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Dominant knowledge systems rely on a Western perspective of creating and disseminating new information. These systems marginalize traditional ways of knowing including co-creating knowledge, personal narratives and lived experiences, as well as inherited cultural knowledge. Additionally, Western knowledge systems have centered the White adult male as the primary knowledge creator both through what has been valued in contemporary scientific traditions and culturally in the image of who is considered capable of creating knowledge. Those who do not fit this image have historically been marginalized and exploited in the pursuit of knowledge making including youth and particularly youth with diverse racial/ethnic identities. It is these narrow epistemological systems that have informed school psychology research and practice since its inception. Recent calls for social justice as central to school psychology work have challenged the status quo and emphasized the amplification of marginalized voices in research and practice. Therefore, this article outlines methodologies that subvert more traditional knowledge-making strategies foundational to school psychology work and critiques these to provide guidelines for methodologies that can truly incorporate youth as co-researchers, particularly Black, Indigenous and youth of color within a US context. A case study illustrating the implementation of these guidelines is included.

Many psychologists working in schools acknowledge how their work contributes to the reproduction and mitigation of societal injustices. While professionals engaged in education systems and classrooms may hope to achieve the latter, disciplinary conventions can compete with best intentions. In response, psychologists working in schools have recently been encouraged to realize anti-oppressive schooling by practicing what is referred to as critical school psychology. Although potentially new for school psychology, critical work bridging education and psychology has been available for some time in North America and internationally. To encourage the use of psychology in support of justice and in resistance to oppression, we review some of this work and invite those interested to consider psychosocial justice as an ethical orientation to enmeshed theory~practice. The purposeful engagement of critically informed work from outside traditional divisional silos will not eradicate every problem facing schools today, but such action will, at the least, provide concerned practitioners options for collaborative knowledge-making and more preferred ways of working.

As marginalized graduate students and faculty, we have stories to tell about our experiences within school psychology. Many of these stories center our oppression, trauma, and exclusion but some of them also center our joy and resistance. The purpose of this collaborative autoethnographic project was to create a counterspace in which we, BIWOC faculty and graduate students, could come together to engage in storytelling and build community amongst one another as a way to survive and thrive in academia. As a result of the counterspace, we are able to provide critical feedback and recommendations for school psychology programs to better support marginalized students and faculty. And we also offer critical hope and knowledge to marginalized graduate students and faculty who are currently in the field.

School psychology has heavily relied on quantitative methodology to create and sustain our knowledge of best practices regarding academic, behavioral, and mental health outcomes for students. Nevertheless, underlying assumptions of the neutrality of quantitative data have obfuscated how school psychology research has perpetuated oppressive ideologies and practices, which directly harm students from marginalized identities. This paper demonstrates the need for employing a critical lens when engaging in and consuming school psychology research that utilizes quantitative methods. One such framework is QuantCrit, developed in the United Kingdom, which intentionally integrates Critical Race Theory tenets into the development, analysis, and interpretation of quantitative data. We explore specific examples of the insidious ways that 'presumed neutral' quantitative approaches have led to the perpetuation of oppressive practices in the following key areas of school psychology research: (a) discipline disproportionality, (b) special education disproportionality, and (c) school accountability metrics. Furthermore, we provide recommendations for both utilizing and publishing quantitative research that moves school psychologists towards more equitable practices for children and families across the globe.

People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have experienced involuntary and inhumane research practices. Consequently, researchers have shifted towards "excluding" those with IDs; caregivers, teachers, or peers compose study samples, dominating a space they "indirectly" experience. Researcher bias regarding intellectual capacity has resulted in a unique research gap that overlooks insights from the population the research is intended to benefit. People with ID are interested in research participation and have a right to be included in decision-making that impacts them. Emancipatory inquiry allows school psychology scholars to center student voices while also promoting social justice. Emancipatory inquiry empowers the "subjects" of social inquiry by producing knowledge that directly benefits disenfranchised populations. Emancipatory inquiry aligns with the social justice frame of DisCrit, which compels us to privilege the voices of marginalized populations and recognize that many of the gains for disabled populations have largely occurred because of the benefits they afford White, able-bodied, middle-class citizens. Using Emancipatory inquiry, school psychology scholars can prepare trainees and future researchers to conduct ethically sound research, prioritize first-person voices of those with ID, provide socially valid services to students and their families, and move school psychology closer to partnership with the disabled community.

Validity refers to the extent to which a given study reflects the dominant values of a research community regarding what constitutes "good" research. Methodological texts on qualitative research provide a wide range of criteria and strategies to help qualitative researchers validate their studies. Given the importance of these strategies to establish a study as trustworthy and legitimate, the objective of this study was to understand the strategies commonly used by school psychology researchers in qualitative research. We therefore reviewed qualitative research articles published in seven school psychology journals between 2006 and 2021. We found 15 strategies authors used to enhance the validity of their research. We also found that a strategy could be enacted in many different ways by different researchers depending on the context. We conclude by recommending four ways in which qualitative researchers in school psychology can improve their validation practices.

COVID-19 presented a range of challenges to the delivery of school psychology services in countries around the world. The current study aimed to investigate the practices of school psychologists from the United States of America, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including changes to practice and exploration of the factors that supported the delivery of school psychology services during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 1,030 school psychologists and analyzed using a mixed methods, multiple case study design. Differing impacts of the pandemic on the working hours of school psychologists were reported across countries. Participants in all countries reported a shift to online working, with an increased focus on consultation and intervention and a reduction in psychoeducational assessments. School psychologists from all nations emphazised the importance of self-care strategies, social connections and physical activity and the role of support via supervision or professional networks. Access to appropriate technology and responsive workplace policies and procedures were also identified as important. Results have implications for the internationalization of the school psychology profession and can inform international school psychology planning in response to future crises.

Several studies have highlighted the mental health challenges of children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period, especially, in relation to an escalation of depression, anxiety, and stress. Whilst this may be the reality, it is unfortunate that most of the studies adopt a psychopathological point of departure often portraying doom and gloom. Adopting a social ecological resilience perspective the author focuses on the resilience of school-attending black South African youth during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The Child and Youth Resilience Measurement (CYRM-28) was completed by 4165 respondents in grades 4 to 12 (females = 2431, 58.4%; males = 1734, 41.6%) from the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces in South Africa. The findings indicate that school psychologists must consider gender, age and school levels when they design school-based resilience programmes for black South African children. Particular emphasis should be placed on contextual resilience highlighting spiritual, religious, cultural and educational factors. A major lesson for school psychologists is to ensure that school-based resiliency programmes adopt a whole school approach that includes children, their families and local communities for the successful promotion of resilience during adverse situations as postulated by the social ecological resilience model.

This article reflects on key ideas in Graves (2009) that are relevant to recruitment, retention, and inclusion of Black people in school psychology. The article begins with a critique of the field's lack of engagement with the ideas Albert Beckham introduced in the 20th century. Then, the article discusses issues that Black school psychologists are engaging today through their research and practice to illustrate the critical need for inclusion of Black thought and Black people in school psychology. Next, the article offers a brief review of extant research related to the recruitment and retention of Black people in school psychology. The article concludes with implications for the recruitment, retention, and inclusion of Black people in school psychology.

This paper is a post-qualitative inquiry (PQI) exploring how, and with what effect, school psychologists support the translation of psychoeducational reports into pedagogy for children who experience learning difficulties. Using the knowledge-making practices of three Australian school psychologists, and my own experience as a practicing school psychologist, Rhodes & Lancaster's (2019) evidence-making framework is utilised to analyse reports through the theoretical perspectives of relational materialism. This analysis suggests acts of translation are produced by the way in which the authoring psychologist is positioned within relational assemblages of material (e.g., report format) and psychosocial (e.g., beliefs) components found at the intersection of education and psychology. By evidencing the utility of reports through theory and practice, the inquiry illustrates how the practical meaning, value and effect of reports is not pre-determined and fixed. Instead, it suggests their utility is relational and dependent on context-specific conditions and the way in which school psychologists respond within these conditions. Implications for practice are discussed.

The challenges and changes driven by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the education sector have been linked to high rates of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms in school-aged populations. Despite this, it is also acknowledged that children and young people can be resilient and adaptable, with the right support in place. In schools, psychologists play an important role in supporting students' learning, behavior, wellbeing, and mental health. The aim of this study is to investigate the practices of Australian school psychologists during COVID-19 related school closures, focusing on their experiences and challenges and how they adapted their practices. Twelve Australian school psychologists were interviewed and, after member checks were undertaken, interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Six interrelated themes were identified including: (a) heightened student psychological stress, (b) alternative delivery modes and associated challenges, (c) close collaboration with families, (d) participants personal challenges during COVID-19, (e) assessment during COVID-19, and (f) possible long-term practice changes post pandemic. The results of this study have implications for policies to support students in future pandemics or where physical school attendance is disrupted (e.g., natural disasters).

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the lives of adults and children worldwide. Schools were among the first settings to be influenced by this crisis. Home confinement and school closure were implemented as necessary preventive measures creating a new way of living based on web-based communication. The aim of the study is to explore school community needs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Greece. The study followed a mixed methods design, consisting of a teacher, a parent and an adolescent survey. The sample entailed 1,157 participants (414 teachers, 487 parents and 256 adolescents). Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires. Qualitative data were collected using open-ended questions to explore participants' adjustment and needs during the pandemic. Parents and teachers showed high propensity for anxiety and high levels of resilient coping. Health and adaptation concerns were evident in all samples. Teachers, parents and adolescents described helpful coping practices, primarily related to social support. The findings highlight the importance of supporting all school community members to cope with feelings of stress and anxiety during the pandemic and to identify and make use of helpful personal and social resources.

This exploratory study investigated the experiences of seven bilingual school psychology graduate students' participation in a two-week cultural immersion experience at the Texas-Mexico border. Findings revealed five significant themes related to their experience: (1) pushed out of comfort zone, (2) bonding with peers, (3) language, culture, and identity, (4) awareness of unique challenges, and (5) changes needed in the immersion program. Implications for school psychology programs and future research directions are discussed.

In an increasingly diverse global context in which school psychologists strive to ensure appropriate educational services for all, addressing social injustice is critical. Cultural humility can serve as a link between cultural diversity and social justice, providing a deep awareness that allows school psychologists to understand themselves and their interactions with diverse students and families. Additionally, cultural humility provides a lens for framing advocacy necessary to address social justice concerns. This article reviews the literature on cultural humility and suggests promising practices for training school psychologists as culturally humble practitioners.

This paper presents social justice principles as core concepts in school psychology practice via a conceptual framework that combines theory, research, training, and practical applications. Focusing on the specific needs of Greece (i.e. economic recession, influx of migrant and refugee students, etc.), we discuss the inclusion of multicultural and international components of school psychology practice as well as implications for socially just practice. Specific examples of interventions and activities developed and implemented by the Laboratory of School Psychology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, which emphasizes the application of social justice principles to practice, are also presented. Finally, we discuss specific guidelines for developing interventions that embrace social justice principles globally as well as explore transnational implications.

One proposed way to support internationalization is to enhance internationally representative and culturally informed scholarship within a respective discipline, and academic journals are a primary source of scholarship for most disciplines. Therefore, to build upon efforts to assess and promote internationally representative scholarship, it is necessary to identify and know more about the discipline-specific journals within a field--including those published in different parts of the world and in different languages. The goals of this study were to (a) identify all peer-reviewed scholarly journals around the globe that are specifically devoted to publishing scholarship about school or educational psychology, and (b) obtain relevant information about those journals (e.g., information about the mission of each journal, article accessibility, language characteristics, etc.). One key finding indicated clear evidence of internationality in the discipline, but there are important limitations with respect to representation aspects of internationalization. Other findings showed that many journals offer free access to scholarly articles and that the vast majority of journals aim to publish scholarship that influences practice. All findings, implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed in the context of internationalization within school and educational psychology, and are connected to discipline-relevant research, practice, training, collaboration, or advocacy.

Anxiety disorders continue to be a major mental health problem among Hispanic youth. A greater understanding of particular risk factors among this at-risk population may assist school health professionals in developing psychosocial interventions designed to mitigate this growing problem. The present study evaluated a variety of school factors related to anxiety among a national sample of Hispanic youth in the US. A secondary analysis of the 2016 National Children's Health Survey was conducted. A total of 2,138 of Hispanic adolescents aged 12- to 17-years-old participated in the study. A sizeable percentage (10.9%) of Hispanic youth reported anxiety. Results from the final multivariate regression model indicated that bullying others or excluding them, being bullied or excluded by others, not doing all required homework, and school contact to parents about their child's behavior were all significant risk factors for anxiety among Hispanic adolescents in the US. These risk factors should be considered when planning school health and psychology interventions for Hispanic adolescents in the US.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the need for high-quality professional training of bilingual school psychologists and to describe the structure of a bilingual training program housed at Fordham University in the US. This paper discusses the shortage of school psychologists at national and local levels in the United States and then addresses the acute shortage of bilingual school psychologists in culturally and linguistically diverse urban schools. The article provides a review of relevant research and practice for bilingual school psychologists through the perspective of Fordham University's curriculum, competencies, fieldwork, and internship. The authors identify challenges and potential opportunities to enhance culturally and linguistically responsive training of school psychologists. Applications for global school psychology practice are discussed, and limitations are addressed.

The current study investigated the capacity of a new test assessing phonological awareness to detect differences between Italian children with and without developmental dyslexia. Specifically, the task involves blending of a list of pseudo-words, and excludes lexical knowledge as a source of task performance. Fifty-four third to fifith Italian graders were presented a battery of tests assessing phonological awareness, reading, writing, and verbal short-term memory abilities. A multivariate analysis of covariance, with age as a covariate, revealed that proficient readers outperformed students with developmental dyslexia in all cognitive measures considered, except verbal short-term memory. Moreover, high concordance was found between the new pseudo-word blending task, and well-known word blending, writing, and reading tests, respectively. In conclusion, the new phonological awareness task seems to be a useful tool for the detection of poor blending abilities of Italian children and thus it could be used to screen phonological awareness in primary schools. Implications for school psychology research and practice, including across linguistic contexts, are emphasized; for example, the new blending task could aid discrimination of proficient and dyslexic readers speaking other languages characterized by a transparent orthography, such as Greek, Spanish, Turkish.

To engage in a comparison of school psychology research and practice in eastern and western countries, the current study sought to identify key themes that have influenced the field of school psychology in East Asian countries. Forty-six leading school psychology professionals in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan provided their perspectives to a six-question survey based on a survey created by McIntosh, Martinez, Ty, and McClain (2013) regarding pivotal ideas and findings related to research and practice in the past 25 years, present, and future that they find particularly exciting. Qualitative thematic analysis, using NVivo software, yielded nine major and 41 minor categories. Across the three time periods (past, present, future), six of the nine major categories (Data-Informed Practices and Their Implementation, Knowledge and Practice of Individual Differences, Theory Development, Technology Development, Development of School Psychology, and Consultation and Collaboration) and seven of the 41 minor categories were present. A comparison between the current study and the McIntosh and colleagues (2013) study suggests that there were many consistencies in major and minor categories. Comparisons between these two studies, along with limitations, future areas for research, and implications for practice, are also discussed.

In as much as school psychology practice is based on the goals of supporting the rights, access, and treatment of children as related to their education, social justice has the potential to be a moral framework for training, research, and practice in school psychology. Accordingly, this article seeks to achieve many objectives. First, a definition of social justice is provided. Second, a brief overview of school psychology research that overtly references social justice is offered. Third, essential precursors to action for individuals who seek to reflect social justice principles are highlighted. Fourth, key strategies for bringing social justice principles to practice are provided. Finally, this article closes with suggested next steps for further developing this framework globally.

Similar to other professional disciplines, the importance of supervision within school psychology has attracted considerable attention within recent years. Despite this, systematic review of current literature reveals a dearth of empirical literature proposing underlying theoretical structures. This study extends recent qualitative research by surveying 310 school psychology students undertaking a preparatory doctoral training programme within the 12 approved universities in England and Wales. Data were obtained from a 21-item closed questionnaire developed from previous empirical findings and subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis. Findings reveal three key supervisory components: Safe space for authentic learning, instructional support, and reference points for professional learning. Comparisons with other theoretical models are made and implications for practice explored. A framework for professional practice, based on key findings and other important theoretical developments, is proposed.

Systematic literature reviews can play a key role in underpinning evidence-based practice. To date, large-scale reviews of interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have focused primarily on research quality. To assist practitioners, the current review adopted a broader framework which allowed for greater consideration of educational utility. Between July and August 2013, 20 databases were searched, alongside web searches and hand searches, to identify ASD intervention studies published between 2008 and 2013. This search yielded 6,232 articles and the subsequent screening and evaluation process identified 85 best evidence studies. Studies were grouped into categories and individual interventions were assessed and classified as providing most; moderate; some; or a small amount of evidence. Interventions with most evidence tended to focus on younger children and core difficulties associated with ASD. Emerging trends, such as increasing evidence for technology-based interventions and peer-mediated interventions, were identified. An encouraging finding for practitioners is that in 59% of the studies, interventions were undertaken with or by school staff. Implications for school psychology practice as well as factors to consider when selecting educational interventions are discussed.

Traditionally, the field of resilience research, especially as it relates to children and youth, has been well ensconced in the discipline of psychology. Sociologists, when they do engage with the concept, tend to do so at the level of the community. In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have called for a construction of resilience and resilience-promoting interventions that recognizes the importance of context and culture for the positive development of youth living in stressful circumstances. As such, the social ecologies surrounding a youth and the responsiveness of interventions within these ecologies are argued to be as important, if not more so, than the risk and protective factors characterizing the individual. This shift in gaze from the individual to systemic structures creates important challenges for practitioners such as school psychologists and opens up an interesting discursive space for sociologists to participate in the exploration and explication of what the concept of resilience is all about. In this article I explore how a sociological perspective can enrich the discourse and how the activation of the sociological imagination can serve to expand the boundaries of resilience research and school psychology practice.

From a socio-ecological perspective of resilience, social ecologies are crucial to children's functional outcomes in the face of adversity. Schools, in particular, are integral to the multiple social systems that children are embedded in. Consequently schools have a special responsibility towards meaningfully and routinely supporting children's resilience. Drawing on a synthesis of 33 publications, I document the everyday ways that school ecologies enact this responsibility. I caution that although much of this everyday routine is potentially protective, it neglects important leverage points for supporting resilience. These include championing resilience in contextually-sensitive ways, pre-empting risk and advocating for systemic change, and being mindful of the costs of resilience. To optimize these leverage points, school psychologists need child-informed understandings of how school ecologies facilitate resilience differentially. They also need to adopt an activist stance that animates social change. The resilience-themed edition of "School Psychology International," which this article introduces, develops this agenda.

School psychologists often have the opportunity to work with students and families from varied backgrounds and cultures. While this can be an exciting and enriching part of the job, it can also be daunting for some practitioners, particularly those who are inadequately prepared. A number of strategies have been implemented in school psychology training programs to improve students' intercultural competency. This exploratory study investigated the results of one university's short-term study abroad program for school psychology graduate students. Pre- and post- intercultural development assessments were given to school psychology graduate students who completed a course abroad; results were compared to students who took the same course on campus in the United States. Findings indicated that there was no measurable growth in intercultural competence in either group. Implications for school psychology training programs, suggestions for future research, and ways to improve intercultural competency among school psychologists are discussed.

Never before have more children lived away from their home countries. Given the unique social, emotional, and academic needs of children who have migrated, school psychologists must be well prepared to meet these growing demands. Consequently, school psychology training programs must invest in the preparation of culturally competent future school psychologists. In this article, we review relevant literature regarding children, migration, and school psychology and then describe a model training program that was developed to prepare school psychologists in Texas, where there are a significant number of migrant children from Mexico and South America. Broader implications for training school psychologist in the areas of cultural and linguistic diversity are discussed.

The lack of cultural diversity among practitioners and trainers in the field of school psychology has been recognized as a longstanding problem. In particular, individuals from racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority and international backgrounds often encounter a range of barriers to pursuing graduate study in school psychology. Given the urgent need to increase diversity among school psychologists, faculty and institutions must take proactive measures to deconstruct these barriers and to support the success of all students. This article outlines a multilevel framework for recruiting and supporting graduate students from culturally diverse backgrounds in school psychology programs. Within this framework, research-based strategies are presented at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of support. Moreover, considerations for assessing program and student outcomes are discussed, and applications to school psychology programs internationally are considered.

Treatment acceptability (TA) is critical when selecting and implementing an intervention, as TA is associated with treatment outcomes. The significance of TA is reflected in school psychology models for services that state that school psychologists should address TA during development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions. However, the understanding of TA as it pertains to issues relevant to school psychologists is limited by the lack of analyses of the reporting of TA in intervention research. This study addresses this topic, as it represents a content analysis of intervention research published in six peer-reviewed journals in the field of school psychology from 2005-2014; the search yielded 2,343 articles, of which 243 were intervention research articles that included children as target samples. Overall results suggest low assessment or monitoring of TA in school psychology intervention research. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Numerous studies indicate that intrinsic motivation predicts academic achievement. However, relatively few have examined various subtypes of intrinsic motivation that predict overall achievement, such as motivation for exercise and physical activity. Based upon the 16 basic desires theory of personality, the current study examined the motives of 178 senior high school (gymnasium) students (mean age?=?17.6, range?=?16-20) from Finland, using the Reiss School Motivation Profile. In structural equation models that controlled for gender and age, intellectual curiosity was positively associated with achievement, whereas the family motive was negatively associated with achievement. Boys had a higher intellectual curiosity and a lower family motive than girls. The physical activity motive had a significant negative interaction with intellectual curiosity, such that youth with higher intellectual curiosity had the strongest achievement when their physical activity motive was lower. This suggests that adolescents with a strong desire for exercise may have some difficulty in selective high schools that require rigorous study and long hours of sitting, even when they enjoy learning. Implications for motivational theory, education research, physical education for promoting fitness, and school psychology practice are discussed.

Children who are unhealthy are at higher risk for school problems than students who are free from medical problems. Students with poor health have a higher probability of school failure, grade retention, and dropout. The relationship between student health and academic success is complex. Common manageable factors of student health are nutrition, maintaining healthy weight, and physical fitness. Through a comprehensive literature review the relationships among school achievement and nutrition, maintaining healthy weight, and physical fitness are examined. Furthermore, the efficacy of educational programs to improve nutrition, maintain healthy weight, and increase physical fitness is evaluated. The complexity of the relationship among variables is presented and areas for future research and practice for school psychologists are described.

This study used a semi-structured interview with 94 teachers from 92 elementary and secondary schools in Beijing, China, to explore their perceptions of the roles, training, and challenges of school psychological service providers (SPs) as well as teachers' satisfaction with the services provided by SPs. Results indicated that the SP to student ratio was 1:1360. Only 32 (34.8%) schools had SPs who were certified as mental health counselors or who had degrees in psychology, and 18 (19.6%) schools did not have SPs. Based on teacher report, SPs' roles mainly focused on services for students (teaching mental health classes, counseling, consultation), with a strong emphasis on prevention and early intervention. About half of the teachers were satisfied with SPs' work, but others had no contact with SPs or were dissatisfied with their work partially due to SPs' lack of training and skills. The results suggest a severe shortage of training for SPs in Beijing, China. Other challenges for SPs include low status, lack of training and skills, and work-related stress. The results provide valuable information about school psychology practice in Beijing, China, and important implications for both research and policy making in school psychology in China and other Asian countries.

This study compares school-related associations in depressive symptoms among children aged between 9-13 years from four schools in Finland and Norway. A total of 523 pupils participated in the cross-sectional survey. The connections between depressive symptoms and school factors were analysed using hierarchical regression analyses. School variables were self-perceived peer victimization, teacher and peer social support, school performance, and teachers' reports on competence in core subjects; these variables explain 30% of the variance of the children's depressive symptoms in Norway and 26% in Finland beyond that afforded by differences in the background characteristics and protective factors in the family. A trend was found in the Norwegian data which showed that poor relationships at school are connected more strongly with depressive symptoms than poor school performance, but the Finnish data did not confirm this. The results support the importance of taking various school factors into account with children suffering depressive symptoms, and not merely a dysfunctional domestic situation. The implications for school psychology practice are also discussed.

There is growing concern internationally about the prevalence of mental health problems among school-aged children and their access to specialist services. School psychologists (SPs) may be one group of professionals well-positioned to support the well-being of children and young people, due to their position as applied psychologists working within educational settings and their capability to deliver therapeutic interventions. This research considers findings from a large scale, United Kingdom (UK)-wide survey of the views of SPs (N?=?455) about facilitators and barriers to the provision of therapeutic interventions to children and young people. Principal Components Analyses of ranked questionnaire responses yielded three components: The role of the SP; training and practice; and support and psychology service context. Quantitative findings were then triangulated, using qualitative responses from the survey. Greater direction and clarification of the role of the SP as a provider of therapeutic interventions is recommended, particularly given the diverse roles undertaken by SPs and competing demands, particularly from assessment activities.

The United Nations Convention on Children's Rights and the subsequent African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child together with the Bill of Children's Rights and numerous other policies and regulations in many African countries have set the precedent for children's rights to be respected and implemented across the African Continent. However, little is known about the actual advancement of children's rights within Sub-Saharan Africa; hence, the purpose of this study was to explore the advancement of children's rights within an African context. This qualitative study included a sample of eight respected leaders on different aspects of children's rights, including academics; policy analysts; directors of children's centres; legal experts; and members of national, regional, and international committees on children's rights issues. Data were collected through individual interviews, a questionnaire and the analysis of instruments on children's rights. The findings indicate there have been considerable improvements in terms of the development of policies and instruments concerning children's rights. However, challenges around implementation were vividly conspicuous. It is argued here that school psychologists should adopt a social justice framework embedded within a rights based approach to promote children's rights within the African context.

The Finnish educational system has become a subject of wide interest during the 2000s due to the country's success in the OECD's PISA surveys. One might expect that the challenges of school psychology would also have been solved successfully. However, in reality, Finnish school psychology is suffering from the same types of problems as in many other countries: No large-scale shift from reactive work to active promotion and prevention has taken place, and the number of school psychologists is insufficient. In the present article we delineate critical factors that have hindered the more adequate and effective use of psychological expertise in Finnish educational system. Necessary actions for future development are outlined.

This study investigated the effect of the Social Decision-Making Skills Curriculum (SDSC) on the emotional intelligence and the prosocial behaviors of primary students in Grades 1-3, in a private school in Lebanon. Students were trained in social problem-solving and social decision-making skills through the implementation of the SDSC. Participants were 80 students (29 students, experimental group; 51 controls). The SDSC was implemented in classrooms to students in the experimental group. A rating scale from this curriculum was used to determine the students' profile in social decision-making and social-problem-solving skills. Subjects' 'emotional intelligence' was assessed using the Bar-On Emotional Inventory: Youth Version. Following nine weeks of training in the SDSC, ANCOVA results showed that there were significant differences in the emotional intelligence and prosocial skills of children in the experimental group, as compared to those in the control group. Results are discussed and implications and future recommendations presented.

This study presents a collaborative research project by school psychologists and educators in Hong Kong. It investigated the coping strategies used by Chinese parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders ("N"?=?380) to enhance their children's community integration and how these strategies were related to their perceptions of community integration and willingness to engage their children in community activities. A factor analysis of questionnaire responses revealed three clusters of coping strategies: Constructive, avoidant, and confrontational strategies. Parents' willingness to engage their children in community activities was predicted positively by their use of constructive strategies but negatively by their use of avoidant strategies. Confrontational strategies had no predictive power. Parents who used constructive strategies often tended to report more positive emotions and perceive greater importance for engaging their children in community activities.

School psychology and children's rights have great potential, well beyond what has been realized, for advancing the best interests of children, their communities, and societies. A child rights approach infused into school psychology can significantly contribute to the fulfillment of this potential. To respect and illuminate these factors and possibilities, a brief history of children's rights is presented, its major components as embodied in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and their relevance for education and the school community are clarified, and the opportunities for school psychology to champion and deeply integrate children's rights in policy and practice are explored. Employing this base, a proposal is made for a new social contract between school psychology and those it serves which moves beyond reactive problem oriented interventions to give primacy to proactive promotion of the well-being and full holistic development of the child, employing a prospective human development models emphasizing progressive achievement of self-stewardship for all children.

School psychology in Singapore gained greater prominence with the development of the National Mental Health Blueprint in 2007 that included a focus on children and adolescents. A partnership between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education was formed to develop a community mental health pilot program called 'Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health for Students' (REACH). Disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) are among the most common disorders seen in schools and child psychiatric clinics in Singapore. Children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) often exhibit deficits in social cognition and behavior, thereby influencing their cognitive appraisal processes and interpersonal problem-solving skills. This in turn affects their processing and interpretation of social cues in ambiguous situations, and mars subsequent production of socially competent behavior. This article describes a potential framework based on the cognitive-behavioral approach for working with children with disruptive behaviors and aggression in the school system. By combining REACH, a national collaborative framework, and evidence-based treatment programs, we provide a promising model of care to support children and their families in Singapore.

In 2014, the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child presents an opportunity for school psychology to evaluate its achievements relevant to the Convention, as well as its current and future strategic adherence to the Convention's principles. With analysis of key school psychology documentation from the UK, it is shown that for school psychologists the achievements and strategy relating to the international Convention have been directly, albeit implicitly, supported from "top down", by the post-ratification governance processes and structures of national level agencies which operate school psychology preparation, statutory professional regulation, and non-statutory professional quality enhancement. On account of their use of a scientist-practitioner model, school psychologists are positioned to make a unique contribution to enacting the Convention's agenda and from recent Convention evaluations five priority areas for strategic development in relation to the Convention are identified. An account of the authors' commissioned work following a non-accidental child death in the UK illustrates how school psychologists can make significant contributions to Convention priorities from "bottom up" as a result of significant contemporaneous events at local or national level. Implications of the "top down" and "bottom up" linking of school psychologists' work with the CRC agenda are discussed with reference to both the national and international school psychology communities and regulatory bodies.

Cyberbullying research is rapidly expanding with many studies being published from around the world in the past five or six years. In this article we review the current international literature published in English, with particular attention to the following themes: The relationship of cyberbullying to the more traditional face-to-face bullying, including differences and similarities; the impacts of cyberbullying on victims, bullies, schools, families, and communities; coping strategies for victims, schools, and parents; and solutions, both effective and ineffective. A focus of this article is evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies, which may be employed by educators, psychological service providers, and by parents to counter the problem of cyberbullying. Here we address the importance of school and home culture, modelling, curriculum development in information and communication technology (ICT) and social media, peer and bystander education, and other non-punitive approaches. We conclude with a discussion of implications on policy and practice and future research directions.

This intensive exploratory research maps the working conditions of school psychologists in the Czech Republic. An electronic questionnaire consisting of 71 questions (58 quantitative, 13 qualitative) from nine fields was used as a research tool. The respondent sample ("N"?=?63; 53 females, 10 males) indicate that they are largely job-satisfied and there is significant statistical relationship between their job satisfaction and their acceptance by both management and teaching staff. Compared to prior years, these school psychologists appear more certain of their work identity.

To increase school psychologists' understanding of school contextual culture in China, this study used a qualitative research method to investigate 30 Chinese elementary school teachers' evaluation criteria as reflected in narrative student evaluations. In the study, 450 narrative student evaluations were coded and analysed. Overall, results showed that Chinese teachers' evaluation criteria primarily included moral development, effort and learning, as they were referenced most frequently in students' narrative evaluations. Teachers' positive comments tended to focus on moral character, effort, and learning; negative comments tended to focus on effort, behavior, and learning. Implications are discussed for school psychological services in China and in other countries with a cultural orientation different from the Western individualist culture. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This article presents an overview of the range of primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions based on the Singapore Education Ministry-developed whole-school framework for pupil management and support. At the preventive level, a range of school-wide programmes are implemented to provide learning, emotional, and behavioural support for students. Where school-level programmes are inadequate to address specific student concerns, there are school counsellors or teacher-counsellors to work with those at-risk or experiencing difficulties. Students with specific learning disabilities receive in-class or pull-out support from allied educators, often in consultation with educational psychologists from the Ministry. Although parent support and collaboration are often sought, school-based family interventions are not within the purview of schools. This article further discusses issues that may be of concern to schools as they work to support students more effectively.

School psychology is one of the most important fields within applied psychology, which is closely related to education and as a developing specialty it is important to be considered. Taiwan is an important Western ally and is highly developed in many ways. Taiwan is influenced by both Western and Eastern cultures, and this has inevitably impacted the development of psychology, including school psychology. Due to its complicated relations with Mainland China, most studies on school psychology in China do not include information in Taiwan. In addition, worldwide international studies of school psychology also often neglect Taiwan as a country. In other words, most reviews have not offered a systematic investigation of school psychology in Taiwan. The purpose of this article is to review the development of school psychology in Taiwan. The history and background of school psychology is discussed; the current status and developmental stages of school psychology are presented; the preparation of school psychologists, including the roles, functions, and responsibilities of school psychologists are discussed; and current issues impacting school psychology are examined. Overall, this article provides a means to briefly introduce and evaluate school psychology services in Taiwan.

The purpose of this study was to explore the status of psychological services in schools in Macao, and the role of school counsellors providing these services. At present, school psychology is not a recognized profession within the territory and school counsellors appointed by the Direccao dos Servicos de Educacao e Juventude (DSEJ) through their designated agencies provide the only psychological services to children and families. Adopting a qualitative approach, the researchers collected the viewpoints from three teachers and seven school counsellors regarding the central question: "How do school counsellors 'serve' the Macao school children and their families, and what are the most common services required?". An interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed three themes: (a) School counselling services; (b) psycho-education and mental health services; and (c) perceived needs. Also discussed were recommendations for the development of the field, including the provision of additional school-based child and family interventions in Macao.