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.

This study reports on the initial development and examination of the School Psychology Multicultural Competence Scale (SPMCS), a 45-item self-report measure for evaluating school psychologists' multicultural competence in the primary domains of school psychology practice (i.e., assessment, consultation, intervention). A sample of 312 school psychology graduate students was recruited by outreach to school psychology training programs and email listservs to complete the SPMCS and a questionnaire about previous multicultural/diversity coursework and practicum with culturally and linguistically diverse clients. The results from principal axis factoring indicated that 28 of the 45 SPMCS items contributed to a four-factor solution with subscales identified as cultural skills, cultural knowledge, cultural appreciation, and cultural awareness. Internal consistency for each subscale was moderate to high. Overall, completion of multicultural/diversity courses and completion of practicum with culturally and linguistically diverse clients were associated with higher self-reported scores of multicultural competence. The SPMCS can potentially be used as one component to evaluate the extent to which training programs develop the multicultural competence of their trainees. Additionally, these findings provide additional insight into the conceptualization of multicultural competence.

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appreciate the committee's flexibility and patience with me throughout this dissertation process. Each committee member has dedicated their time and effort to help me complete this project and I am grateful to have been able to work with each of you. I would like to give a very special thank you to my Advisor and Chair, Dr. Kathryn "Kit" Gerken, for not allowing me to turn away when the road seemed impossible and for always being caring and understanding. I could have not asked for a better advisor! Lastly, I would like to thank all my friends and extended family in California and across the miles for your many prayers for me to finish this project. You all have given me the motivation I needed to push through the final chapter in my graduate career. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and my final answer to the ongoing question for the past six years is, "Yes, I'm finally finished!" v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.