A Trauma- and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)-Informed Approach to Suicide Prevention in School: Black Boys' Lives Matter.

Black boys have been dying by suicide at an increasing rate. Although the reasons for this increase are unknown, suicide in Black boys is likely influenced by multiple, intersecting risk factors, including historical and ongoing trauma. Schools can serve as an important mechanism of support for Black boys; however, without intentional anti-racist frameworks that acknowledge how intersecting identities can exacerbate risk for suicide, schools can overlook opportunities for care and perpetuate a cycle of racism that compromises the mental health of Black youth. By recognizing their own implicit biases, modeling anti-racist practices, listening to and recognizing the strengths and diversity of Black youth, and fostering school-family-community partnerships, school psychologists can help transform the school environment to be a safe and culturally affirming place for Black youth. This paper outlines how school psychologists can apply a trauma- and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)-informed approach to suicide prevention in order to more holistically support Black boys, disrupt patterns of aggressive disciplinary procedures, and improve school-based suicide prevention programs. By applying this lens across a multitiered systems of support (MTSS) framework, school psychologists can help to prevent the deaths of Black boys and begin to prioritize the lives of Black boys.

A scalable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions.

Suspensions remove students from the learning environment at high rates throughout the United States. Policy and theory highlight social groups that face disproportionately high suspension rates-racial-minoritized students, students with a prior suspension, and students with disabilities. We used an active placebo-controlled, longitudinal field experiment (Nteachers = 66, Nstudents = 5822) to test a scalable "empathic-mindset" intervention, a 45- to 70-min online exercise to refocus middle school teachers on understanding and valuing the perspectives of students and on sustaining positive relationships even when students misbehave. In preregistered analyses, this exercise reduced suspension rates especially for Black and Hispanic students, cutting the racial disparity over the school year from 10.6 to 5.9 percentage points, a 45% reduction. Significant reductions were also observed for other groups of concern. Moreover, reductions persisted through the next year when students interacted with different teachers, suggesting that empathic treatment with even one teacher in a critical period can improve students' trajectories through school.

Residential mobility during adolescence: Do even "upward" moves predict dropout risk?

This paper uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate the impact of housing instability in adolescence on the likelihood of subsequent graduation from high school. Combining census data, self-reports, and information about respondents' residential changes, we use the variation in households' number of moves and neighborhood quality to predict whether participants obtain a high school diploma. Controlling for major predictors of housing mobility, students experiencing at least one move over a 12-month period have a roughly 50% decreased likelihood of obtaining a high school diploma by the age of 25. These associations are identified regardless of whether students move to a poorer or less-poor neighborhood. Our results carry implications for the development of housing policies and interventions designed for disadvantaged populations.