Forty nine public school mental health practitioners (i.e., school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers) completed a survey about working with dreams when counseling students. Most practitioners in this sample reported having at least one student bring up dreams during counseling and spent some time in counseling working with students' dreams. Practitioners addressed dreams more frequently in situations where the student was having troubling dreams or nightmares, and/or was dealing with death and grief. They also acknowledged working with dreams with students who were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, were emotionally disturbed, suffered from recurrent dreams, were depressed, and had learning disabilities. This study shows that practitioners were less likely to talk about dreams with students who had adjustment disorders, psychosis, were oppositional or ill, struggled with substance abuse problems, or had eating disorders. Furthermore, most practitioners indicated receiving no training and did not feel competent to work with children's dreams. However, most surveyed practitioners were interested in learning more about dreams in general.

Underachievement in postsecondary education has been a growing concern for educators and researchers. Higher education institutions have implemented early alert systems to identify students performing below standards. This early warning system has major limitations that confine it to an identification only approach. The current study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Student Attitude Assessment Survey-R (SAAS-R) in a postsecondary sample. First, a confirmatory factor analysis validated the SAAS-R in a postsecondary sample. Predictive validity was then investigated by identifying students as underachieving or achieving based on responses to the SAAS-R and via a regression-based discrepancy model (ability vs. achievement). Then, the SAAS-R was compared to the discrepancy model to see whether the SAAS-R is an accurate assessment for identification of achievement. Tests of convergent validity included comparison of the SAAS-R subscales to well established similar constructs. Discriminant validity was checked by comparing the SAAS-R to a Social Desirability Scale. Finally, measurement invariance was explored to see if the SAAS-R would measure across groups. The SAAS-R demonstrated strong evidence of structural, convergent, and discriminant validity, yet limited evidence of predictive validity. Assessment of measurement invariance across self-identified traditional and non-traditional students yielded no evidence of measurement invariance. Initial psychometric properties support extension of the structural model of the SAAS-R to postsecondary students and the convergent validity utility of the SAAS-R subscales. However, more research is needed before the SAAS-R can be applied as an assessment of underachievement in postsecondary education.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of teaching children appropriate social skill behavior. The present study investigated a coaching procedure to teach emotionally disturbed children appropriate social skills within the context: of fourteen arts and crafts sessions. Using a multiple baseline across groups design, two groups of four children received training. As a result of training, cooperation behavior showed a moderate change, while eye contact increased substantially for both groups. The behaviors of on task and communication changed only slightly. In addition, these changes generalized to different settings and were· maintained over time. However, praising, receiving praise, as well as inappropriate physical and verbal behavior, showed no significant changes. Suggestions for revising the coaching procedure to produce more significant behavioral changes are discussed.

The experiments reported in the present paper may be characterized as belonging to the general area of motivation research referred to as stimulus selection behavior. Stimulus selection behavior includes curiosity, exploratory, and manipulatory activities. Generally, the research in the area attempts to determine the relation between changes in the stimulus and changes in the measures of approach behavior in the subject (s). In this research, approach behavior is apparently unrelated to organic need conditions. The experiments presented in this paper were designed to determine a preschool child's stimulus preference as he entered the experimental setting, and whether that preference could be systematically modified by exposure to other stimuli. The major conceptual hypothesis for the experiments was derived from the theory of stimulus change presented by Dember and Earl (~957).

There are certain ways of reading to young children that are more effective than others in increasing language, vocabulary, and building early literacy skills. Dialogic reading is a method to enhance shared book reading by providing a context for dialogue and interaction between the adult and the child. Dialogic reading has been shown to have positive effects on young childrens’ early literacy and language skills. Thus far, parents and teachers have used these techniques in the home and school in one-on-one or small group settings. However, results have been variable due to inconsistent implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementing dialogic reading techniques in a preschool setting via cross age tutoring by fifth grade students. Students in preschool and fifth grade were recruited from a school in Eastern Maryland. Fifth graders served as tutors and were trained to use dialogic reading techniques with preschool students in the same school. The tutoring dyads met three times a week for 30 minutes for 8 weeks. Preschoolers’ receptive and expressive language skills as well as their readiness to begin school were assessed before and after the intervention, and fifth grader’s attitudes towards reading prior to and after the intervention were measured. Data on the preschool students were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance and the results indicated significant changes in receptive, expressive and school readiness in comparison to the control group with medium to large effect sizes (.402 - .640). Furthermore, data on tutor attitudes toward reading were analyzed using two-sample paired t-tests. Results revealed an increase in positive attitudes toward recreational reading, with an effect size of .653, and an increase in general reading attitudes with an effect size of .421. Finally, teachers reported observable differences in their students and expressed interest in continuing this project. Fifth graders maintained adequate treatment integrity and felt positive about their experiences. Preschoolers reported positive experiences in reading with their tutors. Further interpretation of results, implications for practice, and future directions are discussed.

Divorce is a common event in the United States; an estimated 50% of marriages end in divorce. With so many divorces each year, a substantial number of children are impacted. Divorce can have negative effects socially, behaviorally, emotionally, and academically, in both the short term and the long term. Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic tool centered on the use of books and stories to assist in the understanding and expression of an event. Bibliotherapy has been shown to be effective for children who have experienced similar traumatic events such as loss. Research suggests that bibliotherapy could be a flexible, cost efficient, time efficient, and therapeutically effective intervention for children experiencing divorce. This research project attempted to further understand and identify the perspectives of school psychologists on the selection and use of bibliotherapy for children experiencing divorce in their families. Participants (n=11) discussed their perceptions of 16 preselected children’s divorce books. They also discussed their perceptions on important selection criteria to consider when selecting a book to use with children of divorce. Overarching themes indicated that participants proposed that an effective book individualizes treatment; portrays realistic experiences; includes topics that are practical, comprehensive and multi-dimensional; provides an engaging and interactive story; and addresses and identifies emotions. Future research is recommended to explore the effectiveness of using carefully selected stories in supporting elementary-aged children experiencing parental divorce.

There is currently a gap in research related to the potential effects of student race on school consultation and teacher help seeking behavior. It is well documented in the existing research that racial/ethnic bias exists in education at many levels. These biases lead to negative systemic effects such as achievement gaps, disproportionality in discipline, and disproportionality in special education referrals. Biases can also have negative effects on classroom interactions between teachers and students. It seems plausible that if biases exist in other domains of education, that they may also exist in the school consultation process. The purpose of the current study is to fill the gap in the school consultation literature by evaluating pre-service teacher’s ratings of situation severity and their likelihood to seek assistance. Participants (n= 179) were shown 4 vignettes depicting various classroom scenarios and asked to rate both situation severity and their likelihood to seek assistance. Participants were randomized to consider either white sounding names or black sounding names within the vignettes. Findings from this study indicate that perceived student race did not have a significant effect on pre-service teachers’ ratings of situation severity and ratings of situation severity. These findings provide insight into the help seeking behaviors of pre-service teachers. Additionally, results have implications for graduate training in consultation. Limitations to this study as well as recommendations for future research in this area are discussed.

he purpose of the current study was to evaluate the use of behavior skills training via telehealth to teach job interview skills to emerging adults with ASD. Additionally, the study examined if following intervention, skills were able to generalize to new interviewers. 2 undergraduate and 1 graduate student with ASD participated in the study, and received intervention for 3 behaviors: (1) appropriately answering questions, (2) asking appropriate questions, and (3) engaging in appropriate body language. The current study used a multiple baseline design across behaviors. Results from the study indicated BST via telehealth was effective in teaching job interviews skills. Each participant remained at mastery during generalization and did not require a booster session. Social validity ratings completed by each participant indicated they found the intervention method to be fair, effective, and efficient for the identifed need. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

The Good Behavior Game and Tootling are two intervention techniques rooted in behavioral theory that are widely used for class wide behavior management purposes. Few studies have evaluated the use of these classwide behavior management interventions with the addition of a technological component or when applied to a post-secondary education setting. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the Good Behavior Game with ClassDojo and Tootling with ClassDojo for increasing academic engagement and decreasing problem behavior in a post-secondary classroom. Participants included emerging adult students (19-24 years-old) with intellectual disabilities in a Comprehensive Transitional Program at a major university. An alternating treatment design was implemented to compare the intervention conditions to both a baseline and an ongoing control conditions. Results, limitations of the study, implication for practice, and future research are discussed.

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