A tragic school shooting occurred in Brazil on April 7, 2011. A young adult male returned to the school that he had previously attended, Tasso da Silveira in Realengo, and shot and killed 13 and wounded another 20 students or teachers. Realengo, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, is composed of hard working lower and middle class families with strong…

School psychologists are often in the position of seeing a situation, a system, or a common strategy for working with students that might be approached from a different perspective. Knowing this themselves is rarely good enough, though; they work in teams and as consultants to teachers and parents who generally work most closely with the students.…

The authors have worked together with the NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) National Emergency Assistance Team (NEAT) for a decade to help coordinate communications around large-scale crisis response efforts. The massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeastern part of Japan and the subsequent response represented…

March 11, 2011, began the most difficult natural disaster ever experienced in Japan. Earthquakes, a massive tsunami, and multiple breaches at nuclear power plants have changed the lives of many Japanese people including children, teachers, and parents. Throughout this difficult time, Japanese school psychologists and teachers have been supported…

On Friday, March 11, 2011, one of the worst disasters in the world hit the country of Japan. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, forever changing the lives of the people and the state of the country. Not only were lives lost and homes destroyed, the tsunami that followed caused numerous nuclear accidents around the Fukushima…

During a period spanning more than 2 decades, the author assessed approximately 2,000 school-age students, about 50 of whom were educated entirely at home. In many respects, the data gathering activities were similar regardless of the settings involved, but the uniqueness of homeschooling sometimes made assessment adaptations necessary in order…

On September 27th, Maine finally joined 47 other states in allowing the use of the term "school psychologist" for those holding a masters or specialist degree. Furthermore, Maine has become the first and only state to write the NASP Practice Model into law, thus holding school-based psychologists to the highest professional standards. This change…

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may experience educational difficulties that warrant an evaluation to determine whether they are eligible to receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As with any disorder, legal disputes about eligibility sometimes arise between parents and school…

Ten Septembers ago, people witnessed the worst terrorist attack ever committed on American soil. Most Americans can still see the images of airplanes violently crashing into buildings. On that fateful September day in 2001, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) was faced with the challenge of trying to support the needs of…

A day in the life of a student at school is filled with potential connections (relationships, linkages in learning, behavioral choices, etc.). Friendships with peers, relationships with teachers, acknowledgements from administrators, encouragement from coaches: These are all interpersonal connections that are essential not only to making school an…

Students with head injuries may not be as "low incidence" as previously believed. Recent efforts from the American Academy of Pediatrics (2010), the National Football League, and other agencies are attempting to raise awareness of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among students. Along with awareness, there has been an increased publicity effort via…

This paper presents summaries of four articles relevant to school crisis response. The first article, "Peritraumatic Dissociation Predicts Posttraumatic Stress in Youth Following Accidents" summarized by Jim Matthews, suggests that peritraumatic dissociation is a powerful predictor of PTSD symptoms among youth who have been in a car accident. The…

This article describes a case of a student with head injuries. While the symptom presentation for students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be vastly different, this case represents common symptoms seen in students who are recovering from a concussion. The authors suggest that school psychologists query the teacher and parents about their…

A public health crisis is looming in US schools. Millions of children do not receive mental health services, are poorly bonded to supportive educational communities, and fail to develop important social and emotional competencies. Considering these problems, many of which relate to students' school functioning, efforts are needed to support…

When students reach adolescence, they have often been known to devise destructive outlets for their self-expression (e.g., suggestive dress, tattoos, piercing, and sexual risk-taking). Recently growing in popularity, to almost epidemic proportions in the general adolescent population, is the act of self-injury. Self-injury refers to the…