Introducing positive psychology: Finding a place within school psychology

An introduction to the special issue addressing positive psychology and its “place” in and implications for schools is provided. The articles contained within the issue are described within the context of our perspective regarding positive psychology in schools. As the study of positive psychology continues to evolve, it is likely that its application within other fields (including school psychology) will be more clearly expressed. We contend that the “success” of introducing, implementing, and sustaining positive psychology within schools may be dependent on its early yet also sustained integration across multiple contexts. And, a “positive” school psychology will require attention to the convergence of multiple, diverse areas of literature. The articles within this special issue begin this movement toward finding either a place for positive psychology within school psychology or a place for school psychology within positive psychology. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 1–5, 2004.     

Opportunity and high school completion

In recent years, the social sciences and educational research have shown increased interest in the place of rationality, choice, and creativity in social behavior. While social and cultural determinism are still conspicuous in such work, researchers and theorists are less inclined to treat behavior as mechanistically determined or to construe students and others as wholly passive products of their circumstances. Using school district-level Florida data for 1984–85, we treat students' decisions to complete high school or to drop out as interpretably rational. Specifically, we interpret such decisions in terms of students' perceptions of the payoffs and costs associated with completing high school. Consistent with this view, our statistical analysis suggests that district-to-district differences in high school completion rates are positively related to post-high school economic and educational opportunities. Further, high school completion rates are negatively related to our measure of the costs of schooling. Dropping out of high school, in this view, need not be treated as a wholly irrational phenomenon. In part, it is a product of students' attempts to respond rationally to their circumstances.     

Commentary: Analyzing classroom dialogue to create changes in school

In this commentary, the articles of the special issue will be discussed in relation to how they address classroom dialogue to promote new forms of education. The articles present possibilities to rethink learning and education through the analysis of classroom dialogue. The commentary will address how the outcomes of the included papers lead to reflections about how practitioners and researchers may rethink school and society in a more emancipating, revolutionary, and transformative way.     

Competencies for Systems-Level Consultants Within Diverse Schools

The authors in this special issue on systems-level consultation provide an excellent range of models for how school psychologists can work as system-level consultants within the various communities they serve. This article (a) provides commentary on the four articles in this special issue focused on systems-level consultation to serve diverse populations in schools, (b) outlines 10 competencies for systems consultants in diverse schools, and (c) suggests directions for future research, theory, and practice in this area. By intersecting the 2010 National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Practice Model, Blueprint III, and the illustrations in these four articles, 10 competencies for systems-level consultants are articulated. These involve collaborative, recursive, interpersonal processes whereby the systems-level consultant facilitates communication and understanding across different stakeholders, assisting in the joint gathering and interpretation of data. In systems-level consultation, the system is the client and consultants work to build capacity within the system and its stakeholders to address problems and needs.     

School Choice Policies Shaping Neighborhoods,School Locations,and Destinies

ABSTRACT

In this article, we introduce a special collection of research articles that consider the processes and consequences of school choice across different social and spatial contexts in order to better understand the relationship between school choice and stratification in educational opportunity. This special issue presents a wide range of studies that examine geographical configurations, locations, scales, and relationships, all of which shape and are shaped by school choice. We summarize the diverse theoretical perspectives and themes. We also highlight the articles’ key results and new contributions related to issues such as inter-district school choice, open enrollment school choice programs, diversification of curricular-related activities among EMO-operated schools, and geographic variation in achievement of the charter school sector     

Introduction to the special issue on the appraisal and prediction of school violence

This article provides an overview of a special issue of Psychology in the Schools that critically examines issues related to the appraisal of the risk for violence among students. It is argued that school psychologists can assume the important role of informing communities about the limitations of school violence screening and assessment procedures and can implement student‐appraisal techniques that focus on long‐term student development. They can also work toward more accurate measurement of general school violence trends and intervention needs. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Introduction to Motivation at School: Interventions That Work

This article provides an introduction and overview to this special issue of Educational Psychologist, titled Promoting Motivation at School: Interventions That Work. This issue is devoted to the topic of interventions that emphasize different aspects of motivation for enhancing students' academic and social outcomes in school. The interventions range from programs focused on individual students to large-scale school reform. The programs described in this issue emphasize both students' academic motivation and their social motivation and focus on a variety of important achievement outcomes. Authors also discuss the effectiveness of various interventions for ethnic minority children. The importance of attending to social aspects of motivation in these kinds of interventions is a major theme of this special issue. Brief overviews of each article are provided.     

Including fathers in school psychology literature: A review of four school psychology journals

It is well documented that fathers have a significant influence on their children's success in school. To examine the ways in which fathers have been represented in school psychology literature, the authors searched over 1,000 recent articles published in four leading U.S. school psychology journals (Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, and the Journal of School Psychology) for content on fathers. Fathers were included substantially in nine articles and were the primary focus of only one other article. Reasons for the lack of information on fathers and suggestions for increasing the focus on fathers in school psychology literature are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 575–580, 2004.     

Review of school counseling outcome research

This article is somewhat unique in this special issue as it focuses on the effectiveness of an array of school counseling interventions and not solely on individual and group counseling. In summarizing the school counseling outcome literature, the authors found that students who participated in school counseling interventions tended to score on various outcome measures about a third of a standard deviation above those who did not receive the interventions. School counseling interventions produced quite large effect sizes in the areas of discipline, problem solving, and increasing career knowledge. The effect sizes were smaller, but significant, related to school counseling interventions' impact on academic achievement. Surprisingly little school counseling research was found related to individual counseling. Concerning guidance curriculum, small groups were more effective than interventions that involved entire classrooms. Furthermore, outcome research reflects that group counseling can be effective with students who are experiencing problems and difficulties. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

‘Culture of Religion’ – a controversial secular school subject

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the context, emergence, organisation and curriculum of the school subject known as ‘Culture of Religions’ (Kultura religija), which is given as an example of good practice in the Toledo Guiding Principles of the OSCE. It was designed, piloted and to a certain extent introduced in state schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina by a collaboration of international organisations and institutions, together with representatives from various local organisations. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities that render this school subject not only highly relevant but also a controversial issue of education policy today.     

Multiple Models of Multiple-Text Comprehension: A Commentary

Research on multiple source use concerns how readers handle a number of different, often conflicting or discrepant, information sources to construct a mental representation of content. Students are increasingly being exposed to such complex reading situations, both in and outside of school. The digital world demands multiple source use, and students must be prepared to critically evaluate sources varying widely in genre, design, and trustworthiness. In this special issue of Educational Psychologist, four articles present different models of how readers approach and process multiple information sources. The four contributions, to varying degrees, represent elaborations and extensions of the Multiple Documents Framework (Perfetti, Rouet, & Britt, 1999). This commentary summarizes the four articles and discusses the articles in relation to prior models and to some assumptions apparently underpinning current models of multiple source use.     

Introduction: Commercialization of Academic Science and a New Agenda for Science Education

Certain segments of science are becoming increasingly commercialized. This article discusses the commercialization of academic science and its impact on various aspects of science. It also aims to provide an introduction to the articles in this special issue. I briefly describe the major factors that led to this phenomenon, situate it in the context of the changing social regime of science and give a thumbnail sketch of its costs and benefits. I close with a general discussion of how the topic of commercialization of academic science is relevant to science education.     

The Early Development Instrument: Translating School Readiness Assessment Into Community Actions and Policy Planning

This invited special issue of Early Education and Development presents research related to the Early Development Instrument (EDI; Janus & Offord, 2007), a community tool to assess children's school readiness at a population level. In this editorial introduction, we first sketch out recent trends in school readiness research that call for a contextual and whole-child assessment of school readiness. Then we provide an overview of the EDI, including a discussion of its purpose and development, as well as its large-scale international use as a community tool to monitor children's developmental outcomes at population levels. Finally, we introduce the special issue's articles, all of which present research findings from ongoing community research projects that employ the EDI to assess children's school readiness. These articles are grouped into the following thematic themes: (a) individual-level validity of the EDI, (b) school and neighborhood effects and population-level validity of the EDI, and (c) program implementation and evaluation using the EDI.     

The Contradictions in Science Education Peer Review and Possibilities for Change

The final paper in this special issue of Research in Science Education is a synthesis of the articles that comprise the special issue. The main part of the article consists of a metalogue between the two authors in which we identify critical issues associated with peer review and highlight theory and practices we regard as salient to the continued improvement of science education.     

Education and school in the United States: Identity,culture and ecology

Abstract

In this article the special issue dedicated to cultural historical approach and education in the United States is presented, along with a brief review of some of the most relevant matters in the study of education and cultural diversity in that country. Moreover, a mise en scène of the works that make up this special issue is provided, relating them to some of the ideas on education and school behind the sociohistorical or sociocultural approach. Also, an overview is included of the study of immigration from the standpoint of cultural design, and lastly a reflection is made on the importance of an ecological approach to human activity in education.     

Commentary: Implications,Themes, and Next Steps

The author presents a commentary on a special issue of the Journal of College Counseling. The articles included in the issue describe the mental health needs and counseling center utilization patterns of the diverse population of college students. The establishment of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health has created the opportunity to study representative groups of diverse students that have previously been difficult to access. The articles in the special issue are focused on studies that offer important clues to mechanisms that will serve as a springboard for future research.     

Examining the Double-Deficit Hypothesis in an Orthographically Consistent Language

As many of you know, this is my final issue as editor of Scientific Studies of Reading. The new editor, Charles Hulme, has the work well in hand and has actually completed the editing of two articles which appeared in Issue 3 of this volume. The journal will be in good hands. I want to thank the many board members, reviewers, and authors for their energy, talents, and enthusiasm in the cause of advancing the journal. It's been a great privilege to be able to work with you and to guide the journal for 5 years. The current issue is a special issue, which had its inception in an idea of Mike Pressley's to have authors assess the present and future of key areas of literacy research. The first three articles in this issue are part of the special issue. The fourth article is a rewritten version of Charles Perfetti's Distinguished Scientific Contribution presentation at the July 2006 SSSR meeting. I append comments about Mike Pressley, written by Joanna Williams, who appropriately was the first editor of Scientific Studies of Reading and who had a hand in this special issue.     

Content and impact of articles published by school psychology faculty

School Psychology faculty members are expected to publish articles in peer‐reviewed journals that impact the fields of education and psychology. Both the content and the impact of the articles school psychologists publish may change across time and differ from other disciplines. The current analysis sought to understand average article impact, content, and research focus, and to describe those articles that have the highest impact factor. All of the articles (n = 3670) published by school psychology faculty between January, 2010 and December, 2015 were collected and examined. Three reviewers were trained over 2 hr to read abstracts and to classify the content of those abstracts. The literature was systematically classified into four categories: assessment, consultation, intervention, and professional issues. The title, keywords, and abstract were used to find the category of best fit for each publication. The majority of articles published fall into the broad category of Professional Issues. The average article is cited 17.68 times in Google Scholar and 4.9 times in Web of Science. These data will be useful to understand publication content trends and identify gaps in research.     

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

The 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.     

Prevalence of mindfulness literature and intervention in school psychology journals from 2006 to 2016

Mindfulness has been gaining momentum in the field of school psychology, however compared to other applied psychology fields, less research on mindfulness interventions has been conducted. This study systematically reviewed mindfulness literature and empirical studies in nine school psychology journals from 2006–2016. The prevalence of mindfulness articles and research specifically focused on mindfulness intervention were examined. Additionally, the type of intervention implemented, tier of intervention, and targets of intervention were examined. Results indicated that .57% of articles during the ten‐year time frame were related to mindfulness (n = 17). Eight of the 17 articles investigated mindfulness interventions, with interventions ranging from informal practices (e.g., Mandala coloring) to specific intervention programs (e.g., Compassion and Attention in the Schools). Majority of interventions were implemented at the universal level for students. Future directions for mindfulness research and the importance of mindfulness in school psychology are discussed.