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The National Association of School Psychologists emphasizes consultation, collaboration, and family-school-community collaboration as domains within school psychology practice. Family engagement is defined as caregiver participation in children's learning and instruction. While research outlines best practices in engaging and collaborating with families across multitiered systems of support (MTSS), there has been little examination of the current practices of school psychologists within this domain. This study investigated family engagement practices in schools, school psychologists' involvement in these practices, and their perceived effectiveness. Results indicated that while family engagement and problem-solving consultation methods were used within MTSS, school psychologists were less involved in implementation. Implications and future research are discussed.

By intentionally implementing strategies to partner with caregivers before, during, and after the evaluation process, school psychologists can empower families and improve student outcomes. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP, 2019) has advocated for engaging families as active partners, emphasizing the importance of forming equitable partnerships between schools and families, in which both share responsibility for the success of all learners. Establishing intentional coordination and consistency, building positive relationships, and aligning family engagement efforts to the child's development are key considerations for successful family--school partnerships. This article provides strategies for how school psychologists can engage families (1) at the beginning of and during the evaluation, and (2) prior to, during, and after the individualized education plan (IEP) meeting.

Although distance education continues to expand in postsecondary institutions, little research regarding distance education methodology in applied graduate psychology programs is currently available. This exploratory study examined technology, resources, and instructional components in graduate school psychology distance courses. The results indicated that Blackboard and Skype were the most frequently utilized technology components in both online and hybrid school psychology courses. Tests, quizzes, and assignments were rated as the most helpful and valuable instructional components. Other helpful resources in distance education courses included access to advanced technology, in-person meetings with instructors, and technology support staff. The implications for training programs and future research are also discussed.

Although online course offerings continue to expand in postsecondary institutions, little research regarding distance education in applied graduate psychology programs is available. This exploratory study evaluated school psychology graduate students' perceptions, interests, and experience with distance education. Results indicated students view hybrid/blended courses more favorably than fully online courses. While students reported challenges and disadvantages with distance education, they also expressed a desire to have more online and hybrid/blended courses for theoretical and foundational courses. Those who have taken distance education courses reported positively on its impact towards their academic progress. Implications for training programs and future research are discussed.

The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) emphasizes the role of school psychologists across a variety of domains, including engaging with families across multiple tiers of support (NASP, 2010a). However, the national school psychology shortage, leading school psychologists to work across various schools, may play a large role in the ability to work with families successfully and provide them with appropriate supports in the school setting. This study investigated the relationship between the current number of schools served by school psychologists, the availability of family-based engagement and intervention programs, and those responsible for implementing such programs. Survey results from 232 practicing school psychologists indicated 75% serve multiple schools. The number of schools served significantly related to the availability of parent education programs in schools, as well as those responsible for implementing parent education, parent involvement, and parent training programs. Other school-based professionals, such as teachers, school counselors, school social workers, and practicum students, were responsible for implementation when school psychologists were serving multiple campuses. Implications for training and future research are discussed.

Systems change and systems level services have long been advocated as part of school psychology role expansion. However, it is unclear the extent to which the research has kept pace with the calls to increase systems change activities within school psychology practice. This article offers an examination of the research on systems change within the school psychology literature in terms of the types of articles published, journal outlets publishing systems change research, and the theories and frameworks that support these articles. The authors provide recommendations to further advance systems change literature and practice within school psychology.

Universal behavioral screening in the school setting plays a vital role in the prevention and early intervention of child difficulties. While universal screening methods have evolved, measures appear to examine child characteristics based on data collected primarily from teachers and children. Parents may also have important information to contribute to screening efforts; however, the extent to which parents are regularly involved in the screening process is somewhat unknown. This study investigated the behavioral screening literature in major school psychology journals from 2004 to 2014 to determine the frequency to which families and caregivers participate in the screening of child behavioral difficulties in schools. Results indicated very few research articles utilized families as screening informants. In addition, the majority of articles either did not mention families directly or only mentioned families briefly throughout the study. Implications for the inclusion of families within the screening process are discussed.

Children who exhibit early behavioral and academic difficulties are at increased risk of later negative outcomes (U.S. Department of Human and Health Services 2009). Within the school setting, conceptualization of family risk, culture, and demographic factors is needed to effectively identify at-risk families to improve child educational outcomes. This study investigates family risk factors within profiles of low-income kindergarten students and associated longitudinal academic and behavioral outcomes. Latent profile analysis was conducted separately for African-American, Caucasian, and Latino samples, using five observed family risk factors. Once profiles were established, analysis was conducted to determine significant differences in relation to third-grade outcomes. Family profiles varied based on race/ethnicity, with some risk factors being more prominent in differentiating among profiles. Some profiles were also significantly different in relation to reading, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavioral outcomes. Implications of these findings in conceptualizing risk factors, as well as screening and intervention practices, are discussed.

While a great number of scientific advances have been made in school psychology, the research to practice gap continues to exist, which has significant implications for training future school psychologists. Training in flexible, data-driven models may help school psychology trainees develop important competencies that will benefit them throughout their career. These models additionally consider important implementation variables and can be used across a range of school psychology roles and functions. This paper discusses the use of best practice process models in school psychology training as a potential means for enhancing competencies in data-driven practice and improving student outcomes. The authors present methods to incorporate best practice process into consultation models and systems change efforts to illustrate the multiple lenses through which this process can be helpful in training future school psychologists.

Faced with national shortages of school psychologists, it is important that graduate educators explore different service delivery options to educate the greatest number of potential candidates to meet this need. One of the greatest areas of practitioner shortages is in the rural and less populated regions of the country, where a university can be very far away, making attendance a financial burden on potential candidates that few are willing to take (e.g., leaving a school position, relocating family). To meet this challenge, one option is to take the training to the individual through distance education or online training. This option is not without controversy in our field. There are concerns within the faculty ranks that online and distance education are not viable options to educate school psychologists, especially with the skills classes. This article highlights four programs where institutions have gone beyond their walls trying to reduce the shortages while maintaining National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) graduate education standards. The intent is to demonstrate that it is possible to educate this untapped pool of candidates and show that they can impact the needs of students at school, at home, and in life.

This study examines naturally occurring mentors by the quality and presence of a mentor (no mentor, low quality, high quality), type of mentors (adult mentors vs. peer mentors), and mentor quality within mentor type. A sub-sample of adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent-Health is used. Results indicate the effect of mentoring is dependent upon the quality and type of mentor and is different for different measured outcomes, as various characteristics of the mentoring process are associated with later problem behaviors and emotional affect in different ways. Specifically, high-quality mentoring is significantly related to increasing self-esteem, fewer alcohol problems and less depressed affect when compared to low-quality mentors. Mentees with adult mentors are significantly lower in depressed affect and have fewer alcohol problems when compared to mentees with peer mentors. Implications for the use of mentoring with specifically at-risk students are discussed to help improve positive youth development. (Contains 8 tables.)

With technology advances, many postsecondary institutions are transitioning towards increased distance learning. However, the state of distance learning in school psychology training programs remains relatively unknown. This study investigated various facets of distance learning in school psychology, including the current state of distance learning, faculty perceptions of distance learning, program strengths and challenges when utilizing this mode of learning, and perceived impacts on student and program outcomes. Results from sixty-three school psychology programs indicated that although 32-35% (N= 19- 21 programs) offer coursework utilizing some form of distance learning, this information is not widely advertised through program websites or handbooks. Faculty reported having little training in teaching distance learning courses and some perceive distance learning courses to be less beneficial than traditional courses; however, programs using distance learning reported few negative program or student outcomes. Implications for training programs, training standards, and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]