Based on a significant increase in correspondence to the author from parents, teachers and psychologists concerning "addiction" to online video games like "World of Warcraft", this paper provides a brief overview of the main issues surrounding excessive video game playing among adolescents. As an aid to educational psychologists, and based on two…

In this article the concept of spirituality, especially with relation to school age children and young people, is discussed. Some of the possibilities and constraints present in this area are noted, especially the unease with which many researchers and practitioners view such a difficult to define topic and also its traditional association with…

This paper reports on research conducted over a two-year period in a large Educational Psychology Service (EPS) in England. Researchers were keen to ascertain the views of young people and EPS members about young people being directly involved in educational decision-making and how their "genuine" involvement in such decision-making might be best…

A large scale observational study by educational psychologists of 141 UK primary classrooms used a partial interval time-sampling observational schedule to record the frequency and type of verbal behaviour of teachers and whether students were "on-task" (following the teacher's directions) or "off-task" (not following the teacher's directions).…

Recent policy developments (such as the Children's Plan) and the introduction of a new national strategy (the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme) have re-emphasised the importance of social and emotional skills in educational contexts. As such, educational psychologists are increasingly likely to be involved in the measurement of…

This paper critically considers the growing interest in the use of Cognitive Behaviour Therapies to support children and young people presenting with a wide range of social-emotional difficulties. This focus has emerged since the prevalence of such difficulties in children and young people has increased over the past four decades, and the…

This is the third in a series of papers exploring the Constructionist Model of Informed Reasoned Action (COMOIRA). The first two papers articulated the theoretical and conceptual issues underpinning the model and explored some important process and practice issues associated with it. Initially, this paper discusses two important concepts that…

This study evaluates the work of a multi-disciplinary Behaviour Support Team developed to support schools in managing problematic behaviour. An evidence base to inform future service delivery is developed, using a model of evaluation which incorporates both quantitative, outcome data and more explanatory qualitative data, incorporating the views…

Enabling children and young people to act as researchers is increasingly viewed as useful in supporting their increased "participation" within settings where they live, work or receive services. This paper reports upon a project conducted by two educational psychologists (EPs) with two primary school class groups, in which the children and their…

Our goal was to identify how students' perceptions of their parents shape the kind and degree of motivational goal orientations that they adopt in their mathematics classroom, broadening the application of achievement goal orientation theory and self-determination theory to students in Korea. Two groups of students participated, one from a middle…

In this study we examined authoritative discipline theory, which posits that 2 complementary aspects of school climate--structure and support--are important for adolescents' safety in school. Using a statewide sample of over 7,300 ninth-grade students and 2,900 teachers randomly selected from 290 high schools, we showed, using hierarchical linear…

This study of 1,338 Spanish-speaking 1st graders examined contextual effects of bilingual programs on reading comprehension and the effect of language of instruction within these contexts. The study included 128 classrooms in 32 schools located in border Texas and in urban Texas and California. These classrooms used either English immersion or…

Elementary school students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as an operational rather than a relational symbol. Such misunderstanding is problematic because solving equations with missing numbers may be important for the development of higher order mathematics skills, including solving word problems. Research indicates equal-sign instruction…

There is a growing literature demonstrating that speech rhythm sensitivity is related to children's reading development, independent of phonological awareness. However, the precise nature of this relationship is less well understood, and further research is warranted to investigate whether speech rhythm sensitivity predicts the different…

Effects of a 1-semester professional development (PD) intervention that included expert coaching with Head Start teachers were investigated in a randomized controlled trial with 88 teachers and 759 children. Differential effects of technologically mediated (remote) versus in-person (on-site) delivery of individualized coaching with teachers also…