The Alternative Suspension Therapy (AST) program is a trauma-informed, in-school discipline model that was designed to serve as an alternative to traditional suspension. The goal of the AST program was to minimize or eliminate the number of referrals a student might receive that could possibly lead to suspension. The participants in the AST…

This quantitative study was conducted to determine if (a) there was a significant difference in the percentage of student office discipline referrals before and after Social- Emotional Learning (SEL) implementation in 3rd through 5th grade, (b) there was a significant difference in the percentage of student in-house mental health referrals before…

This case study examined the school-based interventions used to determine a self-contained special education placement for a fourth-grade African American male student with an emotional disturbance disability. The study aimed to answer four research questions, which included the academic and behavioral school-based interventions provided to the…

Trauma-informed practices are gaining momentum in educational settings. This growth is in part due to the knowledge we are learning about childhood trauma and how it impacts children well into adulthood. The more we know about the impact of childhood trauma, the more crucial it is for schools to utilize trauma-informed practices. The purpose of…

The present study explored the effect of instructing middle school students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in positive psychology lessons, as compared to control classes that did not receive this positive psychology instruction. This study used quantitative procedures to determine the implementation of this curriculum on lowering student…

School counselors are uniquely positioned within the P-12 education system to ensure that all students meet developmental needs in academic, career, and social-emotional areas in order to become successful and contributing members of society. School counselors collaborate with other school staff and parents/caregivers to ensure that students…

Objective: Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of interventions to reduce organizational skills deficits and homework problems, including the clinic-based Organizational Skills Training (OST-C) program (Abikoff et al., 2013). In this study, OST-C was adapted for schools as a small-group (Tier 2) intervention delivered by school partners…

The COVID-19 pandemic has negative effects on children, adolescents, and adults. Despite these effects, information about the nature of mental health concerns and services provided to address these concerns by elementary school counselors is unknown. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to examine mental health concerns elementary…

The current study examined the relationship between teachers' cultural competence and Multitiered System of Supports (MTSS) referrals for students belonging to racial/ethnic minority groups. Teachers serving grades kindergarten through five in two schools in a large, urban school district in Connecticut participated in the study. MTSS referrals…

Vision plays a key role in a child's development. Early detection and treatment of vision abnormalities decreases future complications. Follow-up vision care is a common problem. Barriers to vision care include financial cost, lack of insurance knowledge to cover costs, and disbelief of vision results. The purpose of this evidence-based pilot…

This study compared the number of discipline referrals in a Middle Tennessee elementary school for two years, during the implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (SWPBIS). This study also examined the relationship between the number of discipline referrals and academic achievement by comparing TCAP scale scores in both…

This study sought to determine if teacher perceptions play a role in the referral of culturally and linguistically diverse students to gifted-and-talented programming. There is a deficit of African American, Hispanic, English-language-learner, and low-income students in the gifted-and-talented program at a fifth- and sixth-grade campus in a…

The purpose this study was to examine the implementation of The Leader in Me, a school-wide positive behavior intervention system (SW-PBIS), and analyze its impact on 5th grade students based on student achievement and office discipline referrals in a rural elementary school in North Central Washington state. The school was in the first year of…

Decades of research have shown that exclusionary discipline practices are not only ineffective for changing student behavior, they lead to worse social, behavioral, and academic outcomes for students. This article explores the findings from a pilot study of the "Inclusive Skill-Building Learning Approach" (ISLA), an instructional…

Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, lifelong condition that affects a person's ability to process language, which in turn can make reading and writing more difficult. Between 10 and 20 percent of all people are dyslexic. Providing appropriate reading instruction and intervention for young children by second grade could reduce the percentage of…