Poverty continues to be a significant public health crisis across the United States, and its impact is particularly prevalent among school-aged youth and their families. Many K-12 educators do not fully understand the realities associated with living in poverty. Such a lack of understanding impacts teachers' ability to meet the unique educational…

Adolescent suicide is a public health issue with 15 percent of adolescents experiencing the suicide loss of a classmate, acquaintance, or friend. This article reports findings from an online survey of individuals (N = 40) who lost a peer to suicide in middle or high school. The most frequently provided school-based postvention responses were…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a Tier 2 classroom-based motivational interviewing (MI) intervention--the Aspire Group Intervention (AGI)--designed for ninth-grade students identified as being at high risk for school dropout. The nine-lesson AGI curriculum was…

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to understand the types of mental health supports described in school district reopening plans in one southeastern state, and to understand school social workers' involvement in developing these plans during the first full academic year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Publicly accessible school…

Most adolescents have mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) and daily access to the internet. Scholars, however, have only recently begun to consider the impact of this technology on youth. This article draws on attachment theory to explain how adolescents' attachment styles may be represented in their attachment to technology. The authors posit that…

Restorative justice (RJ) is both a philosophy and a set of practices meant to repair harm and maintain connection in the face of wrongdoing. While RJ is becoming increasingly popular among K-12 educators and in schools, emphasis is typically on its social justice applications, including its use as an alternative to zero-tolerance discipline…

Although students must successfully navigate transition years in school in pursuit of sustained academic success, not enough is known about the context-linked experiences of African American male adolescents as they seek to traverse their senior year, one of the most important pivotal points in time for all students. This study examined the…

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and rise in racial injustices signaled the need to engage students in macro-level interventions to maximize their contributions to their schools, communities, and society. School social workers are uniquely positioned to elevate student voices, hone their critical thinking skills, and capitalize on their strengths…

Chronic poverty and stressful life circumstances result in poor school performance and behaviors. Research demonstrates that these behaviors are not the result of student inadequacies and lack of proper discipline, but are rather of neurological adaptations to chronic poverty and toxic stress. These outcomes are driven by the body's attempt to…

Structural racism--implicitly discriminatory practices and policies that have negative consequences for individuals and groups of color--is a powerful force in contemporary American society, including in our public education system. This article explores the potential for school social workers (SSWers) to address structural racism through the use…

Given the unique forms of trauma that some Black and Brown youths are exposed to, and the salience of race and racial bias in discipline decision making, this article proposes that discipline interventions should be both race centered and trauma informed. Using critical race theory (CRT), trauma-informed practice literature, and restorative…

There is a growing need for valid measures that can be administered efficiently in school settings to assess the impact of school-based preventive interventions. The current article aimed to establish a balance among assessment efficiency, reliability, and the measurement properties of an instrument widely used to assess the impact of school-based…

This pilot study explored a technology-based intervention aimed at increasing student and family engagement in school, using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. All fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in a classroom-based one-to-one program; some students also received take-home tablets and broadband access. Student surveys…

Trauma-Informed Elementary Schools (TIES) is a program designed to bring trauma-informed services to early elementary classrooms. Built on a foundation of adverse childhood experiences research and the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency framework, TIES provides early intervention to children who exhibit symptoms of chronic stress or…

To date, no suicide behavior data related to school-based peer suicide prevention programs have been published. The Hope Squad program uses trained students to intentionally facilitate help-seeking with distressed peers. Suicide concern contact data (SCCD) from school counseling centers were collected from 2013 to 2017 as part of routine…