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Nearly one in four students residing in the United States is from an immigrant family and these children's school readiness is related to their parent's nativity and other sociodemographic characteristics. Social‐emotional skills are an important conduit for academic development, yet these relations have not been explored for children from immigrant families. This study utilized the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011, a nationally representative sample of 13,400 students in the United States, to compare the social‐emotional development of kindergarten students from immigrant and nonimmigrant families, and to determine the relations of social‐emotional functioning to kindergarten achievement. Results indicate elevated social‐emotional functioning among children from immigrant families, particularly those who emigrated immigrated from Mexico, compared with children of U.S.‐born parents. Parent nativity predicted reading achievement, but not mathematics performance, even when controlling for sociodemographic factors and social‐emotional skills. This study suggests an immigrant advantage in early social‐emotional development. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies report the cumulative prevalence of behavioral disorders among school‐age children to be second only to anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, by the time behavior has been identified as needing special education services, patterns of disruptive and externalizing behavior have often become unremitting. If at‐risk behavior can be reliably identified at school entry, there is potential to intervene early to reduce severity and chronicity of behavior. Thus, with the aid of a nationally representative sample (n = 17,490), this study aimed to ascertain if teacher‐observed disruptive behavior in kindergarten predicted children's categorical identification for special education and receipt of behavior goals in their individualized education plans in third grade. Results indicated externalizing behaviors and approaches to learning at school entry, predicted identification with emotional disturbance, and other health impairment due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in third grade. In addition, externalizing behaviors at school entry increased the likelihood of a child receiving an individualized education plan with an appropriate behavior goal. Self‐control was not a significant predictor of any outcome. Finally, the covariates of sex, reading achievement, and race at school entry were significantly associated with a child's need for behavior‐related services. Implications for early intervention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we discuss conflict between law and science relative to the presumption in special education law that multidisciplinary teams and others identify the causes of problems giving rise to special education needs. First, we explain eligibility criteria, highlighting ambiguities therein and why criteria constitute a mandate for causal inference, and present illustrative examples of how judges have interpreted this mandate. Second, we discuss as a counterpoint school psychologists' ethical duties to conduct evaluations based on the best available science, and highlight the clear conflicts between the law, ethics, and research. We present the biopsychosocial model of development as a potential framework for reconciling one's legal duty to infer causation with the current evidence base. We conclude with implications for policy and practice and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most U.S. children and adults use computers and the Internet on a daily basis. The pervasiveness of electronic communication in a variety of contexts, including home and school, raises ethical and legal concerns for school psychologists and those in related fields of practice, because of the risks to privacy and confidentiality, boundaries, competence, and students' well-being. We detail the legal and ethical dilemmas school psychologists may face in electronic data storage and transmission, use of social networking, and efforts to address cyber bullying. We review relevant legal and ethical guidelines and provide recommendations for training and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many teachers report that their preservice training in classroom management was inadequate or ineffective, but little is known about the types of training they receive. In this exploratory study, 157 preservice teachers from throughout the United States were surveyed about the training sources through which they obtained knowledge and skills in classroom management as well as the content and their attitudes toward the training. A majority of students took stand-alone courses in classroom management, which were reported to provide the most comprehensive content, but the most frequently reported sources were mentoring and fieldwork. Participants reported that a combination of didactic coursework and hands-on training were associated with the highest sense of preparedness to use classroom management strategies. Implications for future research and school psychological services are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive behavior interventions and supports are increasingly utilized in school systems throughout the nation, particularly the school-wide multi-tiered support framework. Given such trends, and the basis of these practices in psychological principles and research, it is important to identify how school psychologists are trained to contribute to such efforts, their involvement in intervention activities, and their perceptions of this approach. We surveyed a national sample of 557 school psychologists regarding their training, involvement, and perceptions of positive behavior supports. The results indicate that although most respondents had a variety of training experiences in multiple behavior-related areas, one quarter did not report receiving any training related to school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS). Although 35% of school psychologists reported employment in schools implementing SWPBIS, these schools varied in the SWPBIS elements in place. Implications for school psychology training and practice are addressed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is one of the most common chronic illnesses in children and youth, with many affected students requiring individualized services and supports within educational settings. This article systematically reviews the research regarding the implications of this illness for students' cognitive and academic functioning to clarify the ways in which this disease may limit children's learning and school performance. The authors synthesize the findings, summarize the related literature regarding school-based supports, and provide recommendations for school psychologists to support the unique psychoeducational needs of this population. Results highlight the need for more research on effective school-based interventions to ensure academic success for children with T1DM. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Response to Intervention (RtI) approaches become more common in educational systems throughout the country, it is increasingly important to identify how practitioners perceive these changes and how they obtain the skills necessary to face emergent roles and responsibilities. In this exploratory study, a national sample of 557 school psychologists were surveyed regarding their training, involvement, and perceptions of RtI. The results indicate that practitioners engage in multiple training experiences via a variety of modalities. Nearly half of respondents reported employment at sites implementing RtI. Practitioners at RtI-implementing sites reported a greater proportion of their time spent in academic intervention and conducted fewer psychoeducational assessments relative to their peers at non-RtI-implementing sites. Although many reported that RtI had positive effects on academic performance, a sizeable proportion of practitioners observed no effect on school culture and climate. Implications for school psychology training and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 1 million children under age 5 years who have special needs are served by early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) intended to promote academic and non‐cognitive school readiness. Past research suggested these services may have null or negative effects on kindergarten‐reading skills, but these studies did not account for features of the services received by participants. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort, this study explored the relations between kindergarten‐reading performance and EI/ECSE intensity and service provider. Analyses of a nationally representative sample of 550 participants (67% male, 63% White) indicated approximately 30% of the variance in kindergarten‐reading is explained by a combination of child characteristics, hours of service and type of providers. Results suggest EI/ECSE effectiveness varies slightly by service intensity and provider, highlighting the need for additional research about the optimal conditions under which these services may be administered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Finding, characterizing and monitoring reservoirs for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is vital to protecting public health. Hybridization capture baits are an accurate, sensitive and cost‐effective technique used to enrich and characterize DNA sequences of interest, including antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), in complex environmental samples. We demonstrate the continued utility of a set of 19 933 hybridization capture baits designed from the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD)v1.1.2 and Pathogenicity Island Database (PAIDB)v2.0, targeting 3565 unique nucleotide sequences that confer resistance. We demonstrate the efficiency of our bait set on a custom‐made resistance mock community and complex environmental samples to increase the proportion of on‐target reads as much as >200‐fold. However, keeping pace with newly discovered ARGs poses a challenge when studying AMR, because novel ARGs are continually being identified and would not be included in bait sets designed prior to discovery. We provide imperative information on how our bait set performs against CARDv3.3.1, as well as a generalizable approach for deciding when and how to update hybridization capture bait sets. This research encapsulates the full life cycle of baits for hybridization capture of the resistome from design and validation (both in silico and in vitro) to utilization and forecasting updates and retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]