The goal of this paper was to critically review and evaluate five common social-emotional and behavioral screeners: Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (Kamphaus and Reynolds 2007), Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System (McDougal et al. 2011), Social Skills Improvement System Performance Screening Guide (Elliott and Gresham…

The current study is a preliminary investigation of the psychometric properties of a brief seven-item Parent Involvement Survey (PIS) as developed by the researcher, that could potentially be used in schools. In an effort to test for construct validity, the relation of the PIS to elementary-aged students' receptive vocabulary skills and four…

Implementing violence prevention programs has become a priority for schools; however, most programs used for this purpose are limited in the skills they teach. In this study, two different resiliency building/violence prevention models were evaluated to assess their effectiveness at preventing violent and maladaptive behaviors in youth. Data from…

Ethical codes and licensing rules provide foundational guidance for practicing school psychologists, but these sources fall short in their capacity to facilitate effective decision-making. When faced with ethical dilemmas, school psychologists can turn to decision-making models, but step-wise decision trees frequently lack the situation…

The purpose of this article is to provide school psychologists with a synthesis of important information regarding the epidemiology, etiology, assessment, and treatment of childhood depression. A review of the recent research and relevant literature is summarized reflecting the contemporary knowledge regarding depression during childhood and…

The purpose of this article is to provide school psychologists and other educational professionals with important information regarding the epidemiology, etiology, assessment, and treatment of early onset schizophrenia (EOS). The central aim herein is to bring science to practice by succinctly highlighting key considerations for school…

Youth suicide is a global public health problem and some lessons for more effectively preventing it can be found in a perhaps unlikely source: the Golden Gate Bridge. Issues discussed include means restriction and method substitution, the stigma associated with suicide and the consequences of it, myths and misconceptions regarding suicide, and…

Current assessments in the schools are based on a deficit model (Epstein, 1998). "The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services" (2010), federal initiatives and mandates, and experts in the field of assessment have highlighted the need for the comprehensive…

This study examined the performance of reading disabled children on the two Phonological Awareness Subtests of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP). Participants performed significantly different on these two subtests with a poorer performance on the Elision subtest than Blending Words. In addition, the two subtests were not…

Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds (SES) are at increased risk of reading problems. Although phonological awareness consistently emerges as a critical literacy skill for children, little research exists regarding the effects of the acquisition of phonological awareness skills on decreasing the reading achievement gap between children of…

Previous research has examined the quantity and types of diversity-related research in the field of school psychology, revealing gaps in the literature. Extension of this line of research with current data and comparison to related disciplines is needed. This study used content analysis to address these issues, with a specific focus on the racial…

Current approaches to mental health in school tend to overemphasize individually prescribed treatment to the detriment of prevention programs. Moreover, they are implemented as another fragmented set of interventions, and this contributes to the continuing marginalization of student and learning supports. Finally, when the focus is on individuals'…

A qualitative grounded theory study examined how practicing professionals involved in the ED identification process reconstructed the category of "emotional disturbance" as it applied to students in an alternative educational setting. A grounded theory integrates six emergent themes and essentially reframes the existing ED criteria in contemporary…

This article describes the results of a national survey pertaining to school psychologists' knowledge and use of evidence-based, social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions. For the study, 331 school psychologists responded to a survey that listed (a) techniques for identifying SEL interventions, (b) 16 SEL programs that have been identified by…

Researchers and school practitioners alike are finding positive outcomes in the proactive practices of schoolwide positive behavior supports (SWPBS). However, reform through such systemic efforts as SWPBS is a challenging endeavor. For SWPBS to reach the widest number of schools, it is necessary to provide school faculty and staff with the…