School Psychology International Research Articles

A note from the Co-Editors of School Psychology International

A note from the Co-Editors of School Psychology International

Working Together Toward Social Justice, Anti-racism, and Equity: One-Year Reflections on the Joint Commitment from Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation and School Psychology International

ABSTRACT The purpose of this statement is to reflect upon progress made during the past year in promoting anti-racism, social justice, and equity as committed to by leaders from the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation and School Psychology International. Action steps from 2021 are reviewed, and priorities for 2022 are identified.

Working Together Towards Social Justice, Anti-Racism, and Equity: A Joint Commitment from Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation and School Psychology International

Issues of equity, access, and social justice in educational settings have received increased attention in the educational and psychological literature over the past several years, though there is s...

Pseudoscience, an Emerging Field, or Just a Framework Without Outcomes? A Bibliometric Analysis and Case Study Presentation of Social Justice Research

The term social justice is frequently utilized in the field of school psychology. However, a systematic review of this framework in terms of its relationship to research and outcomes has not been undertaken. As such, the purpose of this study was to conduct a bibliometric analysis and case study review of research literature associated with the term social justice in the field of school psychology. To accomplish this, the following school psychology journals were utilized: Contemporary School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, International Journal of School and Educational Psychology, Journal of Applied School Psychology, Journal of School Psychology, School Psychology (Quarterly), School Psychology Review, School Psychology International, and the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. Based on a 40-year timeframe (1980–2020) a total of 28 articles were found. Social justice topical articles demonstrated an increasing trend during this period, with the dominant research theme being how to define the term social justice. Surprisingly, when comparing published research on social justice to the current initiatives being implemented by practice organizations such as the NASP Social Justice Committee, there is evidence of a rare practice-to-research gap. Meaning that practice is tackling topics (e.g., White privilege and school-to-prison pipeline) that are not present in the social justice research literature. Implications are discussed in terms of encouraging proponents of social justice to begin to expand their research beyond definition rhetoric to include outcomes associated with applied psychological outcomes.

Current status of pediatric topics in five school psychology journals: Publication trends between 2002 and 2019.

The American Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists agree in parallel calls for school psychologists to develop pediatric-related competencies. To achieve these competencies, trainers and practitioners require a suitably supportive literature. Ideally, this literature would link pediatric knowledge to school-based practice and address evidence-based assessment and intervention. The present article updates prior research (Wodrich & Schmitt, 2003) on this topic by addressing the rate at which pediatric-related topics were published between 2002 and 2019 in five key journals: Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology International, School Psychology Review, and School Psychology Quarterly. To establish publication trends across time and to extend the earlier research, articles were first coded as either empirical or nonempirical, then coded further according to content (i.e., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], a pediatric condition [other than ADHD], professional role issue). The empirical subset of articles was additionally coded according to assessment, intervention, or general knowledge foci. The category comprising the greatest number of articles was pediatric condition (n = 121), followed by ADHD (n = 108) and professional role issue (n = 18). The most specific, commonly appearing pediatric topic was ADHD, as was true when the 2003 article was published, with a surge in empirical ADHD articles noted. The least common topic was pediatric professional role issues. Current trends highlight a need for future empirical articles related to assessment and, particularly, school-based intervention for non-ADHD pediatric health conditions. Limitations of the present research are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Importance of Feeling Adequately Heard by Adults and Enjoying Time with Family in Relation to Children’s Subjective Well-Being

It is essential to take children’s subjective well-being (SWB) into account to give attention to children’s lives. The aim of this article is to analyse children’s SWB according to domain-based indicators of the cognitive component of SWB and indicators of the affective component of SWB, as well as indicators of interpersonal relationships in different contexts and activities outside school, besides sociodemographic and educational characteristics. This is developed though the answers of a probabilistic sample of children from Barcelona city in 2017 (mean age = 10.74) to an adapted preliminary version of the third International Survey of Children’s Well-Being, promoted by the Children’s Worlds project, which includes the Children’s Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale (CW-SWBS), based on the Student Life Satisfaction Scale by Huebner (School Psychology International, 12, 231–243, 1991). It is found that, although children typically do high evaluations of their lives, children’s SWB is even higher when children display better scores in domain-based cognitive SWB and affective SWB (55.07% and 42.75% of the CW-SWBS-5′ variability is explained, respectively), as well as of interpersonal relationships (39.42%). Activities outside school (11.52%) and sociodemographic and educational characteristics (4.76%) seem to have low but critical contributions to children’s SWB. Therefore, promoting better evaluations of cognitive domains (especially feeling adequately heard by adults) and enjoying relationships (especially with family members) both could improve all children’s lives. Furthermore, activities outside school, and in particular sociodemographic and educational characteristics, both could be used to identify children in vulnerable situations.

Geographically representative scholarship and internationalization in school and educational psychology: A bibliometric analysis of eight journals from 2002–2016

Although the discipline of school and educational psychology is arguably international (e.g., relevant research and practice is evident in more than 80 countries), there has been limited research examining the international scholarship published in school and educational psychology journals. Such an assessment is important because it provides one important metric for better understanding the field's level of internationalization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate every article (N = 4456) published from 2002 to 2016 across eight school and educational psychology journals that publish international scholarship. Each article's authorship and participant data were coded and reported in terms of respective country and geographical region. Research questions examined, for example, how the published scholarship aligns with international employment data for school psychologists and whether particular journals published a geographically wider breadth of articles. Overall findings indicated that although the field of school psychology is present in more than 80 countries, the overall scholarship in the reviewed journals predominantly features participants living in, and authors working in, North America or Western Europe. However, one journal (School Psychology International) published relatively more articles with participants from outside of these geographic regions. Also, journals affiliated with a national professional organization largely differed in their percentage of “within-nation” publications (e.g., articles with participants living in the same nation that sponsors the respective journal). Explanations of the data are discussed and several recommendations are made that, if followed, could improve the internationalization and geographical representation of scholarship in school and educational psychology.

Retraction notice for “WICS: A new model for school psychology” by Robert J. Sternberg

At the request of the Journal Editor and SAGE Publishing, the following article has been retracted: Sternberg, R.J. (2010) WICS: A new model for school psychology. School Psychology International. 31(6): 599–616 DOI: 10.1177/0143034310386534 Although the content in the aforementioned article is scientifically valid, the article has substantial unreferenced overlap with the following works by the same author: Sternberg, R.J. (2010) WICS: A new model for cognitive education. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology. 9(1): 36–47 DOI 10.1891/1945-8959.9.1.36 Sternberg, R.J. (2002) Individual differences in cognitive development. In Goswami, U. (Ed.), Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development, 1 (pp. 600–620) DOI: 10.1002/9780470996652.ch27 Therefore, this article is retracted for reasons of redundant publication.

The Relationship Between Hope and Life Satisfaction Among Children in Low and Middle Socio-Economic Status Communities in Cape Town, South Africa

The overarching aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between hope and life satisfaction among a sample of children in Cape Town, South Africa. More specifically, the study aimed to ascertain the moderating effect of socio-economic status on this relationship. The study uses secondary data from the first wave of the Children’s Worlds study. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with the use of stratified random sampling to select a sample of 1004 twelve-year old children attending primary schools within the Cape Town Metropole. The questionnaire administered, incorporated Huebner’s (School Psychology International, 12, 231–240, 1991) Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale and Snyder et al.’s (Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22, 399–421, 1997) Children’s Hope Scale. Data were analysed by means of correlational analysis, and using the Process Tool for moderation. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between hope and life satisfaction for both low and middle socio-economic status communities. It was also revealed that socio-economic status does not moderate the relationship between hope and life satisfaction. It is recommended that further exploration be conducted on the influence of SES on the relationship between hope and life satisfaction. Given that the current study found that SES does not moderate the relationship between hope and life satisfaction, it is recommended that future studies explore the role of SES as a possible mediator.

Using Children’s Literature to Strengthen Social and Emotional Learning

The introductory article to this special edition of School Psychology International, “Using Children’s Literature to Strengthen Social and Emotional Learning,” describes the need for a broader base of support for children’s mental health needs. Both nationally and internationally, the limited number of mental health professionals demands alternative options for the delivery of mental health services. Schools are recommended as one proposed venue for providing these services to children and youth. As such, teachers need easy-to-use basic information about mental health resources that are viable, yet rely on minimal professional support and supervision. One option is bibliotherapy, using books and stories to support social emotional needs. From the mental health perspective of both prevention and intervention, bibliotherapy is proposed not just as a professional’s therapeutic tool, but also as a layman’s resource to address students’ basic social emotional needs. We offer resources from a website that includes basic bibliotherapy lesson plans, posters, activities, and video clips—all centered on the five foundational competencies identified by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This website [ http://education.byu.edu/sociallearning ] is geared to educators and mental health professionals who work with elementary school children, ages 5–11.

Intervention research productivity from 2005 to 2014: Faculty and university representation in school psychology journals

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to identify authors and training programs making the most frequent contributions to intervention research published in six school psychology journals (School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology International, and Journal of Applied School Psychology) over the 10‐year period from 2005 to 2014. A total of 310 articles were identified as intervention articles; 919 unique authors, representing 289 universities or organizations, contributed to these publications. Top‐ranked authors and universities were identified based on authorship rating and total publications, respectively. This evaluation highlights key contributors to the primary intervention research in school psychology, as well as themes of the publications of top‐ranked individuals and programs.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERVENTION RESEARCH IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY JOURNALS: 2010-2014

The purpose of this study was to provide an updated content analysis of articles published in major journals of school psychology spanning the years 2010–2014, with an emphasis on intervention research (including intervention and participant characteristics). Six journals—School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology International, and Journal of Applied School Psychology—were selected for the analysis. Over the 5-year period, 1,196 articles were published in the selected journals. A total of 65.8% of the articles were empirical articles; intervention studies with school-age samples comprised 11.1% of all articles. Within the intervention studies, single subject represented the most frequently used research design (40.6%). Further, 58.6% of the intervention studies did not provide sufficient information to discern participants’ disability status. Although the proportion of empirically based articles has increased in recent years, that of intervention articles has remained low.

Cultural-linguistic test adaptations: Guidelines for selection, alteration, use, and review

In 1991, Bracken and Barona wrote an article for School Psychology International focusing on state of the art procedures for translating and using tests across multiple languages. Considerable progress has been achieved in this area over the 25 years between that publication and today. This article seeks to provide a more current set of suggestions for altering tests originally developed for other cultures and/or languages. Beyond merely describing procedures for linguistic translations, the authors provide suggestions on how to alter, use, and review tests as part of a cultural-linguistic adaptation process. These suggestions are described in a step-by-step manner that is usable both by test adapters and by consumers of adapted tests.

Meaning-making across disparate realities: A new cognitive model for the personality-integrating response to fairy tales

AbstractThis paper reviews the extant literature on ways readers make meaning from fairy tales, and proposes a new cognitive model for the response to the traditional fairy tale. Much of the available research on literary responses to fairy tales comes from within the boundaries of psychoanalysis (Bettelheim 1975.The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales. New York: Vintage; Dieckmann 1986.Twice-told tales: The psychological use of fairy tales. Wilmette: Chiron; Miller 1984.Thou shalt not be aware: Society’s betrayal of the child. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux), as well as folklore studies and anthropology (Zipes 1983.Fairy tales and the art of subversion: The classical genre for children and the process of civilization. New York: Wildman Press; Zipes 2006.Why fairy tales stick: The evolution and relevance of a genre. New York: Routledge; Zipes 2012.The irresistible fairy tale: The cultural and social history of a genre. Princeton: Princeton University Press.). Although these fields do not often overlap, the therapeutic potential of fairy tales and relatively recent popularization of practices such as bibliotherapy (Jack and Ronan 2008. Bibliotherapy: Practice and research.School Psychology International29(2). 161–182) have provided a fertile ground for linking the two disciplines. I propose a cognitive model for the emotionally integrating response to the fairy tale by first introducing Rosenblatt’s (1978.The reader, the text, the poem. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press) transactional theory of making meaning from literature, and then in light of this theory, reviewing the psychoanalytic and anthropological evidence for fairy tales’ unique effect on readers. Previous theories explaining the emotional benefits of reading fairy tales have failed to consider characteristics of the genre which are unique to it, and which give fairy tales a hierarchically higher status than other genres due to the distance between the reality they depict, and the current reality of the reader. Transactional theory indicates that this higher status may play a crucial role in the genre’s ability to support healthy emotional development, as readers who establish close personal connections with the hierarchically valorized genre actually become active participants in a reading experience which provides them with comforting, indisputable affirmation of the uprightness of their own moral principles.

The emergence and evolution of school psychology literature: A scientometric analysis from 1907 through 2014.

The objective of this current study is to identify the growth and development of scholarly literature that specifically references the term 'school psychology' in the Science Citation Index from 1907 through 2014. Documents from Web of Science were accessed and analyzed through the use of scientometric analyses, including HistCite and Pajek software, resulting in the identification of 4,806 scholars who contributed 3,260 articles in 311 journals. Whereas the database included journals from around the world, most articles were published by authors in the United States and in 20 journals, including the Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology International, and School Psychology Quarterly. Analyses of the database from the past century revealed that 20 of the most prolific scholars contributed 14% of all articles. Contributions from faculty and students at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of South Carolina, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Texas-Austin represented 10% of all articles including the term school psychology in the Science Citation Index. Relationships among some of the most highly cited articles are also described. Collectively, the series of analyses reported herein contribute to our understanding of scholarship in school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record

The everyday ways that school ecologies facilitate resilience: Implications for school psychologists

From a socio-ecological perspective of resilience, social ecologies are crucial to children’s functional outcomes in the face of adversity. Schools, in particular, are integral to the multiple social systems that children are embedded in. Consequently schools have a special responsibility towards meaningfully and routinely supporting children’s resilience. Drawing on a synthesis of 33 publications, I document the everyday ways that school ecologies enact this responsibility. I caution that although much of this everyday routine is potentially protective, it neglects important leverage points for supporting resilience. These include championing resilience in contextually-sensitive ways, pre-empting risk and advocating for systemic change, and being mindful of the costs of resilience. To optimize these leverage points, school psychologists need child-informed understandings of how school ecologies facilitate resilience differentially. They also need to adopt an activist stance that animates social change. The resilience-themed edition of School Psychology International, which this article introduces, develops this agenda.

Children's conduct of life: Across general school, educational psychology consultation and psychiatry

The referral and diagnosing system in Denmark is organized as an institutionalized practice consisting of various practices and procedures that frame criteria for normality or deviance, thus enabling intervention. This institutional practice has been criticized for building on a compensatory orientation supported by testing technologies, with a lack of sensitivity to the context which the difficulties can be seen as part of (McDermott, 1996; Allodi and Fishbein, 2000; Storbie, I., Gemmell, M., Moran, E., & Randall, L. (2002). Challenges for educational psychologists and their services: A qualitative analysis. In School Psychology International, 23; Ekström, 2004; Røn Larsen, 2012; Kristensen, 2013). Taking its point of departure in Klaus Holzkamp's critique of traditional psychology's structure blindness (Holzkamp, 2013), this article will discuss how the concept of conduct of everyday life may inform and inspire both professional practice and our scientific understandings and developmental possibilities concerning referral processes in relation to children in school. The empirical point of departure will be taken in a collaborative practice research project in a Danish municipality where I followed children across general school, educational psychology consultation and psychiatry. Based on the children's participation in and conduct of life across these contexts, the focus is placed both on how the different interventions and procedures in relation to referral and diagnosing interact, and on what it means to the children to be part of these referral and diagnosing processes. Secondly, the focus is placed on cooperation between the professionals (e.g. teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists) in these processes, and developmental possibilities in relation to cooperation across different professional practices. The article will draw on thinking related to the concept of conduct of everyday life to suggest the importance of what is referred to as structure relevance, a concept that seeks to show the importance of connecting to and working with the structures of relevance as experienced by the child in the referral process.

Erratum

Erratum: Physical activity and play behaviours in children and young people with intellectual disabilities: A cross-sectional observational study Authors: Lynne M. Boddy, Samantha J. Downs, Zoe R. Knowles, and Stuart J. Fairclough Published in School Psychology International 2015, Volume 36 Issue 2, pages 154–171, DOI: 10.1177/0143034314564242 . Link: http://spi.sagepub.com/content/36/2/154.full.pdf+html In the aforementioned article, Table 2 (on page 162) has an error in the column headings: For columns five and six, the titles should read ‘≤11.9 years ( N = 42)’ and ‘≥12.0 years ( N = 22)’, and not ‘≤.9 years ( N = 42)’ and ‘≥ years ( N = 22)’ as they currently read in the published version.

Toward Understanding School Psychology Around the Globe: Economical, Educational, and Professional Factors

Although the field of school psychology continues to develop rapidly, few recent studies have examined how it is directly affected by a country's economy and education. This study examined the effect of gross domestic product, public spending on education, and public support for education on the ratio of school psychologists to students, level of degree offered, and status of school psychologists. Data from 43 countries were obtained from the School Psychology International Survey (one survey per country), Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, and World Bank Group. Logistic regression results indicated that none of the variables significantly predicted the ratio of school psychologists to students, level of degree offered, and status of school psychologists. The discussion explores the results considering the extant literature and identifies directions for further research.

School Psychology International: Video abstracts and more

<i>School Psychology International</i>: Video abstracts and more