This paper aims to present a critical analysis of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check (PSC), with special focus on the relationship between the UK Department for Education's policy-making and the evidence considered in the process of developing and evaluating the PSC. The reports from the in-house Standards and Testing Agency and from commissioned…

Background: Dementia prevalence rates are higher amongst people with learning disabilities than the general population. People with Down's syndrome are at even greater risk of developing dementia and of developing dementia at an earlier age. This study, conducted as part of a wider service evaluation, explored community learning disability team…

The authors used nationally based, random sample data from three different years (2009-2010, 2011-2012, and 2014-2015) for nearly 20,000 first-grade students (n = 9,760, 3,657, and 3,121, respectively) to examine long-reported inadequacies of a commonly used early literacy assessment tool, the Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement…

Objective: To describe the design of, and participant-level outcomes related to, a religiously tailored, peer-led group education program aimed at enhancing Muslim women's mammography intention. Method: Using a community-engaged approach and mixed methods, we identified and addressed barrier beliefs impeding mammography screening among Muslim…

School-based universal screening for behavioral and emotional risk can serve as a foundation for effective multi-tiered service delivery systems. The current study examines the measurement and structure of one such universal screener, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form (BESS SF). Four models were investigated including a…

To determine the rate and predictors of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Between 06/2004 and 09/2015 a total of 110 CDH survivors underwent neurodevelopmental (ND) testing and screening for ASD, followed by a full autism diagnostic evaluation if indicated at our institution. We found a 9 time higher rate of…

The Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) is a recently developed teacher-reported brief screening instrument for identifying students who are at-risk of an emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD). Although prior research supports the technical adequacy of scores from the EBS, there is a gap in the literature regarding strong evidence of the…

This paper assesses the reliability and validity of the teacher-completed Pupil Behaviour Questionnaire (PBQ), by comparing it to the already extensively validated teacher-completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Participants included 2074 primary school children participating in a universal school-based trial and 41 vulnerable…

In this study, the predictive role of self-efficacy, gender and cyber victimization on cyber bullying in adolescents was examined. Examining whether the participants' mean self-efficacy, cyberbullying and cyber victimization scores differ significantly by gender are the sub-objectives of the research. The present study which was designed with a…

Purpose: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires child welfare agencies to have provisions in place to refer young children to early intervention services, yet the socioemotional health needs of children are often challenging to recognize and treat effectively. This study reviews the substantive and psychometric properties of…

There is a growing interest in mainland China about schools' roles in supporting students to develop positive mental health. However, relatively little data have been collected about mainland Chinese students' mental health. This article reports a collaborative study, by eastern and western researchers, to translate and administer the Strengths…

This article examines the impact of a statutory assessment in England, the Phonics Screening Check (PSC), on classroom practices of grouping children by 'ability.' Bearing in mind the argument that assessment is the rudder that steers the otherwise slow-moving battleship of educational practice, it is argued that the PSC has altered how teachers…

Over the last decade, there has been increased momentum to bring the worlds of physical and behavioral health care together. Instead of social work education simply reacting to this change, it is imperative that we be proactive and prepare students to be "multilingual," that is, be able to speak and function in both the worlds of health…

The problem studied was an inefficient hiring process at Special School District (SSD). This study examined the impact of utilizing three new screening criteria to improve the hiring process. The research was valuable for SSD and other school districts because teacher attrition negatively impacts student's achievement and increases district…

High-stakes decisions are often made for English learners in the K-12 context based on their performance on English language proficiency assessments. Although states and districts provide guidelines for making such decisions, little is known regarding how educators actually make decisions at the district and school levels. Understanding these…