Although bullying is a prevalent issue in the United States, limited research has explored the impact of school diversity on types of bullying behavior. This study explores the relationship between school diversity, student race, and bullying within the school context. The participants were African American and Caucasian middle school students (n = 4,581; 53.4% female). Among the participants, 89.4% were Caucasian and 10.6% were African American. The research questions examined the relationship between school diversity, student race and bullying behaviors, specifically race-based victimization. The findings suggested that Caucasian middle school students experience more bullying than African American students generally, and specifically when minorities in school settings. Caucasian students also experienced almost three times the amount of race-based victimization than African American students when school diversity was held constant. Interestingly, African American students experienced twice the amount of race-based victimization than Caucasian students when in settings with more students of color. The present study provides insight into bullying behaviors across different contexts for different races and highlights the need to further investigate interactions between personal and environmental factors on the bulling experiences of youth.

Ample evidence suggests that PK‐12 students experience racism and other forms of discrimination in school and that these experiences have a deleterious impact on their mental health. Several studies have shown a consistent and strong relationship between racism and negative mental health outcomes including increased depression and anxiety, decreased self‐worth and self‐esteem, as well as psychological maladjustment. School‐based mental health services can ensure that racial and ethnic minoritized (REM) students gain access to mental health services. Because schools are one place where REM students experience structural and individual discrimination, it is critical that school‐based mental health providers utilize strategies to promote school climates that are safe and affirming for these students. Using a multitiered system of support framework, we describe the tier 1 interventions to promote positive school racial climate and the elements of culturally responsive practices to be integrated into tier 2 and tier 3 interventions to improve mental health outcomes for REM youth.

As school psychologists, we have an ethical responsibility to engage in social justice and anti-racist action. School psychology organizations and graduate education programs play an important role in shaping future generations of school psychologists to lead the mental health, educational and research, and advocacy initiatives that promote equity for school personnel, students, families and communities they serve. This is only possible if our field acknowledges, evaluates, and works to reconstruct existing systems, structures, and policies that lead to inequitable outcomes for some groups and not others. "How can the school psychology community serve the diverse society in which we live without explicit and intentional education and growth in this area?" To help answer this question, APA Division 16,

With the rapidly increasing racial and ethnic diversity of the school‐aged population, school psychologists must be properly trained to engage in culturally competent practice; however, little is known about how school psychology programs prepare their trainees to serve diverse populations. The purpose of this study was to update Rogers et al.'s study on multicultural training by examining the extent to which school psychology programs use multicultural training recommendations noted in the literature. Thirty‐eight school psychology program coordinators completed the Multicultural Environmental Inventory‐Revised (MEI) to assess their perceptions of their program's multicultural environment. Participants were also asked about their training in multicultural and diversity issues and how their program conducts multicultural training. Findings suggest that programs most frequently used the integration and separate course models for multicultural training along with clinical experiences serving diverse students. In addition, multicultural coursework was associated with higher scores on the MEI Curriculum and MEI Research subscales. With regard to program environment, the percentage of racial and ethnic minoritized (REM) students was positively correlated to the percentage of REM faculty and the number of required multicultural courses. However, programs lacked specific strategies to recruit and retain diverse students. Findings and implications for training programs are discussed.