This meta-analysis reviews research on the achievement effects of comprehensive school reform (CSR) and summarizes the specific effects of 29 widely implemented models. There are limitations on the overall quantity and quality of the research base, but the overall effects of CSR appear promising. The combined quantity, quality, and statistical significance of evidence from three models, in particular, set them apart. Whether evaluations are conducted by developers or by third-party evaluators and whether evaluators use one-group pre-post designs or control groups are important factors for understanding differences in CSR effects. Schools that implemented CSR models for 5 years or more showed particularly strong effects, and the benefits were consistent across schools of varying poverty levels. A long-term commitment to research-proven educational reform is needed to establish a strong marketplace of scientifically based CSR models.

Comprehensive School Reform and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis

The American Psychological Association (APA) advocates the use of person-first language (e.g., people with disabilities) to refer to individuals with disabilities in daily discourse and to reduce bias in psychological writing. Disability culture advocates and disability studies scholars have challenged the rationale for and implications of exclusive person-first language use, promoting use of identity-first language (e.g., disabled people). We argue that psychologists should adopt identity-first language alongside person-first constructions to address the concerns of disability groups while promoting human dignity and maintaining scientific and professional rigor. We review the evolution of disability language and then discuss the major models used to characterize disability and people with disabilities. The rationale for person-first language and the emergence of identity-first language, respectively, are linked to particular models. We then discuss some language challenges posed by identity-first language and the current intent of person-first language, suggesting that psychologists make judicious use of the former when it is possible to do so. We conclude by offering five observations of ways that use of both person-first and identity-first language could enhance psychologists' cultural competence regarding disability issues in personal and scientific communications.

Person-first and identity-first language: Developing psychologists' cultural competence using disability language.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined Medicaid claims forms to determine the prevalence, severity, and co-occurrence of physical illness within a representative sample of persons with serious mental illness (N=147). METHODS: Representativeness of health problems in the study sample was established through comparison with a larger sample of persons with serious mental illness enrolled in Medicaid within the same state. Standardized annual costs were then assigned to Medicaid claims diagnoses, and individual health problem severity was measured as the sum of estimated treatment costs for diagnosed conditions. RESULTS: Seventy-four percent of the study sample (N=109) had been given a diagnosis of at least one chronic health problem, and 50 percent (N=73) had been given a diagnosis of two or more chronic health problems. Of the 14 chronic health conditions surveyed, chronic pulmonary illness was the most prevalent (31 percent incidence) and the most comorbid. Persons with chronic pulmonary illness were second only ...

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Prevalence, severity, and co-occurrence of chronic physical health problems of persons with serious mental illness.

The United States today has approximately 39.9 million immigrants—the largest number in its history (Passel & Cohn, 2012; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011b). As a nation of immigrants, the United States has successfully negotiated larger proportions of newcomers in its past (14.7% in 1910 vs. 12.9% today) and is far from alone among postindustrial countries in experiencing a growth in immigration in recent decades. Notably, nearly three quarters of the foreign-born are naturalized citizens or authorized noncitizens (Congressional Budget Office [CBO], 2011). One in five persons currently residing in the United States is a firstor second-generation immigrant, and nearly a quarter of children under the age of 18 have an immigrant parent (Mather, 2009). As such, immigrants and the second generation have become a significant part of our national tapestry. Just as this demographic transformation is rapidly unfolding, the United States is facing international, domestic, and economic crises (Massey, 2010). Like other historical economic downturns (Simon, 1985), the current recession has served as a catalyst to make immigration a divisive social and political issue (Massey & Sánchez, 2010). Across the nation, immigrants have become the subject of negative media coverage (Massey, 2010; M. M. Suárez-Orozco, Louie, & Suro, 2011), hate crimes (Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, 2009), and exclusionary political legislation (Carter, Lawrence, & Morse, 2011). Given the demographic growth, however, we now face an “integration imperative” (Alba, Sloan, & Sperling, 2011)—not only for the well-being of this new population but also for that of the nation’s social and economic future. Psychologists are, and increasingly will be, serving immigrant adults and their children in a variety of settings, including schools, community centers, clinics, and hospitals, and thus should be aware of this complex demographic transformation and consider its implications as citizens, practitioners, researchers, and faculty. This report aims specifically to describe this diverse population and address the psychological experience of immigration, considering factors that impede and facilitate adjustment. The report, which includes the recent theoretical and empirical literature on immigrants, (a) raises awareness about this growing (but poorly understood) population; (b) derives evidenceinformed recommendations for the provision of psychological services for the immigrant-origin population; and (c) makes recommendations for the advancement of training, research, and policy efforts for immigrant children, adults, older adults, and families.

Crossroads: The Psychology of immigration in the new century

Background: Musculoskeletal pain disorders are the most prevalent, costly, disabling, and commonly researched conditions in the workplace, yet the development of overarching conceptual models of return to work (RTW) in these conditions has been lagging. Method: A critical review of the literature was performed using multiple medical and health search engines in order to provide an evaluation of the evolution and the state of the art of health and disability models with a focus on specific models of RTW. Results: The main tenets, implications for diagnosis, treatment, and disability compensation, are the key perspectives analyzed for the following specific models of RTW: biomedical, psychosocial, forensic, ecological/case management, biopsychosocial, and two more recent models developed by the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization, respectively. Conclusions: Future development of models that are truly transdisciplinary, and address temporal and multidimensional aspects of occupational disability, remains a goal.

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Models of Return to Work for Musculoskeletal Disorders

Although the field of disabilities studies incorporates psychology within its interdisciplinary purview, it embodies a distinct perspective consonant with the new paradigm of disability. This perspective is contrasted with that of psychology, and the place of disability within psychology is examined. Although psychology has begun to embrace diversity, disability has remained marginalized. Four areas are presented in this article: (a) the foundational ideas of disability studies, (b) training in disability within psychology, (c) the paradigms of disability reflected in research on disability, and (d) future research directions.

Can disability studies and psychology join hands

Advances in research on disability and rehabilitation are essential to creating equal opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for persons with disabilities. Historically, such initiatives have focused on separate and specific areas, including neuroscience, molecular biology and genetics, gerontology, engineering and physical sciences, and social and behavioral sciences. Research on persons with disabilities should examine the broader context and trends of society that affect the total environment of persons with disabilities. This article examines the various disability paradigms across time, assessing the relative contribution of the socioecological perspective in guiding research designed to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. The authors recommend new research directions that include a focus on life span issues, biomedicine, biotechnology, the efficacy and effectiveness of current interventions, an emphasis on consumer-driven investigations within a socioecological perspective of disability, and the implications for research and practice.

An integrative conceptual framework of disability. New directions for research.

There are noteworthy differences between the old and new paradigms of disability perspective, particularly in the way that disability is measured, defined, and understood. The new paradigm emphasizes the dynamic intersection of environmental factors and individual characteristics and the role this intersection plays in shaping the disability experience. In contrast, the old paradigm of disability is reductive to pathology and emphasizes individual disability characteristics and deficits. In addition to a discussion of the old and new paradigms of disability, the author summarizes the fundamental theoretical frameworks that have influenced the current state of the science in disability and rehabilitation and offers an overview of definitions, terminology, and models of disability. The author concludes with an overview of the articles in this section.

Discourse on disability and rehabilitation issues: Opportunities for psychology.

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) funds research and related activities that promote new knowledge that helps individuals with disabilities to perform regular activities in the community and increases the capacity of society to provide full opportunities and supports for individuals with disabilities. NIDRR achieves this goal by promoting interdisciplinary research and related activities. Psychologists play a key role in many of these activities and assist with improving understanding of disability and rehabilitation by participating in peer review of research proposals or by reviewing NIDRR's proposed research priorities. Psychologists also contribute by taking advantage of training and the many other opportunities for support outlined in this article.

Disability and rehabilitation research. Opportunities for participation, collaboration, and extramural funding for psychologists.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/59/4/275.pdf

Constance Pledger

Papers

Can disability studies and psychology join hands

An integrative conceptual framework of disability. New directions for research.

Discourse on disability and rehabilitation issues: Opportunities for psychology.

Disability and rehabilitation research. Opportunities for participation, collaboration, and extramural funding for psychologists.

Disability paradigm shift