The consequences of the tragic school shooting on May 24, 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas will reverberate for decades to come. Trauma on this level affects the survivors and bystanders who directly witnessed tragedy unfold on the school campus, families, friends, and first responders, as well as entire communities and onlookers…

While teaching is the most important school-based factor in student success, teaching is also ranked one of the worst professions for physical health, psychological well-being, and job satisfaction. That leads to high rates of absenteeism and turnover, exacting a financial toll on schools and negatively affecting students' academic achievement.…

Independent study can be satisfying and thrilling, and it can also be terrifying. Some students may not be equipped to handle the stress that University life puts in front of them. It is a fact that 75 per cent of adult mental health problems begin before the age of 18 (Davies, 2013) therefore, some students will enter University with a mental…

Black, school-aged youth may experience socioeconomic, psychological, and emotional difficulties that affect their mental health, leading to maladaptive ways of coping, such as cannabis use. Instead of getting treatment and support to help them manage their stressors in positive ways, Black youth often receive punitive school practices, including…

More than half a billion children globe-wide currently live in conflict or crisis contexts (UNICEF 2016), including more than 30 million displaced and refugee children (UNICEF 2020). The extreme and often prolonged adversity suffered in these environments can have lifelong physical, psychological, and socioeconomic consequences for children, and…

While the rates of teen childbearing have declined in the United States, adolescents who become pregnant and decide to bear and rear their babies are often from low-income, highly stressed families and communities. This article will describe the psychosocial problems of pregnant urban teens and how exposure to interpersonal trauma and current…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: What does the research say about structural supports that enable teacher well-being? In…

How can we use insights from cutting-edge science to improve the well-being and long-term life prospects of the most vulnerable children in our society? This is both a critical challenge and a powerful opportunity to affect the trajectories of millions of children in the United States and around the world. It is a question of particular importance…

This report describes how chronic absence and conditions for learning are interconnected issues that can have an impact on a child's educational success. The report identifies specific conditions for learning that can improve school experiences for students and staff and help reduce absenteeism and improve academic outcomes. It includes brief case…

An increasing number of studies show that teachers have one of the most stressful occupations. Long-term work stress may lead to burnout, which gravely affects teachers' physical and mental health, lowers the quality of their work, and, in turn, impairs their students' physical and mental health and development and imperils the sound development…

Childhood disabilities entail a range of immediate and long-term economic costs that have important implications for the well-being of the child, the family, and society but that are difficult to measure. In an extensive research review, Mark Stabile and Sara Allin examine evidence about three kinds of costs--direct, out-of-pocket costs incurred…

Arthritis is a condition often associated with the elderly. However, arthritis affects approximately 275,000 children nationwide. Symptoms may vary from one swollen joint to multiply affected joints coupled with fatigue, fever, and rash. Its effect on the school-age child can range from missing a few days of school per year to hospitalizations…

Stacy Kane Greenzeig knows that being the parent of a child with special needs is a difficult, time consuming, emotionally draining, and a selfless job. As the mother of a son with disabilities, she has faced the challenges first hand and learned quickly that researching treatments, visiting doctors' offices, and working to help her child in any…

In this article, the author focuses on the Washington, D.C. school system and Antonio, a child victim of violence, to discuss the background problems that affect the school performance of children from troubled neighborhoods. People who work in schools know that children--even kindergarten and preschool children--don't come to them as blank slates…

South Africa has a Gini co-efficient of 62, one of the world's highest (Finmark: Project FinScope 2004 and 2005, FinMark Trust, Johannesburg). Hence, measures of wealth are ubiquitous social indicators in South Africa. However, a growing emphasis in government towards measurable service delivery targets and remedial action to redress the…