National surveys consistently reveal that an inordinate number of students report high levels of boredom, anger, and stress in school, which often leads to their disengagement from critical learning and social development. If the ultimate goal of schools is to educate young people to become responsible and critically thinking citizens who can succeed in life, understanding factors that stimulate them to become active agents in their own leaning is critical. A new field labeled "positive psychology" is one lens that can be used to investigate factors that facilitate a student's sense of agency and active school engagement.

The purposes of this groundbreaking Handbook are to 1) describe ways that positive emotions, traits, and institutions promote school achievement and healthy social/emotional development 2) describe how specific positive-psychological constructs relate to students and schools and support the delivery of school-based services and 3) describe the application of positive psychology to educational policy making. By doing so, the book provides a long-needed centerpiece around which the field can continue to grow in an organized and interdisciplinary manner.

Key features include:

Comprehensive - this book is the first to provide a comprehensive review of what is known about positive psychological constructs and the school experiences of children and youth. Topical coverage ranges from conceptual foundations to assessment and intervention issues to service delivery models. Intrapersonal factors (e.g., hope, life satisfaction) and interpersonal factors (e.g., positive peer and family relationships) are examined as is classroom-and-school-level influences (e.g., student-teacher and school-community relations).

Interdisciplinary Focus - this volume brings together the divergent perspectives, methods, and findings of a broad, interdiscipl

Section 1: Conceptual Foundations  1. A Conceptual Model for Research in Positive Psychology in Children and Youth  2. The Nature and Importance of Positive Mental Health in America's Adolescents  Section 2: Internal Assets and Positive Student Development  3. Life Satisfaction  4. Measuring and Promoting Hope in Schoolchildren 5. Optimism and the School Context  6. Strengths of Characters in Schools  7. Gratitude in School: Benefits to Students and Schools  8. Positive Self-Concepts  9. Emotion Regulation: Implications for Positive Youth Development  10. Empathy, Prosocial Behavior, and Positive Development in Schools  11. Flow in Schools: Cultivating Engaged Learners and Optimal Learning Environments  Section 3: Contextual Resources and Positive Student Development  12. Toward a Positive Psychology of Academic Motivation: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs  13. Oriented Towards Mastery: Promoting Positive Motivational Goals for Students  14. Creativity in the Schools: A Rapidly Developing Area of Positive Psychology  15. School Satisfaction and Children's Positive School Adjustment  16. Student Engagement and Positive School Adaptation  17. The ClassMaps Survey: A Framework for Promoting Positive Classroom Environments  18. Peer Relationships and Positive Adjustment at School  19. Parent-Child Relationships  20. Parents as Essential Partners for Fostering Students' Learning Outcomes  21. Secrets of Their Success: Activity Participation and Positive Youth Development  Section 4: School-Based Applications for Positive Student Development  22. Positive Psychology and School-Based Interventions  23. The Positive in Positive Models of Discipline  24. Positive Psychology and the Prevention of School-Based Victimization  25. Promoting Positive Adaptation During the Earl