Policymakers and leaders of pre-K systems have little empirical information to guide how they structure the range of technical assistance and support they provide to pre-kindergarten programs. This study sought to understand the work of a range of site support roles in New York City's (NYC) universal pre-kindergarten (pre-K) program. Employing…

Shortages in noninstructional itinerant staff (school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers) have been especially difficult for K-12 public school districts, as these individuals have critical responsibilities within the school setting that they are uniquely qualified to complete. Noninstructional itinerant employees face challenges…

During the 2014-2015 school year, a mixed-methods study was conducted in a Midwestern urban school district with twenty-five school social workers to assess professional practice utilizing an electronic data system. Given the emphasis in the literature on mandates for school social workers to be actively engaged in positive behavior support and…

Alongside rising poverty, student homelessness and school mobility are increasingly impacting U.S. suburbs -- yet, there is little research on how leadership is evolving. Informed by distributed leadership and drawing from over 50 artifacts and 42 interviews with school and community leaders, this study explores how poverty, homelessness, and…

Given the critical role school mental health professionals play in the academic and emotional well-being of our nation's students and the relative lack of national research examining the efforts of counselors, psychologists, and social workers to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students and create safer school…

Response to intervention (RTI) is an approach that has been implemented in more than 90% of the states in the U.S. The purpose of the study is to advance understanding of what efforts need to be made in order to increase the likelihood that special education professionals will accept RTI. Data used in this study include individual interviews with…

This professional development series is designed to accompany and help put into practice the ideas in Eric Toshalis and Michael J. Nakkula's Students at the Center paper, "Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice," and their chapter, "Prioritizing Motivation and Engagement," in "Anytime, Anywhere: Student-Centered…

A model for evaluating effectiveness in preschool and school social work programs is proposed. The paradigm has two major dimensions: criteria for evaluating success, and modalities for assessing whether the criteria have been met. Three criteria are suggested including improved views of significant others, and seven modalities including test…

An evaluative study was done of the supplemental education delivery system in reading and mathematics in the School District of the City of Saginaw (Michigan) at 28 schools. At the elementary school level the system includes push-in and pull-out programs in reading and mathematics and in reading intervention that served 2,494 students in grades…

The document includes two questionnaire/survey instruments, one completed by 36 pupil appraisal personnel (e.g., psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, nurses) and the other completed by 38 child search coordinators as part of a study designed to evaluate the quality and efficiency of early education programs serving handicapped…

The work of the visiting teacher in the country's school system is rapidly becoming a professional service of significance in the realization of the objectives of education, namely, complete development of the whole child. Like many new services, this phase of pupil personnel work has had a Topsy-like growth without adequate safeguards as to…