Increased accountability in education has resulted in a focus on implementing interventions with strong empirical support. Both student outcome and treatment integrity data are needed to draw valid conclusions about intervention effectiveness. Reviews of the literature in other fields (e.g., applied behavior analysis, prevention science) suggest…

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of school-based suicide prevention programs from a public health perspective. A literature review of empirical studies examining school-based suicide prevention programs was conducted. Studies were required to contain information pertaining to the implementation and outcomes of a…

This is an introduction to a series of four independently submitted articles that further describe the status, demography, philosophical, and role possibilities of school psychologists. The series is connected to published surveys and statements over the past several decades and to the consistency of certain findings. The consistency presents a…

Surveys school psychologists to determine if differences exist among practitioners in the various U.S. Census regions. Variability among the regions was noted for variables of demographic characteristics, current and preferred roles, job satisfaction, assessment practices, and system reform beliefs and attitudes. Findings are discussed in the…

Examines relationships between the professional practices of school psychologists and the factors of practitioner training, experience, gender, school district setting, and students-to-school-psychologist ratio. School psychologists with more years of experience and higher levels of training were found to have served more students through…

Reviews the literature on school-based social and emotional skill development and examines the relevance of this area to the work of the school psychologist. Suggestions are made for ways in which school psychologists can improve the social and emotional climates of their schools in areas such as prevention and health promotion, professional…

Because school psychologists may be asked to work in a constructivist framework, this article describes the essential characteristics and difficult issues associated with implementing this approach for classroom practice. Included are goals, assumptions about learners, essential teacher skills, and research concerns. Highlights currently…

Examines discriminant and convergent validity of the Teacher Functional Behavior Assessment Checklist (TFBAC) using 89 first- through third-grade students. Results are discussed in terms of increasing the convergent validity of the TFBAC, teacher training in concepts about functional behavioral assessment and the possibility of concurrent…

Purposes of the study were to determine the type and format of information pediatricians receive from schools regarding diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), their preferences for this information, and their opinions on referral rates and treatment. The majority of pediatricians believe schools overrefer and…

A case study is described in which a school psychologist served as the participatory researcher in an action research process for the development of a family-school partnership program in an elementary school. Concludes that participatory action research is a viable means for school psychologists to provide leadership in developing research-based,…

Word boxes and word sorts are two word study phonics approaches that involve teaching phonemic awareness, making letter-sound associations, and teaching spelling through the use of well-established behavioral principles. The current study examines the effectiveness of word boxes and word sorts. Findings revealed that word boxes and word sort…

Examines teachers' narratives concerning their relationships with children in relation to teacher's characteristics and observations of teachers' behavior with children in the classroom. The feature of teachers' responses to interview questions most frequently associated with classroom behavior was expressed negative emotion. Results are discussed…

A meta-analysis of 38 studies of social skills training interventions with antisocial youth was performed. Also examined were treatment effects for interventions that differed in group composition. As predicted, skills training interventions delivered in the context of groups consisting of only antisocial peers produced smaller benefits than did…

The Second Step Violence Prevention Program was implemented and evaluated in a rural elementary school with a population of mostly poor, white students. Teacher ratings indicated that there were significant improvements in ratings of social competence and antisocial behaviors at the intervention school when compared with students at the…

A pilot study evaluating the Second Step, Middle School/Junior High program was conducted to determine its effect on students' attitudes regarding aggression and perceived difficulty of performing social skills. Relative to nonparticipants, Second Step students in their second year of school decreased in their overall endorsement of aggression and…