School Psychology Research Articles

Toward Certification of Bilingual School Psychologists: Process, Competencies, and Visions

A critical shortage of bilingual school psychologists (BSPs) prepared to provide high quality services to Multilingual Learners (MLs) has driven the work of the California Consortium for Bilingual School Psychology (CCBSP). CCBSP members collaborated to develop the 13 bilingual school psychology competencies presented in this paper, which are organized into four major areas: (a) Foundations in school psychologists’ service delivery with MLs, (b) School-wide practices that promote learning with MLs, (c) Direct and indirect services for MLs, families, and schools; and (d) Specific skills, knowledge, and practices. Each competency is described herein, and the alignment with the NASP domains of practice and the School Psychology Performance Expectations in California are highlighted. Challenges to certification are discussed, along with a brief example illustrating the process undertaken by one consortium subgroup to prepare BSPs in accordance with competencies. Additionally, a vision for next steps in the journey to certify BSPs is articulated. Impact Statement The California Consortium for Bilingual School Psychology (CCBSP) has identified 13 competencies bilingual school psychologists (BSPs) must demonstrate to provide high quality services to the increasing Multilingual Learner (ML) population. In this paper, we present each of these competencies. One goal of the CCBSP is to create a way to certify BSPs who demonstrate these competencies.

Re-Evaluating the Appropriateness of the "Don't Know" Response Option: Guessing Rate as a Source of Systematic Error on Autism Knowledge Assessments.

Several autism knowledge assessments include "don't know" as a response option. The inclusion of this response option may lead to systematic error, such that participants' guessing rate affects the measurement of their autism knowledge. This study examines both predictors of guessing rate for autism knowledge and predictors of autism knowledge, including guessing rate. School-based professionals (n = 396) completed the Autism Spectrum Knowledge Scale Professional Version-Revised (ASKSP-R; McClain et al, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 50(3):998-1006, 2020). and the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q; Harrison et al, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 47(10):3281-3295, 2017). Both assessments include "don't know" as a response option. Guessing rate was the strongest predictor of autism knowledge across both the ASKSP-R and the ASK-Q assessments. For the ASKSP-R, participants who were school psychologists, practicing for more years, had more autism-related clinical experiences, and who personally knew an autistic person had a higher guessing rate. School psychologists and participants who worked with more autistic students scored higher in autism knowledge. For the ASK-Q, participants with greater self-perceived autism knowledge had a higher guessing rate. Participants with a doctorate degree, who personally knew an autistic person, and who worked with more autistic students scored higher in autism knowledge. Guessing rate can be a source of systematic error on autism knowledge assessments. Potential solutions to correct for guessing rate are examined and recommended for future use.

The Perception of Time between Phenomenology and Gestalt Psychology: Edmund Husserl and Giovanni Bruno Vicario’s Perspectives

Abstract This study examines Edmund Husserl’s and Giovanni Bruno Vicario’s perspectives on time. Husserl’s work focuses on consciousness and its processes of synthesis, thus on a transcendental concept of time. Vicario, a member of the Trieste Gestalt school of psychology, rather explores the issue through an experimental perspective. This difference leads Vicario to criticize Husserl, reinterpreting and, sometimes, misunderstanding his texts. Through a careful textual analysis of Husserl’s and Vicario’s works on time, it is argued that, despite methodological differences, their views can be integrated into a pluralistic understanding of time. This includes both phenomenological and psychological perspectives, and offers valid alternatives to a unified and physicalistic view of time.

Parental Involvement to Promote the Social-Emotional Well-Being of Asian Immigrant Youth: A Cultural Mismatch of Teachers and Parents’ Perspectives

This conceptual paper applies the theory adaptation approach to integrate the literature concerning barriers experienced by Asian immigrant families in parental involvement, with a specific focus on comparative analysis of perspectives from Asian immigrant families and their teachers in the United States. The mismatch in the perceptions of parental involvement held by teachers and Asian immigrant parents supports the refinement and applications of the cultural mismatch theory of inequality. The theory provides a comprehensive understanding of how the misalignment between the prevailing school culture and the cultural background of practices of Asian immigrant families contribute to the barriers of parental involvement experienced by Asian immigrant families. The paper outlines implications for reducing the barriers in the communication and collaboration between schools and Asian immigrant families, improving parental involvement in schools, and promoting the social and emotional well-being of Asian immigrant youth. Impact Statement The conceptual paper is one of the first applications of the cultural mismatch theory of inequality in conceptualizing the barriers of parental involvement faced by Asian immigrant youth’s parents and teachers. It provides research and practical implications for school psychologists and other educators on improving their practices to address parental engagement barriers to promote social-emotional well-being of youth in communities of immigrants and other marginalized groups.

Negotiable fate-engagement relationship in higher education: The mediation role of hope for success and fear of failure

Studies concerning students’ ability to deal with everyday academic challenges (‘academic buoyancy’) and adjust to changes (‘adaptability’) were investigated in educational research over the last two decades (e.g., Martin & Marsh, Journal of School Psychology, 46:53–83, 2008; Martin et al., Journal of Educational Psychology, 105:728–746, 2013). However, how students deal with challenges imposed by fate has not been well-studied. Other than students’ abilities, students’ belief plays an important role in dealing with the academic adversity that fate imposes. The present study harnessed the Hope Theory to examine (1) the relation between negotiable and achievement motivation (hope for success and fear of failure), (2) the relation between achievement motivation and engagement, and (3) the mediation effect of achievement motivation in the relation between negotiable fate and engagement. University students in Hong Kong (n = 339) responded to an online cross-sectional survey. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the relation between negotiable fate and engagement was mediated by hope for success but not by fear of failure. In addition, hope for success only mediated cognitive engagement and affective engagement. The relation between negotiable fate and behavioral engagement was not mediated by hope for success and fear of failure. The findings contribute to the literature on the negotiable fate-engagement theoretical relation in educational research. Also, practical insights were discussed to manage student cognitive and affective engagement with negotiable fate and hope for success under fate constraints.

Assessing Beliefs About Intrinsic and Extrinsic Determinants of SLD: Evaluating the Factor Structure of a Novel Instrument.

Schools conduct comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations to identify students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) and determine whether they qualify for special education services. This decision-making process is complex and research has documented many factors influencing SLD identification decisions. One such factor may be decision-makers' beliefs about the underlying causes of SLD, including intrinsic and extrinsic factors. However, no studies to date have examined the underlying factor structure of the responses to prompts about the causes of SLD from intrinsic and extrinsic perspectives. This study was conducted with a sample of 521 school psychologists as part of a larger study examining decision-making during SLD identification. Using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to compare two theoretically plausible models, results suggested that a single latent factor best captured variability in responses to these prompts. Implications for assessing beliefs and how they impact the psychoeducational assessment process to identify SLDs are discussed, along with areas for future research.

Registered Reports in School Psychology Research: Initial Experiences, Analyses, and Future

Registered Reports in School Psychology Research: Initial Experiences, Analyses, and Future

Evaluating the correspondence between expert visual analysis and quantitative methods.

Visual analysis is the primary methodology used to determine treatment effects from graphed single-case design data. Previous studies have demonstrated mixed findings related to interrater agreement between both expert and novice visual analysts, which represents a critical limitation of visual analysis and supports calls for also presenting statistical analyses (i.e., measures of effect size). However, few single-case design studies include results of both visual and quantitative analyses for the same set of data. The present study investigated whether blind review of single-case graphs constructed using up-to-date recommendations by experts in visual analysis would demonstrate adequate interrater agreement and have correspondence with an effect size metric, log response ratio. Eleven experts (i.e., professors in school psychology and special education with visual analysis experience) analyzed 26 multiple-baseline graphs evaluating implementation planning, a fidelity support, on educators' implementation and student outcomes, presented in a standardized format without indication of the variable being measured. Results suggest that there was strong correspondence between raters in their judgments of the presence or absence of treatment effects and meaningfulness of effects (particularly for graphs of adherence and quality). Additionally, a quadratic relationship was observed between aggregate results of expert visual analysis and effect size statistics. Implications for future research and limitations are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

School Psychological Counselors' Opinions about Colleague Solidarity Group Process: A Qualitative

This study aimed to examine the opinions of school psychological counselors regarding the colleague solidarity group process carried out by Amasya Guidance and Research Center. The study group of this qualitative research study consists of 19 school psychological counselors working at various educational levels in Amasya province. The study group was selected by purposeful sampling method. A personal information form prepared for school psychological counselors and a semi-structured interview form consisting of 5 open-ended questions were used to collect data. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data. As a result, 4 themes and 10 sub-themes were obtained. Research results showed that the collegiate group process had positive personal and professional effects on school counselors. At the end of this process, it was observed that the participants developed different ways of coping with the challenging cases they encountered or may encounter in their professional lives. In addition, it was observed that they frequently shared their feelings and experiences while working with these challenging cases with their colleagues. In this context, peer solidarity groups are thought to be an effective and functional method that can be used to cope with the problems in the professional lives of school psychological counselors.

Teaching Students to Read: A Call to Action for Social Justice in School Psychology

Although the accurate diagnosis and effective instruction for reading disorders through multi-tiered systems of support is one of the most foundational components of school psychology training and practice, there are significant opportunities for innovation, renewed excitement, and social justice. In this article, we identify reading assessments, interventions, and systems-level policies shown to be effective through rigorous, empirical research. These effective practices are not well known by school psychologists or commonly implemented in schools. We propose four areas to better align school psychology training and practice with the most cutting-edge reading research to improve student outcomes in the future: (a) building knowledge of reading development, (b) increasing the commitment to school-based careers, (c) implementing more instructionally-useful reading screening and special education assessment practices (including using the hybrid model of identification), and (d) promoting evidence-based reading instruction and intervention. Throughout each of these four areas, we highlight the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration.

Rethinking School Psychologist Ratios through a Practice Model Lens in One Northeast State

Rethinking School Psychologist Ratios through a Practice Model Lens in One Northeast State

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).

“Choose Your Own Adventure”: Examining School Psychology Trainee and Practitioner Clinical Reasoning in Unfolding Cases

“Choose Your Own Adventure”: Examining School Psychology Trainee and Practitioner Clinical Reasoning in Unfolding Cases

How to make classroom reading interesting for students?

The oral presentation titled «Experimental study of classroom reading» was given by methodologist and wordsmith Ts. P. Baltalon at the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Pedagogical Psychology in St. Petersburg in 1909. In the published paper, the author presented himself as a researcher of school psychology. This study was focused on the school student’s reading interests. The study was conducted using a survey among 1600 respondents of different ages and different types of schools. It allowed the author to draw a conclusion about school students’ reading preferences and correlate them with the content of educational chrestomathies for classroom (program) reading. This study allowed the author to conclude that the composition of school chrestomathy neither in content nor in genres of the proposed texts does not meet the reader’s interests of the school students. Baltalon proposed to replace the chrestomathy with pamphlets of artistic and popular science content, reading and in-depth study of which should make classroom reading an interesting activity for school students. In order for this to take place, teachers and publishers need to work together. The purpose of the article is to present the concept of educational reading by Ts. P. Baltalon and briefly describe its main provisions.

Community Cultural Wealth: Supporting Migrant Youth in Schools

Latiné migrant youth are a unique population of students with complex academic and social-emotional experiences. Those experiences are enhanced by several factors including strong family connections, commitment to educational success, and overall resilience. There are also systemic issues that may cause instability to migrant youth due to limited access to resources and heightened exposure to unstable environments. In this study, 20 Latiné migrant youth from the rural western United States participated in semi-structured interviews that explored their experiences during the pandemic. Using a phenomenological analysis, these students provide much-needed insight into their experience. The authors used a community cultural wealth framework to examine how migrant youth create their own paths to meet their educational and socio-emotional needs. One of the valuable lessons learned from that study was a better understanding of the ways virtual learning impacts migrant youth. While there are benefits to virtual learning in accessing academic knowledge, school psychologists should consider additional support to increase social-emotional wellness. Impact Statement School psychologists can learn to leverage migrant youth’s community cultural wealth to support their social emotional development. Migrant youth used their aspirational and navigational wealth to negotiate the complexity of virtual learning during the pandemic. Addressing the structural gaps in virtual learning could be a viable model for supporting migrant youth academic and social-emotional needs in the face of future mobility.

Guidelines for Adapting Mindfulness-Based School Interventions with Youth Who Are Racially and Ethnically Marginalized

ABSTRACT Youth who are racially and ethnically marginalized in the United States are placed at risk for mental health disparities and inequities. We propose that promoting social-emotional competencies through universal school-based service delivery is one potential solution for improving the accessibility and quality of support for these youth. We further propose that mindfulness-based school interventions may be especially useful as universal supports for promoting social-emotional competencies, as they are broadly effective, low-cost, scalable, and flexible. This work unpacks the empirical and logical proposition driving this proposal, and then provides guidelines to help school-based consultants (e.g., school psychologists, counselors, social workers, and other mental health professionals in schools) translate this proposition into practice. Our guidelines have two emphases: first, we offer recommendations for consultants to support implementers in tailoring mindfulness-based school interventions to engage the student population; second, we discuss strategies for consultants to support implementers themselves as they engage with the process of implementing mindfulness-based interventions in schools.

Г.И. Челпанов — основатель первой психологической школы в России

<p>The article is devoted to an analytical review of the work of the Russian philosopher, psychologist and teacher Georgy Ivanovich Chelpanov and his scientific school. The article describes his educational, organizational, research and pedagogical activities in pre-revolutionary and Soviet Russia. Chelpanov created a system of higher psychological education, was the author of textbooks and scientific papers, defended the need for the development of psychology as an independent science based on a subject oriented methodology on theoretical and experimental basis. The Institute of Psychology at Moscow University became the place of formation of the first scientific psychological school in Russia. Its main idea is : psychology is an independent science with its own subject, research methods and areas of application in various fields of social practice. Chelpanov created the profession of a psychologist in demand in modern society, the process continues in the activities of his students and followers, the creators of new psychological schools.</p>

The Impact of the Legal Landscape on LGBTQ + Students and their School Psychologists

The Impact of the Legal Landscape on LGBTQ + Students and their School Psychologists

Understanding teacher counterproductive work behavior: Tracing individual, occupational, and organizational factors

AbstractDespite extensive research on antecedents and consequences of counterproductive work behavior (CWB), factors contributing to it in educational settings and teachers have not been adequately addressed. With participants of secondary school teachers working in public schools (270), private schools (302), and other educational institutions (319) in Iran, this study explored factors associated with CWB at the individual (age, gender, and perceived justice), occupational (interpersonal conflicts and working hours), and organizational (job content, class size, and teaching context) levels. Significant relationships, with small effect sizes, were found between CWB and younger male teachers with low perceived justice. The results also indicated a linear trend with occupational variables and CWB in the public sector. An escalation in CWB engagement was observed with an increase in working hours and class size. There was a strong positive correlation between psychological demands and CWB, and negative associations were found for social support and decision latitude with significant differences in teacher categories. Hierarchal regression analysis confirmed the significant contributions of these variables to the variances in CWB. The implications have been discussed in light of study results by recommending policies and strategies to be used by school psychologists, administrators, and teacher educators to curtail dysfunctional behaviors and ultimately create school environments that promote teachers' job commitment and the delivery of high‐quality education.

The Relationship between School Psychological Pressures and Time Management Skills among High-Achieving Students Owning Smartphones: A Field Study in Some Secondary Schools in M'Sila City

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between school-related psychological stress (dimensions, overall level) and time management skills among second-year secondary school students.