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The Connections Project (Pristawa,2014) is designed to assist school personnel in identifying students at-risk for social-emotional concerns by examining students' perceptions of connectedness with adults and peers in school. Currently used in several states, schools complete the screening measure as part of their use of the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. While many measures of connectedness are lengthy and designed for elementary grade children, the Connections measure is an efficient, straightforward assessment employed with middle school and high school aged youth and school personnel. The purpose of the current study was to examine student connectedness with adults (including advisory teachers) and peers in relationship to several student outcome variables (i.e., tardy arrivals, attendance, disciplinary referrals, failed courses, and school dropout) when controlling for SES and student qualification for IEP or 504 plan. Results indicated that students with higher levels of perceived connectedness to adults and peers in their school building had more positive school outcomes. Students with higher levels of connectedness had fewer instances of disciplinary referrals and fewer failed courses when compared to peers with lower levels of perceived connectedness. Further, students who named their advisory teacher as an adult connection had fewer instances of tardy arrivals, absences, and failed courses. However, student-perceived connectedness was not a significant predictor of dropout risk. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Using the lens of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005), the present study examined the supports and challenges encountered by Latinx and Black students as they obtained doctoral degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. Twelve self-identified participants at predominately White institutions (PWI) completed semi-structured interviews. Two sets of findings emerged. First, students viewed support from faculty, mentors, advisors, and program directors, as well as off-campus individuals as the main factors contributing to their academic success. Commonly identified challenges included not connecting with their advisor, feeling unsupported and isolated within their programs, and experiencing microaggressions. Regarding the impact of intersectionality, both benefits and challenges emerged. Half indicated that their multiple social identities aided their studies, yet some reported their social identities made it difficult relating to others. The second major findings focused on applying the CCW model and suggested Latinx and Black students utilized all CCW dimensions (i.e., aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial, resistant capital) to varying degrees in navigating their doctoral experiences. The findings are unique in highlighting the considerable strengths and cultural capital students bring to the academy, revealing important insights about their need for connection and community in harassment-free environments. Specific recommendations are discussed.

Through semi-structured interviews, this study explored 11 bilingual school psychologists' (BSPs) consultation experiences with teachers of English learners (EL) to determine referral concerns, recommendations made, challenges encountered, preparation experiences, and skills most needed. The most common referral issue concerned students' academic performance and teachers' attempts to parse out language acquisition difficulties from learning problems. Principal consultation challenges included the scarcity of trained professionals, teacher bias, and the stress of competing school priorities. BSPs relied most on their interpersonal skills and relationship building skills, as well as their knowledge of EL-focused interventions and their problem identification skills. Recommendations to their monolingual school psychology colleagues included the need to actively seek out a) language and culture resources, b) relevant professional development opportunities, and c) consultations with fellow BSPs. Study limitations and implications are discussed.

Despite a clear need, few resources exist to guide field-based multicultural internship supervision practices in school psychology. This article draws on literature from counseling and clinical psychology and related disciplines to ground and define multicultural internship supervision within the context of school psychology professional practice. We delineate factors that influence the quality of multicultural supervision relationships--particularly those between interns of color and White supervisors--including power, racial microaggressions, relational safety, supervisory working alliance, and intern empowerment. We also identify implications for field-based internship supervisors who endeavor to initiate and maintain research-supported multicultural supervision practices with their interns.

Purpose: Previous research has suggested that impairments of automatic spreading activation may underlie some aphasic language deficits. The current study further investigated the status of automatic spreading activation in individuals with aphasia as compared with typical adults. Method: Participants were 21 individuals with aphasia (12 fluent, 9 nonfluent) and 31 typical adults. Reaction time data were collected on a lexical decision task with masked repetition primes, assessed at 11 different interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Masked primes were used to assess automatic spreading activation without the confound of conscious processing. The various ISIs were used to assess the time to onset and duration of priming effects. Results: The control group showed maximal priming in the 200-ms ISI condition, with significant priming at a range of ISIs surrounding that peak. Participants with both fluent and nonfluent aphasia showed maximal priming effects in the 250-ms ISI condition and primed across a smaller range of ISIs than did the control group. Conclusions: Results suggest that individuals with aphasia have slowed automatic spreading activation and impaired maintenance of activation over time, regardless of fluency classification. These findings have implications for understanding aphasic language impairment and for development of aphasia treatments designed to directly address automatic language processes.

This study explored bilingual school psychologists' assessment practices with students identified as English language learners (ELL). One thousand bilingual National Association of School Psychologist members were recruited nationwide, and 276 participated. Among those conducting language proficiency assessments of ELLs, many (58%) use comprehensive methods across four domains of language use. Participants generally use multifaceted assessment approaches and most (84.1%) assess acculturation as part of the assessment battery. Although few use interpreters, those who did reported a mix of best practices and discouraged practices in their use. Multiple regression results showed that engaging in continuing education activities about assessing ELLs predicted "best practices" when assessing language proficiency, selecting and using measures with ELLs with whom they share a second language, and using interpreters. A relationship was also found between engaging in applied preservice training with bilingual supervision and best practice behaviors assessing student acculturation. (Contains 9 tables.)

Purpose: This clinical forum was organized to provide a means for informing the research and clinical communities of one mechanism through which research capacity might be enhanced within the field of speech-language pathology. Specifically, forum authors describe the process of conducting secondary analyses of extant databases to answer questions of relevance to speech and language development and disorders. Method: This prologue defines the concept of secondary analysis of databases and provides an overview of each of the articles that make up the forum. Conclusion: Researchers invested in addressing basic and applied problems of relevance to speech and language services in schools can make use of a variety of extant databases to increase research capacity.

Delivering bad news to students, teachers, and parents is not an uncommon occurrence for school psychologists. Skillfully communicating bad news requires sensitivity, thoughtful wording, and an awareness of the potential effect on the recipients. Despite the importance of this skill, school psychology has devoted little attention to what is currently known about delivering bad news. This article synthesizes the literature on presenting and receiving bad news, devoting special attention to how information can be used by school psychologists in their day-to-day practices. Primarily drawn from medicine, the scholarship is instructive as a guide to the many dimensions of bad news delivery including what needs to be considered beforehand, how to communicate, cultural factors to consider, and conveying hope. (Contains 1 table.)

This study involved the development of a new scale to measure high school teacher attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. A second aim was to examine the relationship of teachers' professional development regarding inclusion, their years of experience with inclusion, access to instructional supports and resources, and gender to their attitudes toward inclusion. A principal axis factor analysis of the 27-item Inclusion Attitude Scale for High School Teachers yielded three factors accounting for 44.5% of the common variance. The coefficient alphas for the three factors and total scale were 0.91, 0.85, 0.77, and 0.92, respectively. Results of this web-based study suggest that high school teachers who have taken at least one special education course and those with several in-services about inclusion feel positively about it in comparison to teachers with no relevant coursework or in-services. Teachers with experience implementing inclusion in their own classrooms also report positive attitudes. Teachers with access to instructional resources, including curricular materials and fellow professionals with specialized skills, were positively inclined affectively and behaviorally to inclusion. Finally, male teachers reported more favorable attitudes than did female teachers. Limitations of the study and future directions for research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

Inequalities and disparities abound in U.S. society. Research studies reveal that across the contexts of people's lives--in the workplace, the home, churches, banking and lending, health care, criminal justice system, and schools--unevenness and disparities exist across racial, gender, sexual orientation, language background, ability, and nationality lines. Yet, for many Americans, the sociopolitical realities that negatively influence quality of life and public health are unseen. Understanding where inequities and disparities exist, how to address them, and working to eliminate them are the goals of a social justice approach to service delivery. In this article, the authors discuss how school psychologists have a responsibility to act as advocates for social justice. They explain the processes and strategies involved in school psychology advocacy work.

Many psychology departments are striving for a greater representation of students of color within their graduate preparation programs with the aim of producing a more diverse pool of psychological service providers, scientists, and educators. To help improve the minority pipeline in psychology, the authors identify and describe recruitment and retention strategies used at 11 departments and programs considered to be making exemplary efforts to attract and retain minority students of color. The strategies most consistently used included engaging current minority faculty and students in recruitment activities, offering attractive financial aid packages, having faculty members make personal contacts with prospective students, creating linkages with historical institutions of color, having (or approached having) a critical mass of faculty and students of color, offering a diversity issues course, and engaging students in diversity issues research. Despite the similarities, the programs and departments were each distinctive and innovative in their overall approaches to student recruitment and retention. Highlighting the strategies used at successful institutions may help others develop plans for improving the minority pipeline within their own departments and programs.