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…

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…

A randomized control trial was conducted to evaluate the impact of the Rural Early Adolescent Learning Program (Project REAL) on teachers' awareness of peer groups at the beginning of the 1st year of middle school. Two schools were randomly assigned to the intervention condition and 2 to the control condition. Thirty-nine teachers and 466 students…

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;…

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…