Youth-Nex

🚨 New research alert!

Youth-Nex researchers recently published some insights from a randomized control trial that sheds light on how to coach teachers to implement equity & social emotional learning focused curricula in classrooms. They share recommendations for coaching to optimize implementation of equity-focused SEL.

Read more: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10474412.2025.2596780

Congrats to Emma B. who is one of the recipients of UVA's Outstanding Student Employee Awards for 2026!

This award recognizes exceptional dedication, leadership, and initiative across their area, department, and the University. Emma has been a member of our PIT-CREW lab for years and made impactful contributions across multiple research grants.

: Meet Dr. Channing Mathews!

She is available to speak on her research interests, critical consciousness development, identity as an adolescent developmental asset, education/STEM equity, methods & research design, and mentorship, practice, & policy. Her research examines how ethnic-racial identity and critical consciousness function as developmental assets that support academic engagement, STEM orientation, and activism among youth of color during adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Read more: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/channing-mathews-2026-speaker

May is National 🧠Mental Health Awareness Month!

We are kicking the month off with a recent publication from our Drs. Jessica Forrester, Irène Mathieu, colleagues & teens. These Youth-Nex researchers were leading a mental health YPAR initiative that was empowering & supporting youth outside the classroom. What practices could you use in your work?

Read more: https://jprm.scholasticahq.com/article/137013-empowering-and-supporting-youth-outside-the-classroom-practices-from-a-mental-health-ypar-initiative

Schools must put SEL for educators at the center of school improvement.

Our Dr. Tish Jennings & colleagues pen a new Education Week op-ed with 3 strategies on how teachers can live the SEL they deliver. They discuss how to:
😡😀 Manage the emotional load,
🪢 Weave SEL into everyday classroom interactions, and
👩🏽‍🏫 Teach SEL explicitly to students in ways that stick.

Read more: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-we-train-teachers-to-deliver-sel-they-should-also-know-how-to-live-it/2026/03

Which parenting strategies help manage teens' social media use?

New research by our Dr. Stef Sequeira & colleagues characterized how parents perceive & implement social media-specific strategies with early adolescents. Findings suggest that nearly all parents (96.6%) communicated with their adolescent about social media & a majority also reported using limit-setting (85.2%), co-use (84.1%) & nontechnical monitoring (71.6%).

Read more: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jora.70127

When Teens Are Authentically Involved, Everyone Benefits Teens thrive participating in events put on by UVA’s Youth-Nex research center. A new guide will help others create similar opportunities.

Academic demand, combined with screen exposure and reduced rest, puts teens under constant pressure.

These 2 teens are talking about digital homework and how it is contributing to a teen crisis of academic burnout. They say academic pressure and burnout are now a major issue for teens. So what can adults do?

Read more: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/digital-homework-overlooked-teen-crisis-academic-burnout

Our researchers are continuing to build connections & partnerships in their work!

Dr. Catherine Bradshaw is co-chairing a new research hub focusing on implementation science infrastructure of evidence-based innovations. Dr. Chris Chang-Bacon & colleagues received a seed grant to examine how English test scores are used are used when admitting international graduate students. Congrats!

Read more: https://education.virginia.edu/news-stories/school-education-and-human-development-researchers-build-connections-partnerships-across-grounds

: Meet Dr. Courtney Framel!

She has over a decade of experience supporting students and school communities across the US. Her current research focuses on stress, burnout, and well‑being among educators, the roles and functions of school mental health professionals, and strategies for cultivating sustainable partnerships and supportive educational environments.

Read more & contact her to schedule your next event: https://youthnexdrive.virginia.edu/courtney-framel-2026-speaker

Mark your calendar & plan to join our 5/6 conversation about police–youth relationships!

Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy (UVA) Prof. Kyle Dobson & team are sharing their research under development about trust in action. Interested in providing feedback or joining the discussion? RSVP to [email protected].

Or see more via: https://education.virginia.edu/events/youth-nex-works-progress-meeting-may-2026