The Promotional Role of School and Community Contexts for Military Students

Abstract

This article examines how supportive public school environments can serve as a promotional context for the development of children and adolescents from military families. The authors integrate theory and research from multiple research strands (e.g., human development, studies of at-risk youth, educational reform, goodness of fit theory, and school climate) to outline how public schools can support the development of all children and adolescents. This article provides further support for the supposition that school climates and the social-ecological contexts surrounding a school (e.g., universities, communities, school districts) have the potential to protect at-risk children and adolescents from an array of negative social, emotional, and psychological outcomes. The authors draw linkages between these research domains and the development of military children and adolescents. Promotional civilian school environments embedded within supportive and inclusive contexts can create a social infrastructure that supports the development of military children and adolescents. The authors argue that this conceptual approach can create a foundation for interventions and research that focuses on schools as normative supportive developmental settings for military children and youth during challenging times of war (e.g., deployments and multiple school transitions). This article concludes with a discussion of future directions in research on the development of military children and adolescents. Based on a heuristic conceptual model that outlines areas needing further research, the authors call for a deeper theoretical and empirical integration of school climate and external contextual factors surrounding the school. Investigating the social and organizational dynamics within these contexts can result in a more comprehensive picture of the development of military children and adolescents.

Evaluating Behavioral Health Interventions for Military-Connected Youth: A Systematic Review

“…Additional advantages to integrating school-based interventions include available peer and social support networks, better access to services, and decreases in social sigma which may be protective during developmental milestones and military-related transitions during childhood. 14,58 …”

Physical Fighting Among Male and Female Adolescents of Military Families: Results From a Representative Sample of High School Students

“…In addition to developing behavioral health interventions specifically for youth from military families, national youth violence prevention initiatives such as Safe Schools/Healthy Students (Derzon et al, 2012) could include strategies aimed at reaching military involved youth. Therefore, helping military involved youth who relocate frequently establish a strong connection to their new school and peers (Astor, De Pedro, Gilreath, Esqueda, & Benbenishty, 2013) may have an impact on physical fighting behaviors. Therefore, helping military involved youth who relocate frequently establish a strong connection to their new school and peers (Astor, De Pedro, Gilreath, Esqueda, & Benbenishty, 2013) may have an impact on physical fighting behaviors.…”

Investigation of the Variables Affecting the Math Achievement of Resilient Students at School and Student Level

“…Son yıllarda yapılan araştırmalarda olumlu okul iklimi, artan akademik başarı, olumlu öğrenme ortamı, etkili risk yönetimi ve öğretmen memnuniyeti ile doğrudan ilişkilendirilen önemli bir değişken olarak savunulmaktadır (Cohen, 2013;Cohen ve Geier, 2010). Olumlu okul iklimi aynı zamanda negatif sosyal ve duygusal çıktıları azaltan bir etkiye sahiptir (Astor, De Pedro, Gireath, Esqueda ve Benbenishty, 2013). Yapılan araştırmalarda, okul iklimi ve akademik dirençlilik arasında olumlu bir ilişki olduğu ve olumlu okul ikliminin dezavantajlı olmalarına rağmen yüksek başarı gösteren dirençli öğrencilerin akademik başarılarına katkı sağladığı görülmektedir (Luthar vd., 2000;Rutter, 2006;Thapa vd., 2013;Wang ve Degol, 2015).…”