National trends and disparate access to formal and informal sex education among youth involved with the child welfare system in the USA.

This study aimed to understand whether youth involved with the child welfare system in the USA are receiving formal and informal sex education. Data come from the Second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing, a nationally representative sample of children and adolescents in contact with child protective services. Participants included young people (n=1093, aged 11-21) involved with the child welfare system. Participants reported whether they had received formal sex education about a) abstinence only; b) contraceptives/condoms only; c) abstinence and contraceptives/condoms; or d) none. They also reported whether they knew where to access family planning services. We examined the prevalence of sex education experiences and differences in sex education access and knowledge based on participants' pregnancy history and sociodemographic characteristics. Only half (49%) of participants had received any form of formal sex education. Pregnant youth were less likely to have received any sex education compared to non-pregnant youth (p=.045). 72% of adolescents who had received sex education about contraceptives/condoms reported knowing where to access family planning services compared to only 46% of adolescents who had not received sex education about contraceptives/condoms (p=.014). There is a pressing need for comprehensive sex education among young people involved with the child welfare system in the USA.

Training to Work with Interpreters in US School Psychology Graduate Programs.

Despite rapidly increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in US schools, the majority of psychoeducational evaluations will be conducted by monolingual, English-speaking school psychologists. As such, the appropriate use of interpreters has been identified as a critical skill in working with emergent bilinguals and their families. Surveys of practicing school psychologists conducting assessments with emergent bilinguals indicate a lack of knowledge and training in the use of interpreters; however, few studies have examined the extent to which school psychology graduate students are trained in the appropriate use of interpreters. Utilizing survey methodology, this study examined school psychology graduate students' training in and preparedness to work with interpreters, as well as their knowledge of best practices in the use of interpreters. Current graduate students and interns enrolled in school psychology master's, specialist, and doctoral programs in 36 states throughout the USA (n = 364) responded to the survey. The majority of participants were White (61.5%), monolingual (70.3%), and seeking a master's or specialist degree (71.2%). Survey responses suggest that graduate students and interns' training, knowledge, and preparedness to work with interpreters is lacking. A qualitative analysis of the open-ended question revealed that first-hand experience working with interpreters was among the most beneficial types of training experiences for graduate students and interns. Implications for how program directors and graduate-level faculty can provide better training for their students in the use of interpreters are discussed.

Heterogeneity of Social Marginalization in Early Adolescence: Longitudinal Associations with Behavioral and Social Adjustment.

Integration into formal and informal peer groups is a key developmental task during early adolescence. As youth begin to place greater value on attaining acceptance and popularity among peers, social status among one's peer group becomes an important marker of social functioning during this developmental period. Whereas much empirical research has been devoted to understanding heterogeneity among youth holding high status positions, similar distinctions have largely not been examined among socially marginalized youth. The present study sought to address this gap in the research by examining the extent to which two aspects of social marginalization, peer rejection and social network isolation, were differentially associated with trajectories of social and behavioral adjustment across two school years in early adolescence. Peer nominations were used to assess rejection, isolation, and the behavioral outcomes of interest (i.e., aggression, internalizing behaviors, and victimization), and participants self-reported the extent to which peers would come to their aid in bullying situations (i.e., peer protection from bullying). Using a longitudinal sample of early adolescents (n = 1075; 53.0% female; 47.2% White; 27.1% African American; 12.7% Hispanic) in grades 5 through 7, preliminary analyses revealed little overlap between rejection and isolation at each time point. Moreover, a series of multilevel models revealed that rejection and isolation were associated with somewhat distinct behavioral and social adjustment trajectories. Peer rejection was positively associated with peer-nominated aggression, both within and across time points, and negatively associated with prosocial behaviors. Conversely, isolation was positively associated with peer-nominated internalizing behaviors, both within and across time points. Rejection and isolation were each positively associated with peer nominations of victimization; however, only isolation was related to lower perceptions of peer protection from bullying. In general, support was found for assessing rejection and isolation as two distinct forms of social marginalization in early adolescence.

Creating Supportive Contexts for Early Adolescents during the First Year of Middle School: Impact of a Developmentally Responsive Multi-Component Intervention.

The transition to middle school is recognized as a period of increased risk for students' adjustment difficulties across the academic, behavioral, and social domains, underscoring the need for developmentally responsive interventions that address these potential vulnerabilities. This study examined the impact of a multi-component intervention on students' perceived adjustment during the first year of middle school using a cluster randomized controlled trial design. A total of 24 metropolitan schools (12 intervention), 220 teachers (122 intervention), and 2925 students (1537 intervention) participated. Teachers in intervention schools received training and consultation in the Behavioral, Academic, and Social Engagement (BASE) classroom management model. Significant intervention effects, moderated by students' gender, race/ethnicity, and economic status, were found for self-reported social anxiety, defiance, willingness to protect peers being bullied, and emotional problems. The results suggest that teachers trained in the BASE model were better able to create supportive classroom contexts during the middle school transition which promoted positive adjustment for particular students. This study stresses the importance of using developmentally appropriate strategies across correlated domains to reduce adjustment difficulties during the transition to middle school.

Converging on quality: Examining multiple measures of teaching effectiveness.

The present study explores the convergent and predictive validity for several widely used measures of teaching quality from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2009-2011). Specifically, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, Hamre, & Mintz, 2012), the Framework for Teaching (FFT; Danielson Group, 2013), and the Tripod Student Perceptions Scale (Tripod; Ferguson, 2008) were examined. Correlations among measures were assessed by developmental level and content area (elementary mathematics N = 70; elementary English language arts N = 101; middle school mathematics N = 291, middle school English language arts N = 280). Both average scores and score variability (i.e., coefficient of variation) for the CLASS, FFT, and Tripod were used to predict value-added models (VAM), a high-stakes measure of students' academic growth. For elementary mathematics and ELA, findings indicated the CLASS and FFT exhibited moderate convergent validity while divergent validity was found between the Tripod and the CLASS and FFT. Across content areas in middle school grades, the CLASS, FFT, and Tripod exhibited moderate to high-moderate convergent validity. Average student and observer scores were positively related to VAM scores, whereas variability in scores demonstrated negative relations to VAM scores. Implications of findings for teacher evaluation and professional development are discussed.

Deprivation and threat, emotion dysregulation, and psychopathology: Concurrent and longitudinal associations.

Maltreatment increases risk for psychopathology in childhood and adulthood, thus identifying mechanisms that influence these associations is necessary for future prevention and intervention. Emotion dysregulation resulting from maltreatment is one potentially powerful mechanism explaining risk for psychopathology. This study tests a conceptual model that distinguishes deprivation and threat as distinct forms of exposure with different pathways to psychopathology. Here we operationalize threat as exposure to physical and/or sexual abuse and deprivation as exposure to neglect. We test the hypothesis that threat and deprivation differentially predict use of avoidant strategies and total regulation. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN study; N = 866), which followed high-risk children from age 4 to 18. At age 6, children and their parents reported on adversity exposure. Case records documented exposure to abuse and neglect. At 18, adolescents reported on regulation strategies and psychopathology. Regression analyses indicated that greater exposure to threat, but not deprivation, predicted greater use of avoidant strategies in adolescence. Moreover, avoidance partially mediated the longitudinal association between exposure to threat in early childhood and symptoms of internalizing psychopathology in adolescence. Results suggest that abuse and neglect differentially predict regulation strategy use and that regulation strategy use predicts psychopathology.

Geographically representative scholarship and internationalization in school and educational psychology: A bibliometric analysis of eight journals from 2002-2016.

Although the discipline of school and educational psychology is arguably international (e.g., relevant research and practice is evident in more than 80 countries), there has been limited research examining the international scholarship published in school and educational psychology journals. Such an assessment is important because it provides one important metric for better understanding the field's level of internationalization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate every article (N = 4456) published from 2002 to 2016 across eight school and educational psychology journals that publish international scholarship. Each article's authorship and participant data were coded and reported in terms of respective country and geographical region. Research questions examined, for example, how the published scholarship aligns with international employment data for school psychologists and whether particular journals published a geographically wider breadth of articles. Overall findings indicated that although the field of school psychology is present in more than 80 countries, the overall scholarship in the reviewed journals predominantly features participants living in, and authors working in, North America or Western Europe. However, one journal (School Psychology International) published relatively more articles with participants from outside of these geographic regions. Also, journals affiliated with a national professional organization largely differed in their percentage of "within-nation" publications (e.g., articles with participants living in the same nation that sponsors the respective journal). Explanations of the data are discussed and several recommendations are made that, if followed, could improve the internationalization and geographical representation of scholarship in school and educational psychology.

Improving the School Context of Early Adolescence through Teacher Attunement to Victimization: Effects on School Belonging.

The present study examined the effects of teacher attunement to victimization on student perceptions of the bullying culture of their schools as a means of fostering a sense of belonging among early adolescents. Participants (n = 1,264) in sixth grade reported on the frequency that they had been bullied, and teachers were asked to report students who were "picked on." Teacher attunement represented the correspondence between self-identified and teacher-identified victims. Attunement at the beginning of the school year was related to positive changes in student reports that their peers would intervene in bullying; in turn, sense of belonging was greater when students perceived that their peers would intervene in bullying. Teacher attunement was indirectly related to greater belonging through its impact on student perceptions of the bullying context.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Early Arithmetic, Reading, and Learning Indicators (EARLI).

Despite growing interest in early intervention, there are few measures available to monitor the progress of early academic skills in preschoolers. The Early Arithmetic, Reading, and Learning Indicators (EARLI; DiPerna, Morgan, & Lei, 2007) were developed as brief assessments of critical early literacy and numeracy skills. The purpose of the current study was to examine the factor structure of the EARLI probes via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a sample of Head Start preschoolers (N=289). A two-factor model with correlated error terms and a bifactor model provided comparable fit to the data, although there were some structural problems with the latter model. The utility of the bifactor model for explaining the structure of early academic skills as well as the utility of the EARLI probes as measures of literacy and numeracy skills in preschool are discussed.

Examining early literacy skill differences among children in Head Start via latent profile analysis.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there are systematic differences in literacy skills among children from less-advantaged households, using latent profile analysis. Early reading skills were measured using the Early Arithmetic, Reading, and Learning Indicators (EARLI; DiPerna, Morgan, & Lei, 2007) literacy tasks. Participants (N = 166) were 4-year-old children enrolled in Head Start. Results revealed three classifications of children: Profile 1 had the lowest overall literacy skill levels, with relative strength in expressive vocabulary and weaknesses in skills related to letter knowledge (i.e., Alphabet Recitation, Letter Naming); Profile 2 had the highest overall level of literacy skills and a relative strength on the Segmenting task; and Profile 3 showed the greatest variability across the EARLI probe scores, with a relative strength in Alphabet Recitation and weaknesses on tasks measuring phonemic and phonological awareness (i.e., Letter Sounds, Sound Deletion, and Segmenting). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that, although students in each profile demonstrated skill growth over a 6-month period, significant skill differences still remained between profiles at the end of the preschool year.

ADHD symptomatology and its relationship to factors associated with college adjustment.

OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed the relationship between self-reported ADHD symptomatology in college students and various factors that are associated with persistence in college. METHOD: A total of 321 students completed questionnaires examining ADHD symptoms, academic and social adjustment to college, career decision-making self-efficacy, study skills, and GPA. RESULTS: Analyses indicated that higher levels of ADHD symptoms were significantly related to lower levels of career decision-making self-efficacy, academic adjustment, study skills, and GPA. Regression analyses revealed that only the inattentive cluster of symptoms was a significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy, study skills, and academic adjustment. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the inattentive symptoms of ADHD may have a particularly negative effect on success in college.