From the observations of counselors and teachers within our school district there seem to be these indications: (a) That many failing students are experiencing personal adjustment problems due to a faulty self concept and that they tend to behave in terms of how they perceive themselves, or according to the role forced on them by others. So if they have been labeled as a failing student this is the role they perceive for themselves and they tend to behave in terms of the role they perceive for themselves. (b) Non-promoted students who have been retained seem to have a lower self concept than those who have been socially promoted. (c) Failing students often employ some compensatory behavior to satisfy their need for acceptance and recognition. (d) It has been observed that non-promoted students often do no better the next year if retained. All that retention seems to do is to reinforce their feelings of inadequacy. (e) In counseling with students who have failed and have a common problem, it has been observed that the peer group often acts as a form of motivation to do better thus justifying group counseling as a possible answer to failure rather than retention. If, as suspected, failure is due in part to a faulty self concept, then in order to attempt to prevent failure and to counsel more effectively with the failing student, we should get to the source of the problem rather than to merely treat the symptom. If failure also intensifies feelings of inferiority then the development of a low self concept could be partly the result of failure.

No description available.

Historically, school aged students from diverse backgrounds have experienced detrimental effects as a result of school psychologists who fail to consider cultural differences when providing services. The demographics of students in K- 12 schools have increasingly become more diverse which only exacerbates the need for multiculturally competent school psychologists. Research has identified graduate programs as an area to intervene and ensure future school psychologists are receiving training necessary for developing multicultural competence. Within the literature, graduate student attitude towards multiculturalism and program climate have been identified as barriers to developing multicultural competence in graduate students. Therefore, the purpose of the following study was to investigate how these two variables impact school psychology students perceived levels of multicultural competence. Participants (n= 111) included school psychology graduate students from NASP- approved programs. Participants completed the School Psychology Multicultural Competency Scale (SPMCS), Multicultural Environmental Inventory- Revised (MEI-R), and the Munroe Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE) which was used to examine perceived levels of multicultural competence, program climate, and graduate student attitude towards multiculturalism, respectively. Results indicated a significant relationship between program climate, graduate student attitude toward multiculturalism, and perceived levels of multicultural competence. Graduate students who reported positive program climate and positive attitudes towards multiculturalism also reported higher perceived levels of multicultural competence. These findings have implications for school psychology graduate programs as it relates to graduate student training, faculty training, program evaluation, and recruitment and retention of faculty and students.

The participation of advantaged group members in collective action with the disadvantaged group to challenge inequality is crucial to building a social movement. Although prior work has found that an invitation to participate in collective action is a strong predictor of participation, the extent to which advantaged group members are influenced by such invitations is not known. The present research investigates the effect of the race of an inviter (White vs. Black) on Whites’ willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice as a function of their underlying prejudicial attitudes. Study 1 found that greater internal motivation to respond without prejudice (IMS) was associated with greater willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice. Study 2 found a marginal interaction between race and IMS in predicting collective action, such that for Whites high on IMS, a Black (vs. White) inviter evoked greater willingness to participate in collective action; however, this effect was not replicated in Study 3. Instead, Study 3 found that IMS and the Black (vs. White) inviter independently predicted greater willingness for collective action. Study 3 also found initial evidence of conferred psychological standing to explain how inviter’s race shapes collective action. Specifically, a Black (vs. White) inviter was perceived to have greater psychological standing on issues of racial justice, which increased Whites’ personal standing, and subsequently, Whites’ willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice.

No description available.

The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004 have placed increased demands on all educators and administrators. School psychologists find themselves charged with addressing a broad range of issues today, and there is an emphasis on leadership in the effective provision of services. Although the literature is replete with examples of the centrality of leadership in regards to the educational experience of students, there have not been sufficient studies that have studied this topic in school psychology. The purpose of this study was to discover, understand, and describe in rich detail the lived experience of school psychologists exercising leadership. The researcher interviewed school psychologists within a mid-size school district in Central Florida who were nominated by district administrators that supervise of them. Additionally, this study sought to identify the contexts, domains of practice, universal structures, and opportunities utilized in their experiences. School psychologists demonstrated leadership through collaboration and consultation, professional expertise, student-oriented needs, expert-problem solvers, and communication skills. The contexts of their leadership experiences varied due to the diverse roles taken on by the individual, however they were all demonstrated at the district level, school level, and with their peers. The leadership experiences identified by the study participants correspond to most of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) domains of practice and also correspond to transformational leadership. The results are particularly salient to school psychologist, as the information comes from the perspective of school psychologists who were noted to be "effective" and displays "leadership" and are now exercising leadership. Future research is encourage to examine leadership experiences across multiple school districts to identify experiences of other leaders across various settings.

Sleep is an important and necessary part of life. While the biological need for sleep among school-aged individuals has not changed over the years, the quality and quantity of their sleep has. School-aged children reporting sleep deficits in the United States is on the rise and a significant body of research establishes associations between a lack of sleep and lower cognition as well as psychological and behavioral problems. These associations can heavily influence the academic progress and success of students. School psychologists are in a unique position to identify and provide support to individuals with sleep issues. Unfortunately, there is little evidence in the literature to suggest that school psychologists are regularly accounting for sleep. Additionally, no studies have attempted to explore the barriers and facilitating factors for regular sleep screening/assessment among school psychologists. The present study surveyed 105 school psychologists to ascertain the proportion of practitioners who report assessing or screening for sleep issues. School psychologists were also asked to identify potential barriers and facilitating factors related to treating sleep challenges. The results indicated that many school psychologists are not assessing, screening, or treating students for sleep issues or disorders. Many school psychologists report minimal exposure to sleep training within their graduate programs and practitioners cite a lack of training and awareness to sleep-related resources as both major barriers and facilitating factors to implementing sleep related practices. The results highlight the continued lack of emphasis on sleep training within the profession of school psychology. Practitioner's responses indicated a need for better sleep training and education within professional training programs, including equipping such programs with faculty possessing expertise and experience with sleep training/treatment. Results also indicated a need for professional school psychology associations and organizations, such as the National Association of School Psychologists, to provide better awareness, training, professional development opportunities, along with increased visibility to resources on sleep for practitioners to utilize. Furthermore, this article provides practitioners a variety of sleep-related resources to better prepare and educate themselves to provide the best possible services to students and families.

Reading is a skill that unlocks the doors of learning and success. It is commonly accepted that reading is a foundational skill that plays a major role in a child's academic success. The history of teaching reading includes many theories about the development of reading, the source of reading difficulties, and interventions for remediation. A large body of research has demonstrated that reading difficulties stem from a phonological basis and interventions that target this area are generally beneficial in helping improving reading skills (National Reading Panel, 2000; Shaywitz, 2003; Stanovich, 1986). However, there are some who even with extensive intervention continue to struggle to read. Helen Irlen (2005) proposed that these people may experience visual-perceptual distortions when reading high-contrast text (black on white background). Irlen claims that symptoms of this disorder, termed Scotopic Sensitivity or Irlen Syndrome, can be alleviated by the use of color overlays or filters (tinted glasses). Research into the existence of this syndrome and the effectiveness of the overlays and filters to remediate reading problems has been inconsistent and criticized for lacking scientific rigor and heavy reliance on subject report of improvement. The present study seeks to evaluate differences that may exist in eye movements and reading fluency when subjects diagnosed with IS read text with and without color overlays. Participants were screened with the Irlen Reading Perceptual Scale (IRPS) to determine whether or not they suffered from the syndrome. From this screening, participants chose an overlay reported to alleviate distortions or discomfort they experienced when reading. They were then asked to read 18 passages under three conditions--with a clear overlay, with their chosen overlay, and with a random overlay--while their eye movements were recorded. Results indicated that participants showed no improvement in eye movement or reading fluency when they read passages with an optimum (chosen) overlay verses a clear overlay or a random overlay.

The collaborative efforts between school psychologists and early educators can prepare children for success. Since the first decade of life is such a critical time period, early childhood interventions from birth to the early school grades are receiving widespread attention today as one of the most effective ways to prevent learning difficulties and to promote children’s development and well-being(Reyonlds, 2004). School psychologists should promote the fact that "making schoolsready for all children" contributes to systems integration among schools and early childhood programs (Bagnato, 2006). This study is important to further examine the roles of current school psychologists and to study their collaborative work with early intervention. Early childhood intervention is defined as the provision of educational, family, health and/or social services during any of the first eight years of life to children who are at risk of poor outcomes because they face socio-environmental disadvantages or have developmental disabilities (Reynolds, 2004). Federal law acknowledges the importance and need for early intervention as The Economic Opportunity and Community Partnership Act of 1974 and subsequent amendments to the law required Head Start programs in each state to serve a minimum of 10% children with disabilities (Hooper & Umansky, 2004). When children are not meeting milestones, early intervention increases the likelihood of success and a more positive later outcome.

This study examines how perceptions of various challenges of international students in professional psychology, from different regions in the world, differed from pre to post enrolment. While previous studies have explored challenges for this population in isolation, this study explored multiple domains of challenges such as language and academics, culture, finances, mentoring and supervision, and career opportunities. The comprehensive survey was distributed to Directors of Clinical Training in APA accredited clinical, counseling, school, and combined psychology programs. Results from study indicated students experienced significant challenges in the financial domain from pre to post enrollment which continued to increase over time. Although not significant, challenges in career opportunities also increased overtime and remained to be the most challenging domain pre and post enrolment. Additional findings indicated that the greatest number of participants in clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs were from the Western Pacific region. Other questions are also examined in this study that generate critical implications to training programs to modify their recruitment strategies with hopes of increasing the representation of racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity in training programs.