Autism spectrum disorder assessment and evaluation research in 10 school psychology journals from 2007 to 2017

School psychologists are increasingly engaged in service provisions for students eligible for special education services under the eligibility category of autism, including conducting school‐based assessments and evaluations. Evaluations occur for a variety of reasons such as special education eligibility decision‐making, treatment and intervention planning, and progress monitoring. Publications in school psychology journals emphasizing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment and evaluation are vital to quality training and practitioner utilization of quality practices. In the current study, researchers conducted a systematic review of publicaftions in 10 school psychology journals from 2007 to 2017 to assess the current state of ASD assessment and evaluation research in the field of school psychology. Implications for researchers, trainers, and practitioners are discussed.     

‘Doing’ gender in a rural Scottish secondary school: an ethnographic study of classroom interactions

This article draws on data from an ethnographic case study that examined how pupils’ gendered identities are constructed in one rural secondary school in Scotland. We utilise the work of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to provide theoretical insight into how and why pupils take up particular gendered positions in school, focusing on the influence of teacher–pupil interactions. The findings suggest that some teachers reinforce traditional constructs of masculinities and femininities, and fail to disrupt boys’ views of girls as objects of desire. Teachers are also seen to reinforce gender stereotypes in their understandings of the rural landscape as an exclusive site for constructing masculine identities. We claim that this potentially limits pupils’ educational experiences. We conclude by suggesting that there is a need for teachers to develop deeper, more sophisticated understandings of gender, an area currently neglected in Scottish educational policy and teacher education programmes.     

Energy Cost of Rebound-Running

Using Sonstroem, Harlow, and Josephs' (1994) expanded version of the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model (EXSEM; Sonstroem &; Morgan, 1989), we explored how 9 older adults (6 women and 3 men, aged 65–72 years) involved in a resistance training program experienced and perceived changes in physical self-worth (i.e., improved strength, functional competency, physical condition, and body satisfaction). We conducted three in-depth interviews with each participant over the course of the program. In individual log books, participants recorded the weight lifted and the number of repetitions for each exercise. Our findings showed the course of changes in physical self-perceptions in these older adults and how actual individual changes in strength performance related to perceived changes in important psychological outcomes.     

A web-based breastfeeding education program

Two Web-based breastfeeding programs were developed to provide new parents with necessary information on proper breastfeeding techniques. One version was plain text and the other version combined text with graphics. The computer was viewed as a valuable learning tool. The breastfeeding program that contained graphics was preferred over the text-only program. Educators are encouraged to use Web-based graphic programs to provide breastfeeding education to new parents.     

Positive behavioral contrast,autoshaping, and omission responding in the goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Two experiments with goldfish were performed to investigate the role of stimulus-reinforcer vs. response-reinforcer relationships in omission training and the role of stimulus localizability in a positive behavioral contrast paradigm. The directed behavior of fish, like that of pigeons and rats in other studies, was greatly influenced by positive stimulus-reinforcer correlations, as evidenced by maintained contacts of a signal for food, even though such responses terminated the signal and cancelled reinforcement delivery. Goldfish exhibited positive behavioral contrast when the signals for reinforcement and nonreinforcement were displayed directly on the response key, but no contrast was observed when variations in a diffuse houselight stimulus were used as signals for reinforcement or nonreinforcement. Analysis of sequential-trial data yielded effects analogous to Pavlovian positive and negative induction. Theoretical and methodological problems were briefly considered.     

Social Use of the School Library: the colonisation and regulation of educational space

The existing literature on school libraries has been dominated by a view of them as ‘learning laboratories’ which should allow students opportunities for reading and conducting research into small scale projects. From this perspective, resource issues and helping students become knowledgeable users of library facilities are the major problems facing school librarians. This study breaks from the traditional research by focusing on the social use of the school library. Data are used from two case‐studies of school libraries to analyse student colonisation and teacher regulation of library space, and the processes by which students come to associate or dissociate themselves from using the library during the school day. The paper concludes by arguing that social factors form, an integral part of the context in which school libraries stand or fall as arenas which facilitate student learning, and that the spatial dimensions of social interaction should become central to analyses of educational differentiation.