Showing papers in "School Psychology Quarterly in 2003"

Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory.

Abstract: We present a conceptualization of student engagement based on the culmination of concentration, interest, and enjoyment (i.e., flow). Using a longitudinal sample of 526 high school students across the U.S., we investigated how adolescents spent their time in high school and the conditions under which they reported being engaged. Participants experienced increased engagement when the perceived challenge of the task and their own skills were high and in balance, the instruction was relevant, and the learning environment was under their control. Participants were also more engaged in individual and group work versus listening to lectures, watching videos, or taking exams. Suggestions to increase engagement, such as focusing on learning activities that support students’ autonomy and provide an appropriate level of challenge for students’ skills, conclude the article.

What Type of Support Do They Need? Investigating Student Adjustment as Related to Emotional, Informational, Appraisal, and Instrumental Support.

Abstract: Despite the availability of conceptual frameworks for examining types of social support, the majority of studies in the literature measure global social support and do not examine specific types of support. Thus, the present study asked: (a) What types of support (e.g., emotional, informational, appraisal, and instrumental) do students most often perceive from each of the sources of support (e.g., parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends)? and (b) Are certain types of social support more related to students’ social, behavioral, and academic outcomes? Preliminary analyses were also conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki, Demaray, & Elliott, 2000) and gender differences in perceptions of types of support. Participants included 263 students in Grades 5 through 8 and data were collected using the CASSS, the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990), and the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1998). Results found that although early adolescent boys and girls perceive similar levels of all types of support from their parents and teachers, girls perceive more support of most types from classmates and friends. Furthermore, emotional and informational support were the most highly reported type of support from parents, informational support was most highly reported from teachers, and emotional and instrumental support scores were reported highest from classmates and close friends. Supportive behaviors from parents contributed to students’ personal adjustment. Emotional support perceived from teachers was a significant and sole individual predictor of students’ social skills and academic competence. Finally, supportive behaviors from teachers also predicted students’ school maladjustment.

A review of life satisfaction research with children and adolescents.

Abstract: An important construct in positive psychology is life satisfaction (LS). Although its importance has been recognized by some school psychologists, research findings have remained unsynthesized. In this article, theory, measurement, and correlates of LS among children and youth are reviewed. Followin

The Family-School Partnership: An Opportunity to Promote the Learning Competence of All Students.

Abstract: . In this article, family--school partnerships are discussed as a viable and essential way to increase the opportunities and supports for all students to enhance their learning progress and meet the recent demands of schooling inherent in accountability systems and most notably of Title I No Child Left Behind legislation. School psychologists are encouraged to make the family--school partnership a priority by collaborating with school personnel to (a) apply principles from systems-ecological theory to children's learning; (b) maintain an opportunity-oriented, persistent focus when working with youth and families living in challenging situations; and (c) attend to the process of partnering with families. Example opportunities for school psychologists to make this partnership a priority for children's academic, social, and emotional learning are delineated. ********** As I reflect on the past two decades of research and practices with respect to family involvement in education, I am reminded of a Charles Dickens (1859) phrase from A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ..." (p. 1). The "best of times" is reflected in an increased awareness of the (a) effect of family influences on and contributions by families to children's educational outcomes; (b) conceptual models for family involvement; (c) importance of establishing shared goals and monitoring child success; (d) characteristics of constructive, collaborative relationships; and (e) variety of home- and school-based activities to engage families in education (Chen, 2001; Christenson & Sheridan, 2001; Comer, Haynes, Joyner, & Ben-Avie, 1996; Epstein, 1995; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Nord & West, 2001; Sheridan, Kratochwill, & Bergan, 1996; Swap, 1993). It is noteworthy that previous efforts to examine school psychological service delivery at invited conferences (Brown, Cardon, Coulter, & Meyers, 1982; Ysseldyke & Weinberg, 1981) and publications (Talley, Kubiszyn, Brassard, & Short, 1996) have highlighted the seminal role of parents for students' school success. At the beginning of the 21st century, our myriad efforts as a discipline--researchers, trainers, and practitioners--have resulted in the family--school partnership being recognized as salient for positive developmental and learning outcomes of children and youth. (1) The "worst of times" is evident in the disconnect of the two primary socializing agents for educational success. This disconnect is seen daily across our schools in (a) predominant use of the school-to-home transmission model (Swap, 1993); (b) the extreme social and physical distance between some educators and families; (c) diminished resources for implementing family--school programs; (d) challenges reaching all families; (e) challenges related to addressing the needs of non-English speaking families and children identified as English Language Learners (ELL); and (f) too little focus on the interaction process that yields a strong relationship as various interventions are implemented (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001; Liontos, 1992). Although shared responsibility across home and school for educational outcomes is the rhetoric, school policies and practices are not always aligned with this notion. I suspect an analysis of current assessment and intervention practices would reveal infrequent use of those that focus on home and school as contexts for children's development and learning. Our Challenge as a Discipline Educators often ask: How can schools get families to support their values and practices? Coincidentally, families often ask: How can families get schools to be responsive to their needs and aspirations for their children? Less often educators and families ask: How can we work together to promote the educational experiences and performance of students or this student? …

Hope Theory, Measurements, and Applications to School Psychology.

Abstract: School psychologists contribute greatly in helping students, teachers, and schools in general to become more hopeful. As such, we see school psychologists serving in the role of “caring coaches” (Snyder, 1994) who help parents, students, teachers, and staff members to reach their education-related goals. In this article, we provide information so as to expand the already positive influence of school psychologists. To this end, we describe the tenets of hope theory, along with two brief hope scales that can be used with young children and adolescents. Moreover, we summarize the hope research conducted mainly in our laboratory, along with its implications for use by school psychologists.

The Developmental Context of School Satisfaction: Schools as Psychologically Healthy Environments.

Abstract: A positive psychology perspective on school psychology challenges us to think critically about the degree to which schools and schooling processes support children’s optimum adjustment. We argue that schools contribute to a student’s positive adjustment when they function as psychologically healthy environments for development. In this narrative review, we examine contemporary perspectives on positive adjustment in children and propose a developmental-ecological perspective as one theoretical lens through which to view positive school adjustment. We will critique the empirical literature on contextual factors contributing to school satisfaction, one marker of positive school adjustment. Finally, we will make recommendations for practice and research in this area.

Investigating the Acceptability of Behavioral Interventions in Applied Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Moving from Analog Conditions to Naturalistic Settings.

Abstract: Whereas there exists a vast literature investigating consumer satisfaction ratings of various behavioral interventions, the majority of these studies have been limited to analogue conditions, which may compromise utility and generalization. Ad- ditionally, most research has failed to explore multiple-source, multiple-setting data in the investigation of treatment acceptability. This study investigated parent, teacher, and child treatment acceptability ratings derived from fi eld-based conjoint behavioral consultation cases. Data indicate that overall, parents, teachers, and children rated con- joint behavioral consultation-based behavioral interventions as very to highly accept- able. For parents, interventions with a reductive component were rated as more accept- able than interventions using both positive and negative components; no signifi cant differences were found among teacher and child group ratings. For teachers, there was a positive relationship between (a) intervention complexity and treatment acceptability ratings and (b) problem severity ratings and treatment acceptability ratings. Addition- ally, regression analyses indicate that for teachers, the interaction of complexity and problem severity signifi cantly predicted teacher treatment acceptability ratings, with teacher severity ratings demonstrating greater predictive validity. Implications of these fi ndings and directions for future research are explored.

An Ecological-Transactional Understanding of Community Violence: Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract: Community violence has emerged as a major risk factor for the development of mental health problems in children and adolescents. If mental health providers are to meet the needs of children and communities dealing with community violence, then they will need to integrate principles from various subdisciplines in psychology (e.g., developmental psychology, school psychology, developmental psychopathology) as well as disciplines outside of psychology (e.g., sociology, public health, medicine) to understand fully the developmental impact of exposure to community violence. The development of such a model is necessary to identify the pathways, risk, and protective factors on which prevention and intervention programs can be built. The goal of this article is to present an ecological-transactional model of community violence as a conceptual framework for understanding the existing literature and for guiding future research on community violence exposure and child development.

Evidence-Based Practice: Promoting Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychology.

Abstract: We present an overview of issues related to evidence-based practice and the role that the school psychology profession can play in developing and dissemi- nating evidence-based interventions (EBIs). Historical problems relating to and the recurring debate about the integration of research into practice are presented as a context for the current challenges faced by those engaged in the EBI movement in psychology and education. Potential solutions to the problems posed by the adoption of EBIs in practice are presented within the context of the directions to be taken by the Task Force on Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychol- ogy (Task Force). Five assumptions are presented that can guide the Task Force in addressing the integration of EBIs in practice. These assumptions are followed the Task Force for the promotion of EBIs in practice. The action plans are conceptual- ized as a shared responsibility of school psychology researchers, trainers, and prac- titioners. Future directions and implications for policy among groups with a com- mon agenda for promoting EBIs are also presented.

Critical Issues Children Face in the 2000s.

Abstract: . My responsibilities for the Future of School Psychology Conference were twofold. First, I was to discuss the critical issues that children face or will face as we move into the 2000s. My second task was to propose roles for school psychology, within the constraints of the shortage, to address these issues. ********** Issues Facing Children Children will face many critical issues in the 21st century. Unfortunately, most of these issues are not new and have remained the same from previous years. For some of the issues, the prevalence has increased, whereas some decrease is being seen in others. According to the Children's Defense Fund (2003): * An American child is reported abused or neglected every 11 seconds. * Children in foster care number 581,000, with a waiting list of 127,000. * An American child is born without health insurance every minute. * Millions of children start school not ready to learn. * Millions of children lack safe, affordable, quality child care and early childhood education while their parents work. * Seven and one-half million children are at home alone without supervision, frequently after school when they are at greatest risk for getting into trouble. * Close to 12 million children are poor, millions are hungry and/or at risk for hunger, living in the worst housing conditions, or are homeless. Almost 80% of poor children live in working households. The following is a brief review of some of the problems contributing to these critical issues. Poverty Although poverty rates have been decreasing slightly since 1993, with the recent economic downturn, it is anticipated that we will again experience significant increases in children living in poverty. Data from the National Center for Children in Poverty (2003) indicate that: * A total of 37% of children in the United States (27 million) live in low-income families. * Poverty is not an issue unique to single parent or unemployed households. * Eighty percent of poor children live in working households, and 65% have both parents working. * A total of 40% of children under the age of 6 live in homes where the income is below $27,000 for a family of four. * A total of 16% of children (over 11 million) live in homes that are below the federal poverty level ($13,861 for a family of three). * The poverty rate is highest for African Americans (30%) and Latinos (28%). * A total of 6% of children (5 million) live in extreme poverty ($6,930 for a family of three). Violence The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2003a, 2003b, 2003c) reported that violent injury and death disproportionately affect children, adolescents, and young adults. Many of these deaths are linked to firearms. Violent deaths have occurred in the home, community, and school. Data indicate that: * Homicide is the second leading cause of death for all 15 to 24-year olds, most killed with guns. * Homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans. * Homicide is the second leading cause of death for Hispanic youths. * More than 400,000 youth ages 10 to 19 years were injured as a result of violence in 2000. * A total of 17% of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years reportedly carried weapons. * Males are six times more likely than females to have carried a handgun. * Over 800,000 children were victims of child abuse nationwide. Numbers reflect reported abuse only. * In a survey of high-school students by Knowledge Networks, one-fourth reported knowing at least one student at their school who had been physically struck by a person they were dating. * A total of 36% of high-school students reported having been in physical fights. (The Empower Program, 2003; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2003). …

Conjoint Consultation Using Self-Administered Manual and Videotape Parent-Teacher Training: Effects on Children's Behavioral Difficulties.

Abstract: This research involved comparing the effectiveness of two different approaches of conjoint consultation using a manual versus a videotape series as the main components of training parents and teachers to treat children’s behavioral difficulties. Children exhibiting externalizing or internalizing behavioral problems who attended Head Start Programs were targeted for this intervention. During the first 2 years of the project, a manual-based program was conducted. The last 3 years of the project involved delivery of the parent–teacher training program through a series of videotapes and accompanying manuals. Children were randomly assigned to either an experimental or no treatment control group. The effectiveness of the intervention within the experimental group was assessed primarily through a pretest–posttest, experimental–control, group repeated-measures design. Direct behavioral observations did not indicate clinically relevant improvements in behavior; however, parents’ and teachers’ goal attainment reports characterized students as meeting their overall behavior goals. Parents and teachers also reported high rates of treatment acceptability and satisfaction with the manual and videotape treatment programs. Implications are discussed for future research on evidence-based treatments.

Partnering to Chart our Futures: School Psychology Review and School Psychology Quarterly Combined Issue on the Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology

Abstract: (2004). Partnering to Chart Our Futures: School Psychology Review and School Psychology Quarterly Combined Issue on the Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology. School Psychology Review: Vol. 33, Special Issue Proceedings of the Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology, pp. 7-11.

Four Alternative Futures for Education in the United States: It's Our Choice.

Abstract: . This article discusses four possible futures toward which educational systems might direct our society. The first is a future dominated by rote memorizers. The second is a future of critical thinkers. The third is a future of successfully intelligent thinkers. The fourth is a future of wise thinkers. Each future builds on the previous one. Which one should our schools aspire to? ********** One way of conceiving of the task of describing the future of education in the United States is to view it as a prediction task. We have to guess what the future will hold. To a large extent, of course, any exercise such as this one must be a forecasting task. But the word prediction implies a certain passivity in the face of the future that I believe we should put aside. To a large extent, forecasting the future of education is a selection task. We, as a nation, get to choose our own future. What future will we choose? I describe here four (of many possible) futures. Each builds on the previous one and adds something to it. What future would you choose? Future 1: The Ideal of the Walking Encyclopedia Future 1 is the future that most children around the world face. The education they receive emphasizes rote memorization of whatever it is that the powers that be in the society think is worth rote memorizing. In a religious environment, it might be the Bible, the Koran, or some other holy book. In a secular environment, it might be a set of disconnected facts about the exports of various countries or the dates of certain treaties. Such training may be useful for those who build their lives expecting others to do what they have done; it will not be useful in developing the critical-thinking skills children will need to cope in a flexible way with a rapidly changing environment. This future is one that many people support. I recently received an e-mail from an individual who plans to become "the smartest person in the world." His plan is receiving media attention. His method is to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Lest this view sound limited to him, keep in mind that TV quiz shows, as well as national spelling and geography bees, measure how smart their contestants are in terms of their ability to retrieve large numbers of facts, many of which are of little relevance outside the context of the contest. There is no particular reason why sheer memorization should lead to the development of critical-thinking skills. Rote memorization requires recital and repetition. Critical thinking requires skillful analysis, evaluation, and interpretation. Of course, one cannot think without something to think about. Children or adults need a knowledge base with which to think. But there is a difference between a knowledge base and a store of information. Any repository of facts or supposed facts and ideas can be a store of information. One could memorize a German-English dictionary and know the translation of each of the words from German to English and vice versa. In this case, one would have a large store of information, but a trivial knowledge base. A knowledge base is for use. The information must be stored in an organized way that makes it easily retrievable when needed and at the call of different kinds of retrieval cues, whether on a test in school or on the larger test that is life. Too many teachers and students alike confuse the two. They believe that merely knowing an unrelated collection of poorly integrated facts will constitute a child's having developed a knowledge base. In fact, it will constitute a store of information, much of which may be unusable. One can end up with a situation similar to that of an erased computer disc. The data are not truly erased. They are still on the disc, unless one has taken special measures to ensure that the data are wiped clean. Rather, the data have simply become inaccessible. They no longer have a normal means of being called up. Only a computer specialist can retrieve them, often with difficulty, and usually in degraded form. …

The Changing Face of School Psychology: Trends in Data and Projections for the Future.

Abstract: Trends in data from the past to the present are described for demographic variables (gender, race and ethnicity, preparation levels, credentialing, age and experience) and ratio of students to school psychologists. School psychology in the United States will continue to be characterized as primarily Caucasian, specialist-level and female through 2020. Projections of personnel needs based on estimates of new school psychologists entering the field through graduation from university programs, as well as those exiting the field through estimates of retirement and attrition, indicate that there will be a severe shortage of school psychologists through 2010, with the shortage then continuing but declining through 2020. Implications are discussed and possible strategies and directions are offered for the field. not even considered among the multiple scenarios. Nevertheless, “it is folly to attempt to prepare ourselves [and school psychology] for ensuing years without at least attempting to forecast, based upon our best judgments, what may be anticipated” (Cardon, 1982, p. 151). The Future of School Psychology 2002 Invitational Conference (Curtis, 2002) followed the last such gathering, the Olympia Conference, by more than 20 years. As the field once again engages in an attempt to consider its future(s), we recommend that readers revisit or read for the first time The Olympia Proceedings (Brown, Cardon, Coulter, & Meyers, 1982). The discussions and accomplishments of that conference would probably prove enlightening from a number of perspecMaking predictions about school psychology and professional practices in the future is challenging at best. Futurists would suggest that we examine historical patterns as well as current and potential forces, both internal and external, that might have an impact on the field to develop possible scenarios for the future. Rather than trying to predict the future, the goal is to describe different futures that might emerge. However, history would seem to suggest that we would be foolish in trying to gaze too far down the road. Any number of unanticipated developments, such as sweeping legislation, major judicial decisions, significant changes in society, or key advances in any number of areas like technology, could dramatically alter our path and lead to a future

Responding to the Needs of Children, Families, and Schools: The 2002 Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology.

Abstract: (2004). Responding to the Needs of Children, Families, and Schools: The 2002 Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology. School Psychology Review: Vol. 33, Special Issue Proceedings of the Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology, pp. 12-33.

Awakening to a New Dawn: Perspectives of the Future of School Psychology.

Abstract: The Invitational Conference on the Future of School Psychology held at Indiana University in Fall 2002 included a number of paper presentations and group discussions. Toward the end of the conferen...

The 2002 Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology: Next Steps.

Abstract: Eleven broad themes emerged from the 2002 multisite conference on the Future of School Psychology. After the conference, strategies developed by the participants were clustered into the following d...

Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly and Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation Editors Collaborate to Chart School Psychology's Past, Present, and "Futures"

Abstract: (2004). Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, and Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation Editors Collaborate to Chart School Psychology's Past, Present, and “Futures”. School Psychology Review: Vol. 33, Special Issue Proceedings of the Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology, pp. 3-6.