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The following article details the work of the American Psychological Association's (APA's) Coalition for Psychology in the Schools and Education (CPSE). First, a brief history of the background and creation of the coalition is described. The article then details the projects, completed and ongoing, of the CPSE. Those projects include a Teacher Needs Survey, the work of the Applications of Psychological Science to Teaching and Learning Task Force, and work in education advocacy and on the Higher Education Act. The article concludes with details regarding the composition of the CPSE and specifics regarding the APA divisions represented. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Post-9/11, many faith-based responders expressed the opinion that they were neither prepared nor trained to recognize the mental health needs of long-term trauma survivors. With funding through the Red Cross, an interdisciplinary trauma training program was developed to increase the capacity of the New York Southern Baptist Church groups to provide trauma assessment and support through the Metropolitan Baptist Association of New York. Through a pretest and posttest survey, the training was evaluated. Of the workshop attendees, 91% gave positive feedback and felt the training was worthwhile. The results suggest an ongoing need for interdisciplinary training that includes faith-based groups.

This study examined the association between past experience of victimization (PEV), perceived risk of victimization (PRV), and nonspecific psychological distress (NSPD). Repeated measures-analysis of variance and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted on 186 seventh grade middle school students from an urban university-research-affiliated school. Results indicated that gender, PEV, and PRV significantly predicted NSPD. There were no gender differences in either the total number of past experience of victimization or depressive and/or anxious feelings reported. However, the types of victimization experienced as well as perceived risk of victimization appeared to be gender-related in that boys were significantly higher than girls on past experience of physical aggression and property aggression but significantly lower than girls on past experience of emotional aggression and perceived risk of victimization. In gender-specific analyses, PRV mediated the effects of PEV on NSPD for girls but not boys. The reasons for these findings, as well as implications for social policies and future directions, are discussed.

Although past research has developed scales for the incidence, prevalence, and fear of student-on-student victimization (SSV), little is known about the scaling of perceived risk (i.e., the cognitive appraisal of the chances of experiencing SSV). Hence, this study examined self-report survey data for the perceived risk of SSV as measured in the Adolescent Index for School Safety (AISS). Children in grades 7 through 10 (n=337) in a single Florida public school completed the AISS. Factor analyses using Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Oblimin Rotation identified nine unique factors for perceived risk. Reliability analyses found standardized Cronbach Alphas that ranged from .64 to .91, and seven out of the nine identified scales were above .80, which suggested good to excellent internal consistency. Future research should examine the content validity, construct validity, and predictive validity for the AISS and other self-report surveys of SSV dynamics.

This study examined the motivational orientation of U.S. Army aviators as well as their preferences and expectations for future flight experience. A sample of 116 aviators-in-training enrolled in t...

This article details the implementation and empirical evaluation of an elementary school violence program. The problem of school violence and the significance and focus of the study are discussed. The general research question in this study was to examine the potential for a computer-mediated anger management program to enhance or improve the conflict resolution skills of youth with aggressive behavior problems in an elementary school setting. This study employed an 8-week computer-mediated anger management program, called SMART Talk (Students Managing Anger Resolution Together), for teaching conflict resolutions skills. This program was derived from a meta-analysis (Scheckner et al., 2002) due to its large effect size, statistical significance, and computer-mediated execution in order to verify past results with a more specifically defined population of at-risk (i.e., aggressive) students. Overall, the results suggest that participants in the intervention group significantly reported more intentions to use nonviolent strategies in a future conflict than students in the control group. Further research is recommended in order to assess the replicability of this study to other populations. Recommendations include longer intervention duration, larger sample size, multiple school settings, and multi-systemic implementation (i.e., teacher and parent workshops) as well as longitudinal studies.

This study examined the effectiveness of a school and community-based violence prevention program for at-risk eighth-grade students in three public schools in Florida. School officials matched intervention students with community-based mentors in an employment setting to allow targeted youth to explore careers and receive one-on-one intervention from an adult mentor. Intervention students were compared to a control group of students not receiving mentorship services. This study used MANOVA and t-test analyses to examine six outcomes measured: (1) unexcused absences; (2) number of in-school suspensions; (3) number of days of in-school suspensions; (4) number of out-of-school suspensions; (5) number of days of out-of-school suspensions; and (6) total number of infractions committed on school property. The findings suggested that mentored students, as compared to control group students, had significant reductions in total number and days of suspensions, days of sanction, and infractions committed on school property. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 403–416, 2003.

This article reviews school violence prevention programs that were published between the years of 1990 and 1999. All the interventions fitting inclusion criteria involved being implemented in a school setting, using a control group, and including a quantitative methodology. Effect sizes were calculated for the final sixteen articles that were reviewed in the meta-analysis. A process of inspection was used in order to come up with treatment characteristics most common to each prevention program. Each study was thus described according to six categories: theoretical base, setting, age group, leader training, duration, and random assignment. Four studies resulted with strong effect sizes; however, a regression analysis was not conducted due to inadequate sample size. A review of the literature suggested that program impact could be significantly affected by the use of cognitive-behavioral strategies, multi-setting atmosphere, and primary (elementary school) prevention. In addition, intuitive support (common knowledge in the social science field) indicated that a qualified program leader and longer length of program could also contribute to the influence of a program. Future researchers are encouraged to use a more comprehensive literature review (e.g., past 20 years) in terms of conducting meta-analyses in order to provide a larger sample size adequate enough to see the true effects of different intervention components on outcomes (regression analysis; i.e., additive component effects).

This article describes two interventions for adolescents based on a multisystemic problem-solving approach. One intervention is a school reentry program for chronically ill adolescents, while the other is a violence prevention program for at-risk youth. Commonalties across the two programs include individualized interventions; an educationally oriented, skills based approach; systems consultation; peers as important change agents; and inclusion of parents, teachers, and community agents. The article discusses the importance of a multisystemic, problem solving approach to interventions. Next, the two individual prevention programs are described. Finally, implications for practice are reviewed for each of the programs.

The purpose of this research‐based design was to address drug prevention and health promotion strategies through the combination of: (1) parent education and involvement; (2) community partnership, and (3) positive peer influence. These strategies were implemented using a four‐cornered partnership among Florida State University, an elementary school, a middle school, and a community advisory board. Expected outcomes were improved self‐concept, improved drug knowledge and awareness, improved decision making and drug refusal skills, and improved perceptions of family coping and adaptability. Bimonthly parent education courses and weekly peer role modeling sessions between middle and elementary school students comprised the interventions for this research. Results were encouraging as increases were found in the predicted direction for the experimental group on all of the major variables.

This paper reflects the work of the authors as consultants to the Ministry of Education and the University of Botswana on a project sponsored by the USAID. The mission of the consultants was to assist the educational leaders of the country of Botswana, Africa, in determining the next major step in developing country-wide guidance and counselling services in responding to significant boundary shifts, both economically and intellectually. The paper discusses background of Education and Guidance in Botswana along with recommendations to our respective agencies. We further review the procedure used to reach our conclusions, impediments to implementation, and recommendations for future consultancies.

Eight years ago, Project KICK (Kids in Cooperation with Kids) at Florida State University (FSU) was developed in response to the need for a school-based drug education program. The specific purpose was to test a number of assumptions and models concerning alcohol and drug abuse prevention and its relationship to early intervention and health promotion. The program employed a community-partnership in drug education, parent involvement, and peer counseling. The objectives for achieving these goals were: teaching drug knowledge, drug refusal, and appropriate problem-solving skills; enhancing self-esteem and social skills; developing conflict resolution skills; and promoting increased family participation.

This one-day workshop on drug education program development combined didactic features with innovative group techniques to generate a practical list of needs, resources and possible programs for use in public schools. Participants discovered that by using specialized inservice training and auxiliary paraprofessional personnel, many of the needs of their schools in the area of drug education might be met without relying on the assistance of outside “expert” consultants. The workshop leaders used psychodrama as a vehicle for cognitive exploration of possible resources and obstacles to proposed drug education programs. The closing activity was the establishing of contracts with individuals or teams from the same schools to implement the program ideas generated in the workshop.

Two rehabilitation counselors seated in wheelchairs (mobility impaired) were videotaped in two counseling interviews in which they were coached to be either high or low in social influence and empathy. Each session was simultaneously videotaped with two cameras, one which showed the wheelchair (i.e. disabled counselor), while the other did not (i.e. nondisabled counselor). Forty-eight mobility impaired clients evaluated two counselors each, using the Counselor Rating Form and the empathy subscale of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory. High influence disabled counselors were rated significantly higher on all measures than high influence notuiisabled counselors. There was no significant differences on any of the measures between low influence disabled counselors and low influence nondisabled counselors. Implications and suggestions for further research are presented.

This paper describes a pre-service curriculum in human relations icr the classroom teacher. The curriculum was developei using behavioral objectives. Behavioral "hierarchies" estchlished in an "each one-teach one" format pre employed to help teachers learn relaxation, listening, and other human relations skills. Juxtaposed with behavioral objectives is the more existential construct of the "intentional teacher." The intentional teacher is one who has many behavioral options open to him, erm decide! which 0-41on 8VOMS apploprlate, and can interact with environmental feedback to change the directions of his actions. The implications of using behavioral constructs to facill4) tate intentionality are discussed. f4N 03 U' O February 1970 CD