Providing early intervention services for disabled children is a relatively new endeavor for school psychologists. Most school psychologists have not received formal training--yet are providing evaluation and intervention services to preschool children. Major efficacy issues and research data on early intervention for young disabled children are…

Surveyed 181 experienced elementary and junior high teachers and 189 preservice teachers regarding their perceptions of school psychologists. Results revealed significant differences between preservice and experienced teachers' effectiveness ratings of school psychologists on eight tasks and on ratings of school psychologists' qualifications. (NRB)

Examines three major types of intervention strategies that have been utilized in school-based weight-reduction programs. Discusses behavior modification, dietary control/nutrition education, and physical activities which have been successfully combined in multifaceted obesity interventions to produce modest weight loss. (Author/NRB)

Examined the performance of 30 learning disabled and 30 nondisabled children in grades one through seven on the Test of Social Inference (TSI). Results indicated that disabled students obtained lower TSI total scores than did nondisabled students; they also performed relatively lower on TSI items requiring more verbal expression. (NRB)

Defines self-efficacy as personal judgments of performance capabilities in a given domain of activity and discusses the role of self-efficacy during classroom learning of cognitive skills. Research findings are presented showing how different educational practices affect self-efficacy. (NRB)

Students referred for gifted programs or for evaluation of learning difficulties answered questions about their highest and lowest subtest scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Both groups viewed performance subtests as best, and correlations between particular subtests perceived as best or worst and actual scores were…

Administered System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) to 700 White, 700 Black, and 700 Hispanic elementary school students. Ten years later, again tested 1,184 of original 2,100 students with SOMPA in high school. Results suggest that some subtests of the SOMPA may have some validity for predicting school achievement for students…

Examined ability of Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (WJPEB) to identify learning-disabled (LD) students. Administered WJPEB to 71 previously identified LD students and evaluated cluster score performance. Used three methods of obtaining discrepancies; slightly more than one-half of LD students were identified. Memory deficits were…

Reviews research concerning relationship of nonverbal ability measures recommended for hearing impaired students and learning potential. Reviews both earlier studies indicating that nonverbal measures could be used to predict academic achievement and more recent studies urging caution or suggest questionable predictability when interpreting data.…

Administered Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised to 45 learning-disabled and 41 gifted Navajo elementary students. Interpreted performance according to Luria-Das Model of Simultaneous and Successive cognitive processes. Gifted and learning disabled students had disparate loadings for some subtests expected to involve Successive and…

Obtained peer and teacher ratings of social competence for 94 first and second graders. Also measured interpersonal problem-solving skills, intelligence, academic achievement, and socioeconomic status. Correlations between three problem-solving scores and social competence ratings ranged from .04 to .20. Intelligence, achievement and socioeconomic…

Proposes that thematic projective techniques, such as Children's Apperception Test (CAT) may be useful in exploring children's perception of stress. Recommends need-threat analysis to identify underlying needs and threats likely to make event stressful to individual child. Introduces scoring system for CAT based on analysis of thematic data of…

By means of educational and psychological tests, 10 reading specialists thought aloud about a simulated case of reading and spelling disability in fourth-grade boy. Protocols were transcribed and scored. Despite choosing from common information sources, experts differed substantially in diagnoses and recommendations. Found no indications for…

Examined school entrance age effect on academic achievement and social-emotional adjustment among 137 fourth graders. Found that differences between 73 oldest and 64 youngest subjects, identified in first grade, persisted in part to fourth grade. Younger subjects scored lowest in mathematics and oral and silent reading comprehension; were slower…

Investigated measurement characteristics of both forms of Finding Embedded Figures Test (FEFT). College students (N=302) completed both forms of FEFT or one form of FEFT and Group Embedded Figures Test. Results suggest that FEFT forms provide reasonable reliable and valid data. (Author/NB)