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At the turn of the current century, Sheridan and Gutkin shared perspectives on the status and future of school psychology. Limitations of then-standard school psychological practices focusing on a ...

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) is an evidence-based, indirect service delivery model that addresses children’s behavioral concerns across home and school. However, to date, researchers have...

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC), a teacher-parent partnership intervention, has been shown to yield immediate improvements in problem-solving skills and communication quality with parents for kindergarten through third grade teachers in rural schools. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether CBC can yield maintained effects on teacher skills and communication over a 1-year follow-up period. We used an experimental design to examine maintenance effects of CBC (

Social-behavioral functioning during early childhood is associated with children’s academic and social success concurrently and over time. This study explored how concurrent, year-to-year, and sust...

This article provides reflections on several key elements important for establishing and sustaining successful research trajectories and scholarship within the field. Developed by several Lightner Witmer Award recipients, the article highlights several of Lightner Witmer's experiences and pioneering contributions, including the importance of his own mentors, collaborations with interdisciplinary professionals, and his emphasis on the relevance of scientific research programs and the practical implications for helping children. In an effort to move the field forward, we discuss important elements relevant to developing and sustaining successful research programs in school psychology including the importance of mentorship, collaboration, research methodologies, replicability, extramural funding, and dissemination. Throughout, we emphasize the importance of conducting research within the school context, which is consistent with the important influence of ecological systems articulated by Conoley, Powers, and Gutkin (2020), and reflects the hallmark of school psychology scholarship as an applied science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

This article introduces the special issue, Recent Methodological Advancements in Indirect Service Delivery. The authors first highlight salient aspects of each of the five articles included in the ...

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is a model of consultation wherein parents and teachers partner to address children’s social-behavioral concerns. The teacher-parent relationship has proven c...

Given that consultation has consistently yielded benefits for clients and consultees, it is likely an effective method of promoting family-school engagement. Thus, this meta-analysis examined the e...

Research Findings: This is an evaluation study of the effectiveness of an online early mathematics professional development program for early childhood teachers. The eight online courses, along wit...

According to Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory (Bronfenbrenner & Evans, 2000), children’s early development and learning are influenced by multiple systems, including the microsystem (e.g., family poverty level), mesosystem (e.g., home-school partnership), exosystem (e.g., community type, early education policies), and macrosystem (e.g., rural culture). Given the lack of early education studies focused on rural communities, we sought to explore how these ecological systems are linked to children’s early learning experiences, with a particular focus on educators’ perceptions of how these ecosystems influence children’s learning environments and opportunities. Based on interviews and focus groups with school leaders, educators, and parents in 10 rural school districts, we found that children in one rural state experienced diversity in ecological systems that may impact their opportunities for learning. In particular, there was a range in the level of familial poverty, early education access, family-school engagement, available community resources, and cultural diversity in these rural communities. Implications for policies and practices to support children’s early learning in rural communities in light of their unique challenges and assets are discussed.

Gender disparities in academic achievement are of longstanding scholarly and societal concern. In the extensive literature on this topic, however, relatively few studies have considered the non-parental child care contexts where children spend their earliest years. This state of the evidence differs from disparities by race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status, where differences in types of child care attended have been considered. The current study provides a national portrait of gender differences in the type of child care attended among preschool-aged children in the United States. Framed by the accommodation model, we found boys were more likely than girls to attend centers in higher socio-economic status families, but the reverse was true among less affluent families. Parents’ general perspectives that center-based or home-based child care was better for preschool-aged children’s development and safety also differed when the study child was a boy versus girl in these higher and lower socio-economic status families. Because preschool-aged children’s center-based child care attendance has been associated with academic school readiness, we encourage future studies to probe these findings as part of continued efforts to understand and address gender disparities in average levels of school progress and achievement.

The transition to kindergarten is foundational for children’s future school performance and families’ relationships with the educational system. Despite its well-documented benefits, few studies have explored family engagement across the pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) to kindergarten transition nor considered the role of geographic context during this period. This study examined trajectories of family engagement across the pre-K to kindergarten transition, and identified whether engagement differs for families in rural versus urban settings. Participants were 248 parents of children who participated in publicly funded pre-K programs and transitioned 1 year later into kindergarten. Home-based involvement increased from pre-K through kindergarten. School-based involvement increased during pre-K and decreased through the end of kindergarten. Structural and relational communication remained stable during pre-K and decreased through the end of kindergarten. Compared to urban parents, rural parents reported less home-based involvement, structural communication, and relational communication. Implications for practice and policy are explored.

Family-school partnership (FSP) interventions capitalize on connections between families and schools, as parents and teachers jointly promote child development through activities that bridge both settings. The current meta-analysis assessed the effects of FSP interventions on children’s academic and social-emotional competencies. From initial comprehensive search procedures (i.e., online reference databases, hand searches of relevant journals, and cited references) yielding over 19,000 abstracts, our study sample included 77 FSP intervention studies with 438 effect sizes. Studies including the following comprised our final sample: (1) an FSP intervention, (2) school-aged children, (3) academic and/or social-emotional outcomes, (4) a naturalistic setting, and (5) an experimental or quasi-experimental group design. Utilizing robust variance estimation (RVE), results revealed that FSP interventions significantly and positively impacted children’s academic achievement (δ = .25 ) and behaviors (δ = .30), social-behavioral competence (δ = .32), and mental health (δ = .34). Additionally, particular structural (i.e., home-based involvement) and relational (i.e., school to home communication, collaboration, bi-directional communication) components significantly contributed to FSP intervention effects. Mixed-effects meta-regression analyses were used to assess if effects of FSP intervention components were moderated by children’s grade or race/ethnicity. Results indicated that certain FSP intervention components (i.e., bi-directional communication, behavioral support) were more effective for older students. No significant moderation effects were found race/ethnicity, indicating that FSP intervention components were effective across participants. Overall, findings provide further support for the use of FSP interventions to support youth outcomes. Future meta-analyses should include single-case design studies and explore unique combinations of FSP intervention components.

Early math success in the PreK classroom is recognized as a strong predictor of later academic success. However, many early childhood teachers report they lack the content knowledge, confidence and beliefs to deliver high quality math experiences in their classrooms. Professional development opportunities to gain and expand these skills are often difficult for early childhood educators to access. The purpose of this article is to examine the professional development opportunities available to early childhood educators in the United States and to present a model of professional development that is accessible and effective. This article provides a description of the importance of math in the early years and reveals the need for early math professional development opportunities for early childhood teachers. A portrait of the current state of professional development opportunities for early childhood teachers in the United States is presented along with a presentation of a successful online early math professional development program that was developed to meet the need of early childhood educators. The article ends with implications for current professional development opportunities and ideas for future directions.

Both behavioral and pharmacological interventions have short-term efficacy for reducing symptomology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, intervention effects typically dissipate once interventions are removed. Scholars have advocated for a life-course model of intervention to sustain outcomes for students with ADHD. This model of service delivery is collaborative, individually tailored, and responsive to the culture and context of the student. Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is a family–school partnership intervention that is consistent with a life-course model and has demonstrated efficacy in the short- and long-term reductions of problem behaviors; however, little is known about the efficacy of CBC for students with ADHD specifically. The present study sought to evaluate the efficacy of CBC for students exhibiting symptoms of ADHD immediately following treatment and 12 month later using data from a larger randomized controlled trial. Results indicated that students in the CBC condition (n = 29) had significantly lower parent ratings of hyperactivity and behavioral symptoms at post-treatment relative to students in the “business as usual” control condition (n = 16). However, at follow-up, differences were no longer statistically significant. Additionally, although both groups demonstrated significant improvements in teacher-reported attention problems at post-treatment, students in the control group had significantly lower scores at follow-up. Implications for the use of CBC for students with ADHD symptomology and future research directions are discussed.

Challenging behavior problems are common in early childhood and, if left untreated, may escalate into more severe and intractable problems in adolescence and early adulthood. This trajectory is of particular importance in rural schools, where disruptive behaviors are more prominent than in urban and suburban schools. Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is a family-school partnership intervention with documented efficacy in producing immediate decreases in child problem behaviors and increases in child adaptive behaviors and social skills. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the immediate effects of CBC maintain over a 1-year follow-up period. Participants at study enrollment were students (N = 267) and their parents, as well as both the students' original (N = 152) and subsequent (N = 135) teachers in 45 Midwest rural schools. At the time of initial study enrollment, students were assigned randomly to an active CBC intervention or "business as usual" control condition. Results demonstrated that immediate effects of parent-rated adaptive and social skills and teacher-rated school problems were maintained at the 1-year follow-up. Additionally, for parent-rated adaptive skills and teacher-rated school problems, improvements during the maintenance phase were statistically equivalent to gains in the control group. However, increases in parent-rated social skills for the control group during the follow-up phase significantly outpaced increases among the CBC group. Implications for use of CBC in rural communities, as well as future research directions, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The current study reports the results of a study examining the relationship between classroom climate and the development of the student-teacher relationship for young children at-risk. Participants were 267 children and 93 early educators. All children were from low income backgrounds and were experiencing developmental concerns in the area of language, cognition or social-emotional development. Teacher surveys were administered twice during the academic year (fall and spring) during a child’s first preschool year, and observations of classroom climate were conducted in the spring of the same year. Findings indicated that classroom emotional support predicted the development of the student-teacher relationship, such that children in classrooms characterized by higher levels of emotional support experienced greater improvement in the overall relationship and closeness in the relationship, and greater decreases in conflict in the relationship relative to peers in less emotionally supportive classrooms. Classroom organization and instructional support were not found to predict changes in the student-teacher relationship. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The current study reports the results of a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the Getting Ready parent engagement intervention on young children’s social–emotional competencies and the quality of the student–teacher and parent–teacher relationships. Participants were 267 preschool-aged children and their parents, as well as 97 preschool teachers. All children attended publicly funded preschool programs and were low income. In addition, all were considered educationally at risk due to developmental concerns in the areas of language, cognition and/or social–emotional development. Parent and teacher surveys were administered twice per academic year (fall and spring) for two academic years. Findings indicated that children in the treatment group were rated by their teachers to have greater improvement in social skills over two years of preschool as compared to their peers in the comparison condition. Teachers in the treatment condition reported significantly greater increases in their relationships with children as compared to children in the comparison group. Teachers in the intervention group also reported significant increases in their overall relationships with parents. The current findings illustrate the efficacy of Getting Ready at improving the social skills and important relationships for preschool children experiencing developmental risk.

When families are engaged in their education, children’s academic, behavioral, and social-emotional development is indirectly supported. Many teacher-training programs (TTPs) focused on preparing t...

In the present article, we describe the translational process undergirding a particular aspect of family science: families working in partnership with schools to achieve mutual goals for children's optimal functioning. In doing so, we illustrate a translational cycle that began with identifying problems of practice and led to the development of a family–school intervention (i.e., conjoint behavioral consultation) in a way that embraced families as partners in goal-setting and problem-solving. We discuss the evolution of the intervention from development to efficacy trials and practice guidelines. Key decision points borne out of practical relevance, empirical investigations, tests of mechanisms and conditions, and efforts pertaining to implementation and dissemination are illustrated. Finally, we highlight key research needed to advance the translation of the science related to conjoint behavioral consultation into widespread practice.

Associated with complex developmental, personal, and environmental risk factors, adolescent parents have been found to display higher rates of unfavorable parenting practices than adult parents, placing their children at high risk for social, emotional and behavioral concerns. Nevertheless, interventions targeting this group often focus solely on adolescents’ personal outcomes. This study evaluated the acceptability and fidelity of a relationship-focused intervention to increase positive parenting among adolescents with young children, adapted from the Parents Interacting with Infants model. The intervention was delivered via groups in high schools that housed daycare centers for children born to adolescents. Multiple-case study data were evaluated for adolescent parents from each group to describe potential effects of the intervention on parenting behaviors. Delivery of the intervention was feasible and acceptable in a high school group context, suggesting this program can be implemented in a hig...

Latinx students are the largest ethnic minority school-age population, yet they have some of the lowest reading proficiency levels and highest rates of school dropout and experience significant unmet behavioral health needs. School-based interventions addressing behavioral challenges and parent engagement are recommended to support Latinx students. Conjoint behavioral consultation is an evidence-based intervention that supports behavioral improvements and home–school partnerships for students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of CBC for a subsample of Latinx students enrolled in two large-scale randomized efficacy trials. ANCOVA and t-test analyses revealed generally positive effects for CBC on Latinx student and parent outcomes and parent-teacher relationships. These findings suggest CBC may be a promising school-based intervention addressing gaps in educational and behavioral health services for Latinx students. Given the small sample size, further research is needed to evalu...

The results of a large-scale randomized controlled trial of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) on student outcomes and teacher-parent relationships in rural schools are presented. CBC is an indirect service delivery model that addresses concerns shared by teachers and parents about students. In the present study, the intervention was aimed at promoting positive school-related social-behavioral skills and strengthening teacher-parent relationships in rural schools. Participants were 267 students in grades K-3, their parents, and 152 teachers in 45 Midwest rural schools. Results revealed that, on average, improvement among students whose parents and teachers experienced CBC significantly outpaced that of control students in their teacher-reported school problems and observational measures of their inappropriate (off-task and motor activity) and appropriate (on-task and social interactions) classroom behavior. In addition, teacher responses indicated significantly different rates of improvement in their relationship with parents in favor of the CBC group. Finally, the teacher-parent relationship was found to partially mediate effects of CBC on several student outcomes. Unique contributions of this study, implications of findings for rural students, study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Effective parent-teacher communication involves problem-solving concerns about students. Few studies have examined problem solving interactions between parents and teachers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a particular focus on identifying communication barriers and strategies for improving them. This study examined the problem-solving behaviors of parents and teachers of children with ASD. Participants included 18 teachers and 39 parents of children with ASD. Parent-teacher dyads were prompted to discuss and provide a solution for a problem that a student experienced at home and at school. Parents and teachers also reported on their problem-solving behaviors. Results showed that parents and teachers displayed limited use of the core elements of problem-solving. Teachers displayed more problem-solving behaviors than parents. Both groups reported engaging in more problem-solving behaviors than they were observed to display during their discussions. Our findings suggest that teacher and parent training programs should include collaborative approaches to problem-solving.

Methods for measuring homework performance have been limited primarily to parent reports of homework deficits. The Homework Performance Questionnaire (HPQ) was developed to assess the homework functioning of students in Grades 1 to 8 from the perspective of both teachers and parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial validity of teacher and parent versions of this scale, and to evaluate gender and grade-level differences in factor scores. The HPQ was administered in 4 states from varying regions of the United States. The validation sample consisted of students (n = 511) for whom both parent and teacher ratings were obtained (52% female, mean of 9.5 years of age, 79% non-Hispanic, and 78% White). The cross-validation sample included 1,450 parent ratings and 166 teacher ratings with similar demographic characteristics. The results of confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the best-fitting model for teachers was a bifactor solution including a general factor and 2 orthogonal factors, referring to student self-regulation and competence. The best-fitting model for parents was also a bifactor solution, including a general factor and 3 orthogonal factors, referring to student self-regulation, student competence, and teacher support of homework. Gender differences were identified for the general and self-regulation factors of both versions. Overall, the findings provide strong support for the HPQ as a multi-informant, multidimensional measure of homework performance that has utility for the assessment of elementary and middle school students.

The present study examined parent–teacher congruent communication within conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC). Specifically, the study purpose was to determine the extent to which congru...

Little research examines the best ways to improve communication between parents and teachers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its effect on child outcomes. The present study tests an innovative parent-teacher consultation model, entitled Partners in School. The goal of Partners in School is to improve parent-teacher communication aboutevidence-based practices (EBPs), and subsequently, outcomes for children with ASD. Participants were 26 teachers and 49 parents of children with ASD from a large urban public school district. Parents and teachers completed measures of their communication and child outcomes prior to and after receiving consultation through Partners in School. Results indicated that parents and teachers perceived improvements in child outcomes after participation inPartners in School. Changes in parent-teacher communication also were associated with changes in some child outcomes. Discussionhighlights the important role of communication inconsultations targeting family-school partnerships for children with ASD.

Research Findings: Children's early academic achievement is supported by positive social and behavioral skills, and difficulties with these skills frequently gives way to underachievement. Social and behavioral problems often arise as a product of parent–child interactional patterns and environmental influences. Few studies have examined the role of a salient aspect of children's environments, community locale, in the relationship between parenting practices and child outcomes. Using a large, nationally representative sample, we examined whether preschool parenting practices and children's social-behavioral skills in kindergarten were related to geographic setting (rural vs. city, suburban, and town). Results indicated that rural children experienced greater difficulties with parent-reported externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, rural parents displayed less emotional support than parents in other settings. Preschool parenting behaviors were associated with social skills and behavior problems in kindergart...

This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention (the Getting Ready Project) on directly observed learning-related social behaviors of children from families of low-income in the context of parent-child interactions. The study explored the moderating effect of parental depression on intervention outcomes. Participants were 204 children and their parents, and 29 Head Start teachers. Semi-structured parent-child interaction tasks were videotaped two times annually over the course of two academic years. Observational codes of child behaviors included agency, persistence, activity level, positive affect, distractibility, and verbalizations. Controlling for gender and disability concerns, relative to children in the control group, those in the treatment condition experienced a significant decline in activity level. Furthermore, compared to children of non-depressed mothers and to control children, those in the experimental condition whose parent reported elevated levels of depression showed greater gains in positive affect and in verbalizations.

The present study is a large-scale randomized trial testing the effects of a family-school partnership model (i.e., Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, CBC) for promoting behavioral competence and decreasing problem behaviors of children identified by their teachers as disruptive. CBC is a structured approach to problem-solving that involves consultants, parents, and teachers. The effects of CBC on family variables that are commonly associated with important outcomes among school-aged children (i.e., family involvement and parent competence in problem solving), as well as child outcomes at home, were evaluated. Participants were 207 children with disruptive behaviors from 91 classrooms in 21 schools in kindergarten through grade 3 and their parents and teachers. Results indicated that there were significantly different increases in home-school communication and parent competence in problem solving for participants in the CBC relative to control group. Likewise, compared to children in the control group, children in the CBC group showed significantly greater decreases in arguing, defiance, noncompliance, and tantrums. The degree of family risk moderated parents' competence in problem solving and children's total problem behaviors, teasing, and tantrums.

This study reports the results of a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC), a family-school partnership intervention, on children's behaviors, parents' skills, and parent-teacher relationships in rural community and town settings. Participants were 267 children, 267 parents, and 152 teachers in 45 Midwestern schools. Using an Intent to Treat approach and data analyzed within a multilevel modeling framework, CBC yielded promising results for some but not all outcomes. Specifically, children participating in CBC experienced decreases in daily reports of aggressiveness, noncompliance, and temper tantrums; and increases in parent-reported adaptive skills and social skills at a significantly greater pace than those in a control group. Other outcomes (e.g., parent reports of internalizing and externalizing behaviors) suggested a nonsignificant effect at post-test. CBC parents reported using more effective parenting strategies, gaining more competence in their problem-solving practices, and feeling more efficacious for helping their child succeed in school than parents in the control group. Parents participating in CBC also reported significant improvements in the parent-teacher relationship, and the parent-teacher relationship mediated the effect of CBC on children's adaptive skills. Implications for practice in rural communities, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Using a contextual approach to social skills assessment in the peer group, this study examined the criterion-related validity of contextually relevant social skills and the incremental validity of peers and teachers as judges of children's social skills. Study participants included 342 (180 male and 162 female) students and their classroom teachers (N = 22) from rural communities. As expected, contextually relevant social skills were significantly related to a variety of social status indicators (i.e., likability, peer- and teacher-assessed popularity, reciprocated friendships, clique centrality) and positive school functioning (i.e., school liking and academic competence). Peer-assessed social skills, not teacher-assessed social skills, demonstrated consistent incremental validity in predicting various indicators of social status outcomes; peer- and teacher-assessed social skills alike showed incremental validity in predicting positive school functioning. The relation between contextually relevant social skills and study outcomes did not vary by child gender. Findings are discussed in terms of the significance of peers in the assessment of children's social skills in the peer group as well as the usefulness of a contextual approach to social skills assessment.

The positive effect of competent behaviors on academic functioning may outweigh the negative effect of externalizing problems. The current study examined this premise among children with externaliz...

The present study is a large-scale randomized trial testing the efficacy of a family–school partnership model (i.e., conjoint behavioral consultation) for promoting behavioral competence and decrea...

The purpose of this study was to preliminarily examine family involvement with the primary caregivers of a specific population of New Zealand primary school students through a pilot validation of a New Zealand version of the Family Involvement Questionnaire, Elementary Version (FIQ-E; Manz, Fantuzzo, & Power, 2004). Participants were 285 primary caregivers of children attending primary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to determine the factor structure of the New Zealand version of the FIQ-E. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a factor structure similar to the original FIQ-E; however, fewer and different items loaded onto the common factors. Implications for these findings, including differences in the factor structure and intercultural family involvement research, are explored.

The implementation efforts of 65 early childhood professionals involved in the Getting Ready project, an integrated, multi-systemic intervention that promotes school readiness through parent engagement for children from birth to age five, were investigated. Digital videotaped records of professionals engaged in home visits with families across both treatment and comparison conditions were coded objectively us- ing a partial-interval recording system to identify and record early childhood professionals' implemen- tation of intervention strategies and their effectiveness in promoting parent engagement and interest in their child. Adherence, quality of intervention delivery, differentiation between groups, and participant responsiveness were assessed as multiple dimensions of fidelity. Early childhood professionals in the treatment group relative to the comparison group demonstrated greater frequency of adherence to some intervention strategies, as well as higher rates of total strategy use. In addition, significant positive rela - tionships were found between years of experience, education and quality of intervention delivery. Qual- ity of intervention delivery was different by program type (Early Head Start versus Head Start). Adher- ence in the treatment group was correlated with the rate of contact between parent and early childhood professional during the home visit.

Homework is a reality in the lives of most American school children. For a notable percentage of these children, so are attentional, learning, or behavioral problems. At first blush, this combination seems as though it could present a significant problem to be anticipated with trepidation. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are challenged in many of the skills prerequisite for success at homework. Few would argue that things academic are harder for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than for their nondisabled peers. They have difficulty with attention, persistence, and organization. Behavioral problems, including lack of self-control and emotional/behavioral regulation, often interfere with children's abilities to benefit from academic instruction and productivity. As a result, they tend to earn lower grades, complete fewer years of education, and work in lower level jobs than their peers (Mannuzza, Klein, Bessler, Malloy, & LaPadula, 1993; Weiss & Hechtman, 1993). Thus, it comes as no surprise that homework problems and erratic performance are part of the behavioral repertoire of children with attentional and learning problems (Epstein, Polloway, Foley, & Patton, 1993; Gajria & Salend, 1995). At its best, homework is a highly useful and appropriate strategy. Among its stated purposes and intents, homework is intended to establish effective study habits and skills; to help children plan and be proactive; to aid in developing time management, self-control, and discipline; to extend the learning environment from the classroom to other out-of-school settings; and to demonstrate responsible behaviors. At its worst, it can wreak havoc in the lives of many children and families who fail to master behavioral and environmental routines that create conditions and patterns conducive for optimal performance. Thus, empirical studies evaluating the efficacy of homework interventions for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related disabilities are of prime importance for school psychologists and associated professionals. Inherent opportunities present themselves in the face of homework challenges for students with ADHD. Among them are opportunities to attend to input variables (e.g., structure and intentionality of assignments, instructional quality); output variables (e.g., quantity and quality of work completed); process variables (e.g., communication between school and home; achievement motivation); and ecological variables (e.g., setting characteristics conducive for homework). The articles in this volume (i.e., Lynch, Theodore, Bray, & Kehle, 2009; Axelrod, Zhe, Haugen, & Klein, 2009) attend to some of these issues. Research by Power, Werba, Watkins, Angelucci, and Eiraldi (2006) identified two types of homework problems experienced by children with ADHD. The first is inattention/avoidance of homework, which presents issues in home settings, such as working efficiently and independently. The second is poor productivity/nonadherence with homework rules, which refers to issues with inputs and outputs required for accurate homework performance. This includes difficulties knowing about assignments and the action of completing work. These are precisely the things for which children with ADHD need assistance, along with frequent opportunities to learn and practice skills. Focus on antecedents, consequences, and other environmental conditions are necessary to address homework issues, and their related behavioral correlates, fully. Only certain types of homework interventions will produce those effects. Separately and together, each of the interventions covered in this volume contribute uniquely to the literature on homework for students with attention problems. Testing the efficacy of an intervention such as that developed and evaluated by Axelrod et al. (2009)--focusing on self-management and self-monitoring--is timely. …

Research Findings: This qualitative case study describes early childhood practitioners' (ECPs) perspectives on their professional development as part of a large federally funded school readiness intervention project as they experienced the processes of professional growth and change in learning skills related to promoting parental engagement in children's learning and development. A total of 28 ECPs participated in this study over 2 assessment periods across 2 academic years; 12 ECPs were interviewed twice, for a total of 40 interviews conducted and analyzed. Practitioners worked within the context of Early Head Start, Head Start, and Student Parent Programs in local high schools, all located in a midwestern state. The study intended to (a) discover practitioners' understanding of a parent engagement intervention, including their perspectives on the professional development and supports received; (b) assess how the parent engagement intervention was experienced by ECPs; and (c) discern how self-reported a...

Mental health services in school systems can take many forms. Behavioral consultation is one efficacious and commonly used form of indirect service delivery. Indirect service delivery models are unique in that an intermediate person, the consultee, provides treatment directly to a client. The effectiveness of the intervention depends in large part on the degree to which the consultee implements the intervention as designed. Families of children at-risk for school failure may experience challenges implementing an intervention developed through a consultation model. Some researchers have noted that the implementation of treatment plans is influenced by “events in the real world” including stress and limited economic and social resources (Cordray and Pion (in: R. R. Bootzin & P. E. McKnight (eds.) Strengthening research methodology: Psychological measurement and evaluation, 2006); Watson et al. (in: Levensky and O’Donohue (eds.) Promoting treatment adherence: A practical handbook for health care providers, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to present descriptive findings from a large-scale consultation study that introduced unique strategies to promote intervention implementation integrity for children experiencing behavioral difficulties. Participants were separated into two groups, a general, mainstream group and a diverse, at-risk group (i.e., participants who were of low-income status, racially diverse, linguistically diverse, living in a single parent home, or who had less than a high school diploma). Consultants used general strategies (e.g., training and education) for maximizing intervention implementation integrity with all families and additional support strategies (e.g., regular contacts and additional home visits) with families at-risk. Reports via self-report and permanent product measures indicated families in both groups adhered to intervention plans with high integrity when participating in CBC. These strategies were illustrated in a case study format.

Pediatric school psychology is a relatively new subspecialty in the field; however, few specific, prescribed roles have been articulated, and fewer have yielded preliminary efficacy data. In this exploratory study, the acceptability and potential efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) as a model for linking families, schools, and pediatric settings to address concerns for children with medical issues were evaluated. Twenty-nine children, their parents, teachers, and consultants were involved in conjoint consultation, a model of cross-system collaboration to address shared concerns of medically referred children. In this structured indirect service delivery model, parents, teachers, and school psychology pediatric consultants worked collaboratively in interdisciplinary problem solving and joint decision making with extensive input regarding medical issues from a developmental pediatrician. Outcome measures included parent and teacher observations of child functioning across home and school sett...

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the extent to which a partnership orientation in conjoint be-havioral consultation (CBC) may predict case outcomes and determine the relationship between a partnership orien-tation and implementation integrity of CBC. CBC is a problem-solving process by which families and teachers work collaboratively with a consultant to address students’ academic, behavioral, and social needs. Twenty children, their parents and teachers, and consultants were involved in CBC services. Outcomes included parent and teacher ratings of acceptability, satisfaction, perceptions of effectiveness, and child performance across home and school settings. Part-nership orientation scores and process integrity data were collected across interviews for each case. Results suggest that both parents and teachers consistently find CBC to be an acceptable, effective, and satisfactory form of service deliv-ery. Findings reveal that consultants can conduct CBC interview objectives effectively within a partnership orientation. A partnership orientation in CBC was significant in predicting teachers’ acceptability and satisfaction with the process; however, parents’ acceptability and satisfaction with the CBC process was not predicted by a partnership orientation.

While attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) and basic symptoms (BS) are the main current predictors of psychosis in adults, studies in adolescents are scarce. Thus, we (1) described the prevalence and severity of positive, negative, disorganization, general, and basic symptoms in adolescent patients at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR), with other non-psychotic psychiatric disorders (PC) and with early-onset psychosis (EOP); and (2) investigated BS criteria in relation to UHR criteria. Sixty-nine 12-18-year-old adolescents (15.3 ± 1.7 years, female = 58.0 %, UHR = 22, PC = 27, EOP = 20) were assessed with the structured interview for prodromal syndromes (SIPS) and the schizophrenia proneness instrument-child and youth version (SPI-CY). Despite similar current and past 12-month global functioning, both UHR and EOP had significantly higher SIPS total and subscale scores compared to PC, with moderate-large effect sizes. Expectedly, UHR had significantly lower SIPS positive symptom scores than EOP, but similar SIPS negative, disorganized, and general symptom scores. Compared to PC, both EOP and UHR had more severe basic thought and perception disturbances, and significantly more often met cognitive disturbances criteria (EOP = 50.0 %, UHR = 40.9 %, PC = 14.8 %). Compared to UHR, both EOP and PC significantly less often met cognitive-perceptive BS criteria (EOP = 35.0 %, UHR = 68.2 %, PC = 25.9 %). BS were significantly more prevalent in both EOP and UHR than PC, and UHR were similar to EOP in symptom domains. Given the uncertain outcome of adolescents at clinical high-risk of psychosis, future research is needed to determine whether the combined assessment of early subjective disturbances with observable APS can improve the accuracy of psychosis prediction.

We investigated the relationship between depression and parental sense of competence to child cognitive outcomes for a sample of 49 adolescent mothers and their young children (Mean age = 9 1/2 months) enrolled in a student parenting program. Cognitive development of the infants and toddlers was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Maternal depression was as- sessed with the CES-D and parental competence measured with the Parental Sense of Competence Scale. Results indicated that maternal depression and parental sense of competence alone did not predict children's cognitive scores; the interaction of the variables signifi cantly predicted children's outcomes. Mothers reporting high levels of depression, who self-reported high levels of parental competence, had children who scored higher on the Bayley. Children of mothers with high levels of depression, and low reported levels of competence scored lower on the Bayley. The relationship was not signifi cant for mothers reporting low levels of depression. Our fi ndings suggest additional research needs to focus on the buffering effect of parental sense of competence for adolescent moth- ers experiencing depression.

Second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) effects in youth were monitored to quantify extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) and to identify risk profiles for treatment-emergent EPS.Data were analyzed for the nonrandomized, prospective Second-generation Antipsychotic Treatment Indications, Effectiveness and Tolerability in Youth (SATIETY) inception cohort study. EPS were assessed at baseline and 4, 8, and 12 weeks after naturalistic SGA initiation for schizophrenia, mood, disruptive behavior, and autism spectrum disorders using the Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS), Barnes Akathisia Scale, Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS), and Treatment Emergent Side Effect Scale. Drug-induced parkinsonism was defined by incident mean SAS score0.33, anticholinergic initiation, or increasing total SAS score ≥2 in patients with baseline EPS.In 342 youth aged 13.6 ± 3.5 years (male = 58.2%, antipsychotic-naive = 65.8%), 15.2% developed drug-induced parkinsonism. Raw SGA-grouped drug-induced parkinsonism rates were as follows: quetiapine = 1.5%, olanzapine = 13.8%, risperidone = 16.1%, ziprasidone = 20.0%, and aripiprazole = 27.3%. SGA type, dose, higher age, and lower baseline functioning were jointly associated with drug-induced parkinsonism (R(2) = 0.18; p.0001). Controlling for these factors, drug-induced parkinsonism rates were significantly lower only for quetiapine and olanzapine. Subjectively reported EPS (5%), EPS-related treatment discontinuation (3.3%), and anticholinergic initiation (3%) were infrequent. Anticholinergic initiation was most frequent with risperidone (10.2%; p = .0004). Treatment-emergent dyskinesia ranged from 4.5% (aripiprazole) to 15.5% (olanzapine). SGA type, younger age, white race/ethnicity, and baseline AIMS were jointly associated with treatment-emergent dyskinesia (R(2) = 0.31; p.0001). Controlling for these factors, treatment-emergent dyskinesia rates differed among SGA subgroups, with higher rates with olanzapine and ziprasidone. At baseline, psychostimulant use was associated with dyskinesia, and number of psychotropic comedications was associated with subjective EPS.In youth, SGA-related EPS rates did not generally exceed those reported in adults, with particularly low rates with quetiapine and olanzapine.

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is an ecological model of service delivery that brings together parents and educators to collaboratively address shared concerns for a child. This study provides exploratory data investigating the effects of CBC on home and school concerns for 48 children aged 6 and younger. Single-subject methods were used to evaluate the effects of CBC on individual children. Effect sizes across cases yielded large median effect sizes (0.97 at home and 1.06 at school). Results of paired sample t tests suggested significant improvements in parents' perceptions of communication with their child's teacher and in the overall parent–teacher relationship. In addition, parents and teachers reported high levels of acceptability of CBC and satisfaction with the consultant. Implications and limitations of the study and future research needs are presented.