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Social justice has become a common goal in school psychology, including in practice guidelines. However, there is a paucity of research reflecting a representative sample of US practitioners providing input on key social justice competency areas and how frequently they employ these competencies. Utilizing a national sample of 145 practitioners, this study addresses this gap. Framed around the National Association of School Psychologists' Practice Model, respondents indicated a wide range of competency areas as important to the role of school psychologist, as well as widespread efforts to utilize these strategies, particularly actions that were more individualistic and under their direct control. Implications for practice and future research are provided.

Visual activity schedules (VASs) are an effective, efficient intervention designed to promote positive language and behavioral development for elementary students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). However, VAS design and implementation varies widely in the extant research, prohibiting the ease of implementation in classrooms. The purpose of this article is to provide systematic guidance for educators to design, plan, implement, and progress monitor VAS effectiveness for students with or at risk for EBD.

This systematic literature review explores the ethical considerations and challenges instructional designers face when integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the instructional design process for adult learners. Using the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework to examine the relationship of ethics, pedagogy, and technology in educational contexts, considering the increasing usage of AI. Synthesizing data from peer-reviewed publications, qualitative research, and theoretical papers, the review examines the evolution and application of AI-driven instructional technologies, the ethical issues encountered, and how they affect the educational experiences of adult learners. Crucial topics identified include balancing ethical standards with technological advancements, ensuring learner privacy and data security, and mitigating biases in AI algorithms. The results highlight the need for transparency in AI applications and the ongoing need for professional growth to successfully negotiate the changing ethical environment. This review highlights significant gaps in the literature, including the lack of comprehensive ethical frameworks tailored for AI in adult education, the scarcity of long-term empirical studies on AI's impact, and the need for practical implementation strategies for instructional designers. Addressing these gaps is essential for enhancing the quality and integrity of AI-enhanced adult education. By focusing on stronger ethical frameworks and coordinated efforts among educators, technologists, and policymakers, this review intends to improve the quality and integrity of AI-enhanced adult learning.

Over the last decades, a multitude of results in educational and psychological research have shown that the implementation of multiple external representations (MERs) in educational contexts represents a valuable tool for fostering learning and problem-solving skills. The context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has received great attention because it necessitates using various symbolic (e.g., text and formula) and graphical representations (e.g., pictures and graphs) to convey subject content. Research has mainly explored effects of combining two representations, but the potential benefits of integrating more than two representations on students' learning remain underexplored. This gap limits our understanding of promising educational practices and restricts the development of effective teaching strategies catering to students' cognitive needs. To close this gap, we conducted a systematic review of 46 studies and a meta-analysis that included 132 effect sizes to evaluate the effectiveness of using more than two representations in STEM education and to identify moderating factors influencing learning and problem-solving. A network diagram analysis revealed that the advantages of learning and problem-solving with MERs are also applicable to more than two representations. A subsequent meta-analysis revealed that the learning with more than two representations in STEM can have advantageous effects on students cognitive load (Hedges'g = 0.324, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.164, 0.484]) and performance (Hedges' g = 0.118, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.050, 0.185]) compared to learning with two representations without notable differences in learning time. The analysis of moderating factors revealed that benefits of learning with more than two representations primarily depend on the provision of appropriate support.

Background: As a group, autistic children with high support needs (with adaptive functioning in the range of an intellectual disability) are at risk of significant literacy difficulties. We investigated the parent-reported home literacy environment of this group of children. Method: Sixty-two parents of autistic children (4.5 to 18.25 years) attending an autism-specific school completed a home literacy survey reporting on their child's: (1) alphabet knowledge, (2) interest in reading, (3) activities/interactions around books, (4) reading ability, and (5) writing ability. Results: We found significant positive correlations between parent-reported child interest in reading and literacy-related interactions and skills, but not with child age. Children using spoken words to communicate obtained significantly greater scores on four home-literacy subscales, but not on reading interest. Conclusions: A better understanding of the home literacy activities of autistic children with high-support needs is needed to inform educational practices aimed at promoting literacy development in this vulnerable population.

Language program evaluation has the potential for positive program impact by providing an opportunity for program stakeholders to reflect on their goals, examine their outcomes, and determine ways to move forward to maximize a program's effectiveness. However, many stakeholders are either unaware of the affordances of program evaluation or unable to access it for their programs. Moreover, many stakeholders have an incomplete understanding of what program evaluation entails and frequently confuse it with assessment. This paper examines the current capacities and needs of program evaluation for K-12 world language programs, including the extent to which K-12 world language professionals in this study currently utilize evaluation, and provides information on the kinds of language program evaluation workshops and tools that could be helpful for these populations.

Coaching is an essential component of supporting teachers to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs) in classrooms. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), an EBP designed to promote student self-determination, uses a research-based coaching model with six guiding principles. This qualitative study analyzed the content of coaching conversations between coaches and general and special education high school teachers implementing the SDLMI with autistic students to explore alignment with the guiding principles of the SDLMI coaching model. Findings highlighted the usefulness of the coaching principles in building trust between coaches and teachers, supporting teachers to set meaningful goals and build skills and competencies related to SDLMI implementation, promoting innovation and fidelity, and facilitating reflective dialogue. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

A best-evidence synthesis and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate interventions designed to decrease noncompliance in early childhood settings. Studies were examined for quality, intervention components, and outcomes for young children (ages 2-8 years) across settings. Results indicated most designs were high-quality and produced desired outcomes. However, participant inclusion criteria were commonly underreported, and social and ecological validity data were absent. Thus, for whom noncompliance interventions are effective, appropriate, feasible, or preferred is largely unknown. Contrary to prior evidence from the broader challenging behavior literature, function-based assessments had no impact on intervention outcomes. Reasons for this finding are explored, including the narrow application of function-based assessment findings to compliance interventions. Future implications for research and practice are presented.

While noncompliance is a concerning challenging behavior and commonly reported by educators, its measurement is likely to be invalid and inaccurate given the subjectivity of the operational definition. Engagement is offered as a more valid, accurate measurement that may provide data regarding the amount of instruction accessed by the student. In this article, we outline limitations of noncompliance measurement and provide resources for educators to measure and support varying forms of engagement to improve student outcomes.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) and Work Based Assessments (WBAs) are the mainstays of assessing clinical competency in health professions' education. Underpinned by the extrapolation inference in Kane's Validity Framework, the purpose of this study is to determine whether OSCEs translate to real life performance by comparing students' OSCE performance to their performance in real-life (as a WBA) using the same clinical scenario, and to understand factors that affect students' performance. A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach where a grade comparison between students' performance in their OSCE and WBA was performed. Students were third year pharmacy undergraduates on placement at a community pharmacy in 2022. The WBA was conducted by a simulated patient, unbeknownst to students and indistinguishable from a genuine patient, visiting the pharmacy asking for health advice. The simulated patient was referred to as a 'mystery shopper' and the process to 'mystery shopping' in this manuscript. Community pharmacy is an ideal setting for real-time observation and mystery shopping as staff can be accessed without appointment. The students' provision of care and clinical knowledge was assessed by the mystery shopper using the same clinical checklist the student was assessed from in the OSCE. Students who had the WBA conducted were then invited to participate in semi-structured interviews to discuss their experiences in both settings. Overall, 92 mystery shopper (WBA) visits with students were conducted and 36 follow-up interviews were completed. The median WBA score was 41.7% [IQR 28.3] and significantly lower compared to the OSCE score 80.9% [IQR 19.0] in all participants (p < 0.001). Interviews revealed students knew they did not perform as well in the WBA compared to their OSCE, but reflected that they still need OSCEs to prepare them to manage real-life patients. Many students related their performance to how they perceived their role in OSCEs versus WBAs, and that OSCEs allowed them more autonomy to manage the patient as opposed to an unfamiliar workplace. As suggested by the activity theory, the performance of the student can be driven by their motivation which differed in the two contexts.

The rise in opioid misuse coincides with increased sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV incidence. Transactional sex is an under-researched phenomenon among Black Americans who misuse opioids, and may increase their risk of STI or HIV transmission. Given the disproportionate impact of the opioid epidemic on Black Americans and the risks associated with opioid misuse, the current study aims to investigate sociostructural factors, history of violence, and sexual risk factors associated with transactional sex among Black men and women. A sample of n = 375 Black adult Kentuckians reporting opioid misuse completed a survey including transactional sex, sociostructural, violence history, and sexual risk measures. Results of chi-squares and independent samples t-tests revealed that compared to men who did not report engaging in transactional sex, men who engaged in transactional sex were less educated, reported being sexually assaulted or having an unwanted sexual experience in their lifetime, and were more likely to use opioids or cocaine before or during sex in the last year. Women who engaged in transactional sex had a history of violence, more structural barriers, higher psychological distress, and engaged in more sexual risk behaviors compared to women who did not engage in transactional sex. Implications for future research and interventions with this population are discussed.

Intraosseous meningiomas are a rare subtype of meningiomas representing approximately 2% of all cases. They can confound a diagnosis of other bone lesions including metastatic tumors. We present a case of a patient with prostate cancer who on staging workup was suspected to have a skull metastasis. Both bone scan and CT Head demonstrated a lesion in the right frontal calvarium. Surgical resection and pathology revealed an intraosseous meningioma. The patient was restaged as having localized prostate cancer and the was offered curative treatment for his malignancy. The case highlights the importance of obtaining tissue diagnosis in cases of radiographic isolated oligometastatic disease in patients with a known primary malignancy.