The preparation of school psychologists for crisis intervention

School psychologists (N = 276, 81% return rate) were surveyed regarding the following aspects of crisis intervention: (a) university preparation, (b) continuing professional development, and (c) current involvement with school crisis plans and crisis teams. Of those receiving university training, 58% believed they were minimally prepared or not at all prepared to deal with school crises. Only 2% reported being well prepared or very well prepared. Data analyses indicated increased university training in recent years, particularly with practicum/internship experiences related to crisis intervention. Approximately 81% of school psychologists participated in local training for crisis intervention as part of continuing professional development. Although 91% of school psychologists worked in districts with crisis plans in place, only 53% participated on crisis teams. Suicide, violence, and school district crisis plans were recommended as high priority topics for future academic training. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Developing and Validating a Novel Anonymous Method for Matching Longitudinal School-Based Data

Prospective longitudinal data collection is an important way for researchers and evaluators to assess change. In school-based settings, for low-risk and/or likely-beneficial interventions or surveys, data quality and ethical standards are both arguably stronger when using a waiver of parental consent—but doing so often requires the use of anonymous data collection methods. The standard solution to this problem has been the use of a self-generated identification code. However, such codes often incorporate personalized elements (e.g., birth month, middle initial) that, even when meeting the technical standard for anonymity, may raise concerns among both youth participants and their parents, potentially altering willingness to participate, response quality, or generating outrage. There may be value, therefore, in developing a self-generated identification code and matching approach that not only is technically anonymous but also appears anonymous to a research-naive individual. This article provides a proof of concept for a novel matching approach for school-based longitudinal data collection that potentially accomplishes this goal.     

Correction to: Biology Undergraduate Students’ Graphing Practice in Digital Versus Pen and Paper Graphing Environments

Journal of Science Education and Technology - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The name of “Susan Maruca” is now corrected in the author group.     

An Integrative Review: The Role of the Doula in Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration

The objective of this integrative review was to assess birth and postpartum doulas'' roles in supporting breastfeeding initiation and duration. The electronic databases Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, PubMed, and Scopus were searched using the key terms doula and breastfeeding. Fourteen articles met inclusion criteria. Six key themes were identified. Doulas may acquire only modest amounts of lactation-specific education; however, doula care still enhances the breastfeeding care provided by health-care professionals. Doulas offer prenatal and intrapartum support that encourages breastfeeding initiation in the hospital, as well as providing breastfeeding support in the community and home settings. This reinforces the unique role of the doula in bolstering maternal–infant health. The effect of doulas on breastfeeding duration is less clear.     

Children's Teaching Skills: The Role of Theory of Mind and Executive Function

ABSTRACT— Teaching others effectively may rely on knowledge about the mind as well as self-control processes. The goal of this investigation was to explore the role of theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) in children's developing teaching skills. Children 3.5–5.5 years of age ( N = 82) were asked to teach a confederate learner how to play a board game and were administered multitask batteries of ToM and EF with mental age, sex, and memory capacity as controls. There was a developmental increase in children's teaching skills (e.g., older children taught longer, explained more rules, and used more strategies when teaching). Examined separately, both ToM and EF explained unique variance in teaching skills over and above controls. Taken together, EF was a significant predictor of teaching efficacy over and above ToM and controls, whereas the same did not hold true for ToM. These results suggest that ToM may be a necessary prerequisite for teaching to occur; however, EF skills appear to play a vital role in children's teaching efficacy.     

Professional learning community process in the United States: conceptualization of the process and district support for schools

Abstract

As the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process becomes embedded within schools, the level of district support has a direct impact on whether schools have the ability to re-culture and sustain highly effective collaborative practices. The purpose of this article is to share a professional learning community conceptual framework from the US, and to highlight recent findings relating to district level support for the PLC process in schools. The professional learning community conceptual model is organized around five dimensions: shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collaborative learning and application, shared personal practice, and supportive conditions. The overarching question guiding this qualitative research study is: How do school district personnel (central office staff) support schools in the professional learning community process? Findings reveal the importance of transformative and proactive district involvement, and the use of transparency, trust, accountability, and autonomy in school re-culturing. It was also found that developing leadership capacity, embedding professional development, and focusing the culture on student success were critically important. As districts provide support for the PLC dimensions and themes, school leaders will have a foundation of curricular strategies, collaborative skills, and necessary resources to serve teachers and students through continuous school improvement.     

Dissociation of the blocking of conditioned eyeblink and conditioned fear following a shift in US locus

Two experiments with rabbits investigated the concordance of two measures of conditioning, eyeblink and potentiated startle, during a blocking sequence with paraorbital shock reinforcement. In both, a shift in the locus of shock from one eye to the other between the conditioning of an element and a compound of that element and a new cue had differential effects on the two measures of conditioning to the new cue. When the shock was unchanged, diminished conditioning in relation to controls (i.e., blocking) was observed on both measures. When the shock was changed, little conditioning was observed in startle, but control-equivalent amounts were observed in eyeblink (i.e., blocking occurred on the former but not the latter). The results are interpreted as showing a dissociation of the associative learning involving the emotive features of Pavlovian reinforcers and that involving the remaining sensory-perceptual features, and more compatible with a diminished US-processing, than with a CSprocessing, view of blocking.     

WHOSE DEVELOPMENT? SALVAGING THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH TO EDUCATION

A bstract .  The concept of development is currently under revision in education and psychology. In this essay, Eugene Matusov, Renée DePalma, and Stephanie Drye examine a traditional notion of development and provide an alternative sociocultural view. As educators working within a sociocultural approach to learning, development, and education, the authors see psychological phenomena as rooted in participation in sociocultural activities, practices, and communities. They critique how the traditional notion of development essentializes this process, assuming development to be independent of the observer. Using a case where a child of color develops a "sitting disability" within the institutional context of schooling, they illustrate the need for introducing a sociocultural notion of development, arguing that development is a social construction emerging in communities of practice and that it is necessary to consider the role of the observer in both defining and guiding this process in a professional discourse of cases.     

Diversity research literature on the rise? A review of school psychology journals from 2000 to 2003

School psychologists in the United States are not nearly as diverse demographically as the students they serve (T.K. Fagan & P.S. Wise, 2000). A.H. Miranda and P.B. Gutter (2002) investigated the number of diversity‐related articles in four leading school psychology journals from 1990 to 1999 and found that there was an increase in the percentage of articles in these journals that were diversity related as compared to a study done by R.M. Wiese Rogers (1992) that examined school psychology journals from 1975 to 1990. There was a particular increase in diversity‐related articles appearing from 1995 to 1999. The present study examined school psychology journals from 2000 to 2003 to determine whether this increase was an aberration or an indication of a longer term change. Results indicate a continued trend toward more diversity‐related articles in the school psychology literature, but several gaps remain. Implications for the field are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.