All school psychologists benefit from understanding best practices for supporting multilingual students given the increasing number of students in our schools who speak a language other than English. School psychologists should address the challenges faced by multilingual students and promote educational equity through a multifaceted approach that…

School psychologists dedicate considerable time and energy to supporting the mental and emotional well-being of students, often putting others' needs ahead of their own. Some simple self-compassion strategies that are presented in this article can help build the emotional resilience needed to thrive in this challenging role and also model the…

According to the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), an substance use disorder (SUD) involves patterns of symptoms caused by using a substance that an individual continues taking despite its negative effects. Though there are 11 specific DSM-5 criteria for an SUD, they…

Teaching is a highly stressful occupation. School psychologists, because of their training and expertise in group dynamics, consultation, and mental health service delivery, are well-positioned to support teacher mental health. These supports are broadly aligned with consultation, collaboration, and systems-level services that support positive…

As trauma-sensitive schools (TSS) have become increasingly common in the United States over the last several years, scholars disagree on the prevailing model of TSS with some specifically noting how this model is void of mention of the ways that schools have historically and continue to perpetuate racial trauma. As schools continue to work on…

School psychologists are often in the position to follow the lead of a supervisor in order to fulfill the district's mission and vision. At the same time, school psychologists can be considered leaders within the school building or district. School psychologists may focus on strengthening their leadership skills, but followership skills are…

A school psychologist with a traditional role may fill their days with assessments, consultation, prevention work, and mental health supports. They are also have an extremely important role as crisis response leaders when schools are impacted by some type of acute traumatic experience. Such events have the potential to significantly impact the…

The Red Queen effect takes its name from a scene in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass," where Alice and the Red Queen are constantly running, yet remain in the same place relative to one another. In competitive ecosystems, this translates to the idea that, "in order to survive, a technology solution must evolve faster just…

The current brief summarizes the 2023-2024 school year's student to school psychologist ratio for every United States territory, using the National Center for Education Statistics counts of school psychologists. Besides this, data are presented on the percentage change in student to school psychologist ratio from the 2022-2023 school year to the…

Since 2019, federal grants have supported a broad range of innovative efforts to address the critical shortage of school psychologists and other school-based mental health providers across the country. In collaboration with partner organizations and state school psychology associations, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has…

Immigration at the southern border of the United States has a complicated history. This article focuses on youth who have arrived in the United States via the southern border. It is important to note that within that population, youth will have a wide variety of experiences with immigration depending on their family, community, and personal…

While the field advocates for a diversified and comprehensive professional role (National Association of School Psychologists, 2020), school psychologists have long spent most of their time in assessment-related activities (Farmer et al., 2021), averaging about eight cognitive evaluations monthly (Benson et al., 2020). Assessment practices have…

In Part 1 of this series, the authors briefly reviewed some challenges inherent in using standardized tools with students who are not well represented in norming data. To help readers clearly conceptualize the framework steps, the authors present two case studies that showcase how a nonstandardized approach to assessment can be individualized to…

Forcibly displaced youth (FDY) are young people who have resettled in the United States as refugees, asylees, or asylum seekers. FDY access schools almost immediately upon their arrival, which creates an opportunity to address social-emotional needs while providing instruction in the English language and academic content (Fazel et al., 2016; Tyrer…

This article presents a structured blueprint for school psychologists to assess and intervene in cases of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior (SIB) while adhering to the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) mandate. We outline a six-step process for conducting Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) of automatically maintained SIB,…