observed. Males reported feeling pressure from their male siblings to be engaged in sexual activity. Female youth discussed hearing HIV/AIDS prevention messages from their siblings. Findings highlight the important role that siblings may play in socializing urban Black youth regarding sexuality, sexual health, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Family systems theory posits that the members of a family rely on one another to fulfill each other's social and emotional needs. This means that parents must respond to the actions and behaviors of others in the family. The current study expands the body of research on parental responses to youth behaviors. More specifically, the primary aim of the current study is to describe the relationship among perceived parental warmth, youth delinquency, and anger among adolescent males and females living in extreme poverty. Using longitudinal growth models, results uncovered unique effects for both male and female youths in relation to both mother and father figures. Youths, in general, experience greater perceived parental support when engaging in less delinquency and exhibiting less anger. The study addresses the nature of the complex relationship between parental responses and youths reporting significant anger and delinquency., Family functions as the primary socialization context for children. Parents, like children and adolescents, respond to the actions and behaviors of others in the family. Qualitative evidence suggests that youth [...]