School Psychology Literature Research Articles

Single-case design emphasis in American Psychological Association-accredited school psychology programs.

Single-case design (SCD) is an underutilized research methodology in school psychology literature. Despite its relevance to practitioners and applied intervention researchers alike, the majority of intervention research disseminated in school psychology journals tends to involve group designs, such as the randomized controlled trial. Group designs are useful for answering a wide variety of research questions but may not always be relevant to practitioners seeking procedures that work for their students or researchers seeking for the optimal design to answer their research questions. In comparison, the relative dearth of SCD studies in school psychology literature, in conjunction with common values among the field regarding data-based decision making and the scientist-practitioner model to training, raises questions about the cause of this gap. The present study sought to review doctoral training programs in school psychology and evaluate their relative emphasis on SCD in training. Seventy-six American Psychological Association-accredited school psychology programs were reviewed, and results indicated that roughly two thirds of programs do not emphasize SCD during training. Implications regarding school psychology training and research are discussed and recommendations are provided on future directions for school psychology trainers and researchers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Micro-Level Advocacy Toward Socially Just Multi-Tiered Systems of Support: Knowledge and Values

Advocacy is increasingly recognized as an essential school psychologist role, and two areas in which advocacy is particularly pressing are the interrelated and overlapping domains of social justice and multitiered systems of support (MTSS). Advocating at the level of individual client and/or the local system is conceptualized as micro-level advocacy. The goal of the current study was to identify the foundational competencies that make up micro-level advocacy for social justice and MTSS, including those actions that advance individual client welfare. A qualitative content analysis of school psychology and related literature on advocating for social justice and/or MTSS resulted in 81 articles being coded. Codes were organized into what school psychologists need to Know, Value, and Do about advocacy for socially just MTSS. Researchers then organized codes into buckets, which represent competency areas relevant to socially just MTSS. This article describes the first set of findings in the Know and Value sections. While some findings were expected (e.g., school psychologists’ self-awareness as a knowledge indicator), others are more surprising (e.g., some values reflect school psychologists’ core competencies, but have previously been thought of as action steps). Findings are discussed in terms of implications for training, practice, professional development, and future research. Impact Statement School psychologists need to be strong advocates so that students receive effective services and achieve equitable outcomes. We analyzed 81 articles in school psychology and related fields to determine what knowledge and values school psychologists need to have to be effective advocates for socially just MTSS. Findings have implications for graduate education, professional development, and systems change in school psychology.

Publication Trends of LGBTQ+ Topics in School Psychology Literature Across Time

Publication Trends of LGBTQ+ Topics in School Psychology Literature Across Time

Where Is Counseling in School Psychology Literature? A Review of Six Prominent School Psychology Journals.

School psychology professionals rely on professional literature to access information on scientifically supported practices. Counseling is certainly one of those practices. The purpose of this review was to determine how many articles published in prominent peer-reviewed school psychology journals have addressed providing effective counseling services to children and youth. We wanted to determine the types of counseling approaches that were described in those articles and which approaches garnered the most attention. Findings revealed that there were relatively few articles about counseling in prominent school psychology journals. Interestingly, most studies employed quantitative rather than qualitative designs and analyses. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was the approach that was implemented the most in empirical studies across the school psychology journals. Empirical studies mainly included elementary and middle school students from diverse racial and ethnic groups who were receiving counseling services in a small group (tier 2) format. Implications for the profession of school psychology are provided.

Understanding African American vernacular English and reading achievement: Implications for the science of reading.

The purpose of this article is to discuss issues of language, specifically African American Vernacular English (AAVE), as it relates to the reading performance of African American children. Previous research on the science of reading provides a research-based framework that is a starting point for evidence-based research that can be used to improve the reading outcomes of African American children. School psychology literature is limited in its inclusion of issues posed by deficit perspectives of AAVE with Black children and reading achievement. Given that practicing school psychologists spend significant portions of their time conducting assessments related to identifying and remediating reading problems, an increased awareness on how AAVE can impact African American children's reading performance is necessary. Implications for research and practice will be discussed, such as inclusion of instruments to differentiate between reading difficulties and dialect differences (i.e., Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Management of narcolepsy at school: Implications for school psychologists

AbstractNarcolepsy is not a common disorder, with best estimates finding it affects only about .025–.05% of the population. Nonetheless, it is a vital disorder for school psychologists to be familiar with on the basis that its symptoms frequently first occur during childhood and adolescence. If undiagnosed, this disorder causes significant distress and disadvantage to the student as well as frustration and difficulty for school staff. It is surprising that narcolepsy has received almost no attention in the school psychology literature. This article provides school psychologists with an overview of the central features, causes, diagnosis and treatment of narcolepsy in young people. It then outlines school management of the disorder, with specific consideration of the role of the school psychologist.

Response Validity in Psychoeducational evaluations: Results from a National Survey of School Psychologists

AbstractFor psychoeducational evaluations to generate useful data, students must put forth sufficient effort on diagnostic tests, and they and their caregivers and teachers must respond honestly and carefully when asked about symptoms. These features are collectively known as response validity, a concept widely discussed in neuropsychological assessment but rarely discussed explicitly in the school psychology literature. School psychologists (N = 311, 82.6% female) were surveyed about their attitudes and practices regarding response validity. Most respondents used informal observational strategies to assess response validity when conducting psychoeducational evaluations, but very few respondents administered any specialized formal standalone measures to assess response validity. The vast majority of respondents were nonetheless interested in the topic and felt that it was insufficiently addressed in the training of school psychologists. Trainers should cover response validity issues in greater detail, and practitioners should consider using more formal strategies to assess response validity.

Determining journal article citation classics in school psychology: An updated bibliometric analysis using Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science

Bibliometric analyses have been the primary form of examining and evaluating literature within a field of study. By focusing on citation count and source, researchers have been able to identify journal articles considered to be high impact in reach and relevance, branding them “citation classics” in a field. As time progresses, technology, methods, and metrics for conducting these analyses have improved, and although there have been several studies designed to identify citation classics and patterns of citations supporting them in school psychology literature, none have done so in an updated, comprehensive manner. To address these limitations, the current study aims to replicate and extend these works in three major ways: (a) including 11 primary school psychology journals in the search, (b) using three of the largest reference databases, and (c) collapsing results across these databases to accurately identify the most highly cited articles. The search yielded evidence of more than 12,000 articles accruing more than 500,000 citations. The 100 most highly cited articles were identified, and the majority were classified as explicative (n = 63) and quantitative (n = 70). Themes of bullying, burnout, and teacher-child relationships were the prominent focus. School psychology's citation classics tended to feature quantitative research and examine the relations between constructs, and several revealed a new category of citations classics: the methodological and statistical article.

The Frequency of Behavior Analysis in School Psychology Literature: a Review of 20 Years

The Frequency of Behavior Analysis in School Psychology Literature: a Review of 20 Years

Who’s Included? Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of Students in School Psychology Literature Over the Last Decade

The field of school psychology continues to further embrace a social justice perspective to address systemic racism, privilege, prejudice, and discrimination. To accomplish this mission, school psychologists must ensure that there is a solid literature base that is inclusive and representative of students from minoritized backgrounds. A review of student sociodemographic characteristics was conducted of all articles in four of the primary journals of school psychology from 2010 to 2019 (n = 1,213 articles). Compared to national estimates of school-age sociodemographic distributions, researchers tended to include samples more representative of students identifying as White/Caucasian and underrepresentative of students from low-income backgrounds. Authors rarely included or described participants’ sexual orientations and gender identities beyond the binary (female/male). We provide a discussion and recommendations for improving the inclusivity of students from minoritized backgrounds in future school psychology research. IMPACT STATEMENT To provide evidence-based school psychological practices to all students, the field’s literature must be representative of the student population. In reviewing the past decade of school psychology research, the literature tends to overrepresent students who are White and come from middle to high socioeconomic backgrounds. There tends to be underrepresentation of sexual minority youth, youth from low SES backgrounds, and children at the elementary grade level. Supplemental data for this article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1927831

An Examination of Systems Change Research in School Psychology

Systems change and systems level services have long been advocated as part of school psychology role expansion. However, it is unclear the extent to which the research has kept pace with the calls to increase systems change activities within school psychology practice. This article offers an examination of the research on systems change within the school psychology literature in terms of the types of articles published, journal outlets publishing systems change research, and the theories and frameworks that support these articles. The authors provide recommendations to further advance systems change literature and practice within school psychology.

Treatment fidelity reporting in intervention outcome studies in the school psychology literature from 2009 to 2016

AbstractBoth student outcomes and treatment fidelity data are necessary to draw valid conclusions about intervention effectiveness. Reviews of the intervention outcome literature in related fields, and prior reviews of the school psychology literature, suggest that many researchers failed to report treatment fidelity data. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend previous reviews of treatment fidelity in four school psychology journals between 2009 and 2016. Results indicate that a plurality of studies reviewed operationally defined some, but not all intervention(s). Further, the majority of studies (72.8%) include a quantitative treatment fidelity data, a 35% increase from the Sanetti, Gritter and Dobey (2011) review of these same journals. Results also indicate many studies include data on multiple dimensions of fidelity. Of the multiple dimensions, adherence is (a) the most commonly reported dimension, (b) most often reported using a single index, (c) assessed using in vivo observation, and (d) high in a majority of studies. Further, results indicate some study and design characteristics are associated with the presence of operational definitions and treatment fidelity data.

Publication trends for single‐case methodology in school psychology: A systematic review

AbstractSingle‐case design (SCD) is a research methodology that may be utilized to establish the presence of a functional relation between an independent and dependent variable. Recent research has found the design to frequently be used within school psychology in the evaluation of intervention procedures. However, the overall prevalence of the design within the broader school psychology literature is unknown. As such, the purpose of the current review was to identify trends in the use of SCD within school psychology publications. Furthermore, the review sought to identify institutions and journals that most frequently published SCD. Finally, the review sought to evaluate trends in experimental rigor of published SCD. Twelve journals were examined, with all publications since their inception reviewed and classified by publication type. Results of the review indicated that SCD was the least frequently published article type. However, data indicate an increase in the prevalence and rigor of the design in recent years. Whereas some journals and institutions were found to have steady rates of SCD publications, others were found to have recent increases in the publication of the design. Implications of findings as they pertain to practitioner practice and adoption of evidence‐based practice are described.

Religion and Spirituality as Diversity Topics in School Psychology Publications: A Content Analysis of School Psychology Journals

Religion and spirituality are identified as important aspects of adults’ and adolescents’ lives in the USA. Though research can strengthen school psychologists’ capacity to effectively serve religiously and spiritually diverse clients/students, limited scholarship relative to these areas of human diversity has been published in the professional school psychology literature. The purpose of this study was to review articles published in nine major school psychology journals from 2003 to 2018 to determine the extent to which the journals included diversity content related to religion and spirituality. We employed a content analysis, where six researchers used a systematic coding process to analyze the data descriptively. Of the 4534 articles we reviewed, only 17 (0.4%) articles addressed religion and spirituality. Most articles were empirical studies and included a general review of cultural issues or implications for assessment and/or intervention implementation. Implications for the field of school psychology are provided.

Ten Years of Response to Intervention: Trends in the School Psychology Literature

With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education (Improvement) Act (IDEA) in 2004, local education agencies (LEAs) were no longer required to employ an IQ-achievement discrepancy model in the identification of a specific learning disability (SLD). Rather, districts were permitted to use data from a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework in determining a student’s eligibility for special services under the SLD classification. Because this change in legislation has the potential to impact the ways in which schools provide services to students, it is important to review the research base that informs practice. This review of the trends in the RTI literature examines the frequency and type of published research in the 10 years that followed the changes to IDEA. Results indicate that further research is warranted, particularly in the areas of procedural integrity and full model implementation.

Bringing Social Justice Principles to Practice: New Practitioners Speak

Using consensual qualitative research methods, this qualitative study explored how nine recent graduates, all graduating within the past 7 years from an overtly social justice-oriented school psychology program, were experiencing social justice in practice. Semistructured interviews were conducted covering the following three theme areas: defining social justice, potential application of social justice principles to their practice, and evaluating their graduate training on social justice relative to their experiences as practitioners. Practitioners discussed barriers faced when implementing social justice in practice, and ways training programs can more effectively prepare trainees for advocacy work. The implications of this research include informing school psychology training models for social justice and stimulating the impetus for greater acknowledgment and emphasis on social justice research in school psychology literature.

Effects of Parental Chronic Illness on Children’s Psychosocial and Educational Functioning: a Literature Review

A good number of children grow up in households where a parent has been diagnosed with medical chronic illness. Parental chronic illness is stressful for children and adolescents and may have some potential impact on children’s adjustment and functioning. Some emerging research conducted in the fields of medicine, nursing, and family studies has suggested that children of chronically ill parents are at an increased risk for adjustment difficulties and emotional and behavioral problems. However, this topic has been neglected in school psychology literature. This review aims to provide an overview on research with respect to the effects of parental chronic illness on children’s psychosocial and educational functioning and help school psychology researchers and practitioners understand the impact of parents’ illness on children’s outcomes and factors (e.g., typology of illness, family functioning, parenting, child cognitive appraisal and coping strategies, etc.) that may moderate and mediate the relationship. Mixed findings in the literature reflect the complex and dynamic nature of this issue. Implications and recommendations for interventions will be discussed.

AN EVIDENCE‐DRIVEN, SOLUTION‐FOCUSED APPROACH TO FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT REPORT WRITING

School‐based practitioners are to implement and report functional behavior assessments (FBAs) that are consistent with both the research literature and the law, both federal and state. However, the literature regarding how best to document the FBA process is underdeveloped. A review of applied behavior analytic and school psychology literature as well as legislation and case law informs FBA reporting practices regarding (a) required content, (b) graphing of data, (c) organization of reports, and (d) clarity of language. The purpose of FBA reports is discussed, and this discussion explicitly informs the use of a solution‐focused approach to improve clarity in report writing. Recommendations for best practices in FBA report writing are provided, and future research needs are highlighted.

THE STUDENT HOMELESSNESS CRISIS AND THE ROLE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Affecting more than 1 million youth, student homelessness is growing at an unprecedented rate in the United States. This is alarming because homeless students face significant barriers to their academic success and positive life outcomes. Unfortunately, despite the significant risks and challenges they face, homeless students often are overlooked and not provided with important educational and social-emotional supports. In addition, information on student homelessness is relatively limited in the school psychology literature and practice guidelines, which can forestall efforts to help these students. To date, only a few empirical articles have been published on student homelessness in school psychology journals and in practitioner-related literature. To help address this paucity, this article discusses barriers to the academic success of homeless students, as well as ways to reduce these barriers. Additionally, important protective factors, resilience, and ways to overcome homelessness-related stigma are reviewed. Lastly, ways that school psychologists can become key stakeholders in efforts to help support the academic and life success of homeless students are discussed. The overall goal for this article is to encourage school psychologists to redouble their efforts to support a highly at-risk yet often neglected student population.

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