This article examines the ways in which NCLB and the movement towards large-scale assessment systems are based on Weber's concept of formal rationality and tradition of scientific management. Building on these ideas, the authors use Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis to examine some of the core features of large-scale assessment and accountability…

Urban communities, with their myriad systemic problems of poverty, social dysfunction, and diminishing public and private resources compounded by endemic health and economic disparities, provide the single psychologist practitioner with a rewarding opportunity to become involved in urban community activities and to make a positive impact. Finding…

There has been a growing concern amongst educational stakeholders concerning the over identification of students with specific learning disabilities. The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education improvement ACT in 2004 launched a response to intervention (RTI) process mandated early interventions for struggling students…

An effective teacher is the key to student achievement. Teachers entering the profession today come from various backgrounds and previous experiences. As we increase our understanding of the generation of teachers currently educating our children, we can improve the ways we provide support to best meet their needs and continue to improve teacher…

It has long been claimed that there is a strong association between high intelligence, or exceptional creativity, and mental illness. In this book, James MacCabe investigates this claim, using evidence from Swedish population data. He finds evidence that children who achieve either exceptionally high, or very low grades at school, are at greater…

The majority of Americans have a shared vision that K-12 education needs to support children's ability to love, work and participate effectively in a democratic society. The National School Climate Center, a growing number of State Departments of Education and recently, the United States Department of Education believe that when school communities…

Chance, a word used in various languages to refer to "possibility" or "opportunity", is the name that was intentionally chosen for a project which has been running for 11 years in Naples and is aimed at young people aged 15-17 who have dropped out of compulsory schooling. Despite being based on a school structure and located…

The problem of youth violence has become a national priority given both the cost and repercussions to youth, to the school systems, and to society. Over the past two decades there has been increasing research examining gender differences in the expression of aggression. This research has suggested that boys typically display their aggression…

The behaviour of children and young people in schools is a perennial concern to educators and the wider public alike. It also represents a significant focus for the work of educational psychologists (EPs). Research evidence has identified a number of strategies that teachers, students and school inspectors believe contribute to effective classroom…

Juvenile offending is associated with several bleak outcomes, including high rates of continued crime and incarceration, substance use, and higher mortality rates due to crime. Academic achievement is a very important consideration in the area of crime and delinquency: Failure is associated with greater delinquency, and success is a protective…

The focus on RTI and evidence-based interventions in school psychology is heavily concentrated at the moment on academic skills and progress and less on mental health or social-emotional development. The emphasis is understandable given the demands of NCLB and the wisdom of tackling more measurable, manageable, academic skills first. School…

Teaching and learning are fundamentally social enterprises. In attempting to understand, explain, and predict social behavior, social psychologists have amassed scores of empirically grounded, fundamental principles. Yet, many such principles have yet to be applied to classrooms despite the social nature of these settings. This article illustrates…

Countertransference is a concept that is widely acknowledged, but there exists little definitional consensus, making research in the area difficult. The authors adopted a prototype theory (E. H. Rosch, 1973a, 1973b; see C. B. Mervis & E. Rosch, 1981, for a review) to examine this construct because it conceptually fits well with constructs that…

One of the major roles of a school psychologist is psychoeducational testing and the preparation of psychoeducational reports. Unfortunately, parents often have difficulty understanding psychoeducational reports. This difficulty might be ameliorated by supplementing psychoeducational reports with graphs. This hypothesis was tested with 144 parents…

Adequate and appropriate supervision of interns is frequently identified as a significant problem by training programs while, on their part, field placement sites often indicate that training programs generate expectations for interns that are not always "in synch" with district expectations of school psychologists. As a result of an…