The Ready for School, Ready for Life initiative in Guilford County, North Carolina, aims to support interconnected programs and services for young children and their families with the goal of having children enter kindergarten ready for learning. The initiative aims to strengthen connections among existing programs in Guilford County and provide…

Incidental findings in research with human participants may have implications for a person's present health or future health outcomes. Current guidelines focus on methods for handling and reporting incidental findings from biological test data but incidental findings might also arise from non-biological tests. This article presents three examples…

This technical report documents the processes and procedures employed by NWEA® to build and support the English MAP® Reading Fluency™ assessments administered during the 2020-2021 school year. It is written for measurement professionals and administrators to help evaluate the quality of MAP Reading Fluency. The seven sections of this report: (1)…

Research Findings: Universal screening is the first stage in identifying students at risk for reading difficulties within a Response to Intervention model. However, there is a lack of validated screening tools for assessing reading abilities in first-grade students from Spain. This pilot study examines the technical adequacy, classification…

Black women have disproportionate rates of HIV compared to women of all other racial groups. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate perceived HIV risk, HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing behaviors, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) knowledge and attitudes among Black sexual minority women (SMW) and examine differences…

In light of the growing development in policy and practice that recognizes the importance of early identification of students at risk for reading difficulties and dyslexia through universal screening, districts will need to carefully consider how this may impact English learners. The purpose of this brief is to: (1) share potential challenges…

Despite the high prevalence and associated consequences of mental health problems in youth, adolescents with these problems are often left untreated. This service gap is even greater in racial and ethnic minority youth who not only engage in treatment less frequently, but also experience far greater discrimination and systemic inequality than…

Background: Among children aged 6-16, there is a clear association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and academic attainment. We wanted to know whether this association was replicated in younger children. Aims: To explore the relationship between children aged 4-8 with probable ADHD and their academic attainment and…

College freshmen experience unique stressors when transitioning from high school to college. In Idaho, the freshman attrition rate is higher than the national average, which may be partially explained by the higher prevalence of depression in this region. The current study investigated the potential of cortisol, a stress hormone, to be a biomarker…

Increased attention is being placed on improving psychological well-being and academic achievement in school students. Prior research on meditation provides support for student improvement in these important educational areas. As part of a 9th grade Quiet Time school program, 98 students were randomly assigned either to learn the Transcendent…

The Screening and Linkage to Services for Autism pragmatic trial examined the effect of family navigation on referral and evaluation for autism spectrum disorder in an urban healthcare system serving low-income families. Children aged 16-30 months with initial scores [greater than or equal to]3 on the Modified Checklist for Autism in…

Gaming addiction is a behavioural disorder that requires clinical therapy because of its symptoms, which often overwhelm children's sense of self-control. However, the credibility of the screening test for gaming addiction is contentious in the literature, resulting in some ambiguous distinctions between excessive video gaming and the disorder.…

Comprehensive programmes to help reduce substance misuse/mental illness in youth should combine Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). EMPATHY, an SBIRT programme, was part of a school-based prevention initiative to reduce symptoms of substance misuse in youth in Grades 6-12, along with reducing symptoms of depression,…

This study examined the classification accuracy for subskill mastery measures administered in mathematics for students in kindergarten and Grades 1, 3, 5, and 7 at fall (n = 564) and winter (n = 602) screening. In addition, response to classwide math intervention was examined as another layer of screening for students in kindergarten and Grades 1,…

Social and emotional development in early childhood has been shown to predict long-term outcomes, including school readiness and academic achievement. Early years practitioners need robust assessment tools to adequately identify early signs of social, emotional, behavioural and mental health (SEMH) difficulties. The current study aimed to develop…