This quantitative study was an investigation of the effect of lyrical music on reading comprehension by adolescents. Existing research has produced results that range from concluding such distraction may be detrimental to finding it could be helpful. The reading comprehension subtest of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, 4th edition (MacGinitie,…

Despite being well-settled as a matter of law, the issue of whether test protocols must be disclosed to parents continues to be a source of dispute between schools, school psychologists, and parents. To be sure, one of the reasons for this vampire-like existence is the imprecision of the questioners and questions. Moreover, professional guidance…

Positive psychology can be thought of as the scientific study of what is "right about people" as opposed to the traditional focus on the healing of psychological pain or trauma. The philosophical roots of positive psychology can be traced back to Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, as well as Islamic and Athenian…

With the increased emphasis on measuring school success primarily through academic outcomes, some might argue that school professionals cannot afford to pay much attention to students' well-being, especially to such a frivolous component as happiness. Indeed, even some positive psychologists who encourage greater attention to research and…

A "big idea" is a concept that gives meaning to discrete facts. In this article, the author proposes a small number of big ideas, as well as his own views on where he thinks the field needs to move to achieve its full promise in school-based behavioral and social-emotional assessment. The three big ideas he has selected include: (1) universal…

This study surveyed 199 forensic clinicians about the practices that they use in assessing violence risk in juvenile and adult offenders. Results indicated that the use of risk assessment and psychopathy tools was common. Although clinicians reported more routine use of psychopathy measures in adult risk assessments compared with juvenile risks…

This appreciation of Wittrock's contributions to educational psychology suggests that his 1974 article describing generative learning theory was remarkably prescient. In that article Wittrock set the stage for the subsequent paradigm shift from cognitive to constructivist approaches to instruction. Furthermore, his suggestion that schools were the…

In this article we summarize what is known about nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in youth. First, we describe basic demographic trends, prevalence, and function. Then we turn our attention to the implications of NSSI for schools, school-related policies, and school guidelines. Having provided an overview of the field, we conclude that even in the…

This paper investigates the collaboration of Greek secondary school teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with psychologists and advisers for dyslexia issues. Data were collected through audio recorded observations and interviews with head teachers and teachers. Taking a Vygotskian approach to learning, activity theory is applied to…

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…

Given the growing population of older adults with more reported mental health needs, there are not sufficient psychologists interested in working with this population. This study looked at why interest is so low, looking particularly at the correlations between interest in working with older adults and knowledge about aging, ageism, aging anxiety…

Recent times have seen an increasing prevalence and incidence of children with ASD in school settings. Social, cognitive, and language process deficits directly impact the ability of children with ASD to effectively functioning within the complex social setting of schools. In particular, deficits are noted in the areas of social communication and…

This study examines and presents a discussion on school psychology services available to students with special needs in Hong Kong primary and secondary schools. An in-depth case study was conducted to describe the professional development experiences of a Hong Kong school psychologist named Cindy (pseudo name). Using the case-study method with…

In this study, the researchers evaluated the sensitivity of Direct Behavior Rating Single-Item Scales (DBR-SIS) for assessing behavior change in response to an intervention. Included in the analyses were data from 20 completed behavioral consultation cases involving a diverse sample of elementary participants and contexts using a common…

The simple view of reading (SVR) provides a conceptual framework for describing the processes involved when readers comprehend text. Strong evidence for the SVR comes from factor-analytic studies showing dissociations between decoding and comprehension skills. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether predecoding and comprehension…