PUBLICATION OUTLETS FOR SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY: 2010 to 2015

Many school psychology faculty are required to publish for purposes of retention and promotion. It is useful to have an understanding of the different outlets for scholarly publications. In the present study, we investigated the peer‐reviewed journals in which school psychology faculty were published between 2010 and 2015, the number of articles in each journal, and the acceptance rates and impact estimates for each journal. We identified school psychology faculty using the National Association of School Psychologists website and conducted a search of the publications using EBSCO databases. Results indicated that there were a total of 3,675 articles and a total of 832 peer‐reviewed journals in which school psychology faculty were published during the 6‐year span. Among the peer‐reviewed journals, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Quarterly, School Psychology Review, and Journal of School Psychology were the journals in which school psychology faculty members most frequently published. Acceptance rates ranged from less than 5% to 98%, with an average of 29.7%. H‐indexes ranged from 1 to 890, with an average of 52. These results illustrate the variety of journals that publish works from school psychology faculty and the need for school psychology faculty and other authors to consider a variety of options when seeking publication.     

‘Defnyddiwch y Gymraeg’1: community sport as a vehicle for encouraging the use of the Welsh language

Abstract

Despite cultural and statutory changes, including significant investment in Welsh medium education, latest census data show a drop in the percentage of Welsh speakers. Moreover there is a concern that many of those who are able to speak Welsh are not using it – the language is not ‘alive’. The Welsh Language Commissioner has identified sport as a space where Welsh can be used, encouraged and promoted. The aim of this study was to investigate whether community sport clubs can provide a space to encourage the use of Welsh. Using qualitative methods we found that strategies to promote Welsh in sports clubs are potentially divisive. The dominant and ‘operational’ language of many community sport clubs is English. Increasing the use of Welsh in these clubs risks excluding non-Welsh speakers, but ignoring the language denies Welsh speakers the opportunity to participate in Welsh.     

Lifescaping action research pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This article is a collaboration involving a professor and three graduate students. Together, they explore lifescaping action research pedagogy guided by the participatory inquiry process. Since the lesson taught is not the lesson learned, the first author presents a perspective about teaching PIP followed by the graduate students’ collective responses enacting what they learned in three different school settings.     

The Mindful Teacher: Translating Research into Daily Well-being

This article features a stress management approach that is becoming increasingly influential in schools: mindfulness-based stress reduction. The authors describe what it is, provide research-based evidence of its usefulness, and highlight mindfulness resources that educators can use to manage stress and improve their well-being (including coursework, daily practices, books, apps, and online audio recordings).     

Gender differences in positive social–emotional functioning

We investigated gender differences of children and adolescents on positive social and emotional competencies using a new strength‐based measure of positive social–emotional attributes and resilience—the Social–Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS) cross‐informant system. Caregivers, teachers, and students in grades kindergarten through 12 from schools across several U.S. states completed SEARS rating scales and self‐report forms. Females were consistently rated as having significantly higher total scores on all versions of the SEARS assessment system (p < .01), indicating consistent perceptions of females' higher levels of social–emotional competencies by all raters. These differences were not impacted by the grade students were in or the gender of the parent or teacher rater. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A task force to reduce prison overcrowding: Implications for criminal justice policy,planning and research methods courses

This article describes an undergraduate criminal justice research methods course that uses interactive teaching methods to explore the dynamics of policy analysis and program evaluation. The issue of prison overcrowding is introduced after a solid base of research methods concepts has been mastered. Prison overcrowding is presented in a detailed scenario that includes changes in state and local policy. Student workgroups explore issues involved in prison overcrowding using multiple sources of information, including the World Wide Web.     

Toward a Practical Approach to Evaluating Adult Education Programs: An Application of Scriven's Methodology

Abstract

The adult education evaluation model presented here provides a comprehensive yet efficient procedure with which administrators can evaluate adult education programs in a variety of settings. The need for such evaluation is receiving impetus from the accountability movement, the growth of adult education as a field of professional practice, and demands by professional groups of adult educators. The framework of the model is based on Scriven's approach to evaluation, which incorporates many of the strengths of other evaluation prototypes not yet applied to adult education. The adult education evaluation model consists of a series of steps, divided among four stages: (a) predevelopment, (b) establishing objectives, (c) data generation, and (d) evaluation. The steps within the stages are: (a) assess needs, (b) rank needs, (c) define objectives within goals, (d) rank objectives, (e) develop instrumentation and procedures, (f) apply instrumentation, (g) analyze data, (h) compare data to judgment criteria, and (i) determine course of action.