School Psychology Commons^™

Navigating New Normals: Student Perceptions, Experiences, And Mental Health Service Utilization In Post-Pandemic Academia, Hadiza Galadima, Anne Dumadag, Cara Tonn

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

This study explores the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education, focusing on shifts in learning experiences and students’ intentions to utilize mental health services post-pandemic. Utilizing Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, this study assesses perceptions from a stratified random sample of college students on post-pandemic learning experiences and mental health service utilization intentions. Findings reveal a positive reception to university initiatives and a preference for ongoing virtual classes. There is an evident increase in, and varying intentions for, using mental health services, shaped by demographics, employment, and prior service utilization. Younger and female students showed …

Meta-Analysis Of Therapeutic Interventions For The Treatment Of Test Anxiety., Thomas Reece

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to be a practitioner-focused review of the current research into interventions for the treatment of test anxiety. As testing continues to be a large part of students’ academic experiences and the stakes of that testing grow for students, teachers, and schools, there is a need for a synthesis of the literature to provide teachers and schools with some guidance on how best to help their students succeed. In this review, I describe the phenomenon of test anxiety and the current theoretical questions concerning the relationship between test anxiety and test performance. I also …

Mind Wandering In Daily Life: A National Experience Sampling Study Of Intentional And Unintentional Mind Wandering Episodes Reported By Working Adults Ages 25 – 50, Paula C. Lowe

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Numerous researchers have investigated thinking that drifts away from what the individual was doing, thinking that is known as mind wandering. Their inquiries were often conducted in university lab settings with student participants. To learn about mind wandering in the daily life of working adults, this experience sampling study investigated intentional and unintentional mind wandering episodes as reported by working adults, ages 25–50, living across the United States. In this age frame, work and family responsibilities have increased in complexity and overlap. Using a smartphone app, participants were randomly notified to answer experience sampling surveys six times a day for …

An Analysis Of Most Important Values Among Low-Income, High-Ability Middle School Students, Jennifer Riedl Cross

SENG Journal: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness

Value orientations, based on Schwartz’s theory of human values, were collected from low-income, high-ability middle school students (N = 215; 87.4% Black, Hispanic, or Mixed) through a values affirmation activity in the 7^th and again in the 8^th grade. Students ranked “Being successful” highest in 7^th grade, “Being safe and secure” highest in 8^thgrade. Most important values in the Conservation and Self-Transcendent quadrants predominated and were most stable from 7^th to 8^th grade. Analysis of essays on their most important values identified the significance of Others in their lives, including the desire …

Addressing Student Stress: The Impact Of Training On Student Assistance Team Practices, Kaitlin Stanton

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice investigated the impact of training and continuous support on the effectiveness of a high school Student Assistance Team’s ability to identify and discuss students experiencing high stress levels. In Phase 1 of this action research, the researcher determined the problem of practice to be high stress levels that impacted students’ academic, social, and emotional development. After conducting a root cause analysis and the identification of drivers of change, the researcher selected one high leverage practice to implement. In Phase 2, the researcher implemented training and support sessions to foster the Student Assistance Team members’ …

Effects Of Peer Relationships On The Relationship Between Avoidant Attachment And Romantic Intimacy Among Adolescents, Selina Johnson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a time when interacting with the opposite sex tends to increase and become more serious, and romantic relationships start to form. However, for some adolescents, specifically adolescents who have an avoidant state of mind in regards to attachment, romantic relationships and particularly intimacy is an experience they may find challenging. Given the importance of intimacy in an adolescent’s life, this study proposes to investigate whether the quality of peer relationships can influence romantic intimacy among adolescents with an avoidant attachment. Friendship quality was chosen as a mediating variable in the present study to examine if the quality of …

What Australian Students Say About Transition To Secondary School. Final Report, Shani Sniedze, Rachel Felgate, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sarah Buckley, Petra Lietz

Wellbeing

Life Education Australia's Being Healthy Being Active project involved the collection of student voice related to the concept of school transition and the move from primary to secondary school. Students from around Australia participated in 82 focus groups, or student forums, to discuss their own positive experiences, as well as perceived needs and challenges related to their move to secondary school. Section One of this report is a literature review and environmental scan on student transition from primary to secondary school. Section Two describes the methods used to design and administer the Student Forums. This includes a description of the …

Integrating Social Justice Practices Into Graduate Training: Collaborating With Stakeholders To Adapt Professional Development In Puerto Rico, Kathryn D. Kurtz, Emily R. Defouw, Marta E. Pagan-Ortiz

International Journal of School Social Work

Treating trauma has become an international social justice concern, with increasing numbers of graduate training programs prioritizing how to conceptualize needs and interventions within a trauma-informed framework. Minimal research and guidelines exist for adapting these trauma-informed practices for the local community context. Additionally, trauma-informed practices often fail to consider ongoing structural issues faced by oppressed communities such as poverty and racism. Social work, psychology, and counseling graduate training programs often rely on a cultural competency framework instead of a social justice framework that addresses racism and Whiteness. During our graduate Counseling and School Psychology training program at the University of …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Teacher–Child Relationships, Student Behavior, And Classroom Management, Szu-Yu Chen, Natalya A. Lindo, Sarah Blalock, Dina Yousef, Latoya Smith, Kara Hurt-Avila

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Children’s relationships with their teachers are a potential resource for enhancing developmental and academic outcomes. The effects of positive or negative teacher–child relationships can be either beneficial or detrimental to students’ academic progress, behaviors, and emotions. In the current study, we utilized a qualitative research design to examine 18 pre-kindergarten to fourth-grade teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships, student behavior, and classroom management. Analysis of in-depth interviews yielded five major themes: (a) beliefs in children, (b) teaching strategies, (c) acknowledging individual differences, (d) challenges, and (e) relationships. Findings of this study have the potential to inform in-service training regarding relationship-building skills …

The Relationships Between School Counselor Ratios And Student Outcomes In One Predominantly Hispanic Texas School District, Myra Ortega

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that lower school counselor ratios are associated with better student outcomes: attendance, discipline and achievement. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a student-counselor ratio of 250:1 to best support and address the needs of students. However, student-counselor ratios are much higher, diminishing the effectiveness of school counselors.The purpose of this study is to determine if school counselor ratios are related to campus attendance, campus State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) or End-of-Course (EOC) testing performance, and campus discipline for substance use or other reasons, while considering the ethnicity and gender of students in each …

Families And Schools Together: Designing A Model For University-Community Partnerships To Support Home-School Collaborations, Amy Jane Griffiths, James Alsip, Kelly Kennedy, Elena L. Diamond, Cora Palma, Annmary S. Abdou, Rachel Wiegand, John Brady

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Collaboration between school staff, families, and community partners is vital for ensuring all students’ success, particularly those with disabilities. In this case study, we will discuss a community-university partnership involving a university school psychology graduate program, several local school districts, and a specialized medical facility for children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. These partners came together to create the Families and Schools Partnership Program (FSPP). Facilitated by School Psychology faculty and graduate students, FSPP offers support to families and schools through a cohesive multidisciplinary approach to intervention. In this study, we examined the experiences of 700 families referred to …

University Course Evaluations: A Study Of The Influence Of Faculty, Student, And Course Variables, Tyesha De’Shuan Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Course evaluations impact faculty’ annual evaluations and have become somewhat controversial, yet course evaluations in faculty evaluations persist as a common practice across universities. While many scholars find this success-based tool effective in assessing teaching effectiveness, others question the validity and reliability of this measurement and are opposed to using this tool as a mean of determining faculty members’ success. The purpose of this study is to provide a more in-depth examination of course evaluations by analyzing faculty, student, and course variables. Analyses were performed to address the following research question: “To what degree do faculty gender, faculty race, faculty …

Flooding Schools: School Mental Health Providers And The Climate Crisis, Erik J. Reinbergs, Sarah Fefer

International Journal of School Social Work

This study provides an example of using a problem-solving model to explore the impact of the climate crisis on schools. Using publicly available climate change and flooding prediction data, we estimate that by 2100, assuming a “medium” climate change scenario, more than 1677 schools in the coastal United States are expected to flood every year and more than 2262 schools are expected to flood every 10 years. Within the data, “medium” is defined as warming levels that will lead to an estimated five feet of sea level rise by the year 2100. Limitations in the data suggest these numbers are …

School Psychologists And School Counselors’ Perceptions Of Preparation Received For The Provision Of School-Based Mental Health Services, Sherika Mckenzie

Education (PhD) Dissertations

School psychologists and school counselors are increasingly playing an essential role in the provision of school-based mental health services (SBMHS). This is especially true in California. Unfortunately, there are a few studies that have examined how California school psychologists and school counselors perceive their training to provide SBMHS, how they perceive their role in providing these services, and what they regard as their needs for professional development. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which California school psychologists and school counselors believe that their formal pre-service education and later in-service professional experiences have prepared them to …

Art Therapy In Public Education, Sophie Edelman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review explores the history of art therapy in education. By understanding the history it is clear that art therapy has always been a positive force for students. By learning from the successes and challenges in our history we are better able to plan for future programing and expansion of art therapy programs. Because art therapy was developed in part by educators, the history of art therapy itself is linked with the history of art therapy in schools. In today’s application of art therapy in education there are three models most typically used. The research discusses the strengths and …

Text Messaging Between School Counselors And Students: An Exploratory Study, Nicholas R. Gilly

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory case study examines the impact of text messaging on mentoring relationships when used as an outreach between school counselors and high school students, where established relationships are lacking. An SMS gateway was used to mediate communication between school counselors (N=2) and students (N=5) over a three-month timeframe. The SMS gateway converted email, sent from counselors, to text messages, which were received on mobile devices of students and allowed students to respond back to counselors. Findings indicate that the use of text messaging may ease scheduling of face-to-face meetings between counselors and students, but evidence does not support any …

Effectiveness Of School-Based Wellbeing Interventions For Improving Academic Outcomes In Children And Young People: A Systematic Review Protocol, Katherine Dix, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Shani Sniedze, Toby Carslake, Jenny Trevitt

Wellbeing

This systematic review protocol outlines the background, methodology and inclusion and exclusion criteria for a systematic review of how effective are school-based wellbeing interventions for improving the academic and non-academic outcomes of children and young people in mainstream schools? The proposed systematic review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for systematic reviews of effectiveness evidence. It will complement system-wide strategic imperatives for health and wellbeing promotion by providing robust evidence to inform policy and practice supporting student wellbeing. The review will only involve interventions that report impact on academic achievement for a population of students …

Supporting Student Mental Health During And After Covid-19, David Bryant Naff, Shenita Williams, Jenna Furman, Melissa Lee

MERC Publications

This report by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) in the VCU School of Education offers a rapid review of research about supporting student mental health as they return to school during COVID-19. It pulls from literature on natural disasters like hurricane Katrina, the psychological impacts of quarantine, and emergent research on the mental health impacts of the Coronavirus. The report is structured to answer three overarching questions: 1) Why is it important to address the mental health needs of students in schools? 2) How can we expect COVID-19 to impact the mental health of students? 3) What are some …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration In Exemplary Counseling-Enriched High School Programs: Integrating College & Career Readiness And Mental Health Wellness For Students With Emotional Disturbance, Amira S. Mostafa

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods multiple-case study was to describe how interdisciplinary collaborative teams support the college and career readiness and the mental health wellness of adolescents with emotional disturbance. A secondary purpose was to explore how team members describe and rate the importance of their interdisciplinary collaboration using the four essential elements (reflection, flexibility, newly created roles, and interdependence) based on the model established by Mellin (Mellin et al., 2010). Lastly, this study sought recommendations from team members on improved practices supporting adolescents with emotional disturbance.

Methodology: An explanatory sequential mixed methods multiple-case study design explored the …

Social Emotional Learning Through Depression Education In A High School Setting, Antonette Minniti

Theses and Dissertations

Education on depression is an important part of social emotional learning. Lacking emotion regulation skills tend to lead to larger problems, such as academic struggles, disconnect from peers, strife at home and trouble in interpersonal relationships. Research in depression education or educational programs connected to mental health literacy are minimal, especially at the high school level. The purpose of this research will focus on examining the impact of one depression education program, John Hopkins Hospital’s Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP). ADAP is a three-day program that informs students about the facts of depression, how it is treated, and what to …

How To Make School-Based Mental Health Work, Jenny Wilhoite

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This session is designed to give an overview of how to create a School-Based Mental Health program that benefits students on all tiers, providing universal prevention, early intervention, and intensive services for at-risk students. Meeting the unmet needs of students with mental health challenges impacts student attendance, behavioral and academic outcomes, and discipline in a positive way.

Military Deployment In A Family: Children’S Literature As A Basis For Counseling Support, Aimee Tubbs, Ellie L. Young, Melissa A. Heath, Tina T. Dyches

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The authors summarize 30 children’s books that tell stories of a family member’s military deployment in order to identify books that could be used in bibliotherapy for children impacted by deployment. In this sample of books, the main characters are most commonly portrayed as feeling sad about a family member’s deployment. The most prevalent coping strategies are finding ways to stay connected to the deployed person and talking with an adult. An unexpected finding was a coping strategy of expressing pride in the family member’s military service.

Barriers To Change For Augmentative And Alternative Communication, Lauren E. Brown

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of counseling training on speech language pathologists’ (SLPs) perceived competency to address Attitude Barriers within the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment process as presented by Beukelman and Mirenda (2005). Counseling techniques, such as the use of the Readiness to Change© tool, are within the scope of practice for SLPs. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on how to apply these tools and techniques with individuals who use AAC .

A training seminar was conducted to educate participants in the use of the Readiness to Change© tool. Data was …

Predictive Nature Of Teacher Traits On Academic Achievement Of African-American Students, Lacoñia Rayelle Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically, biases, a lack of cultural diversity in teacher and administrative staff and misunderstanding about methods for teaching low socioeconomic students have related to the underperformance of African-American students when compared with their European American peers. Therefore, this quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the impact of teachers' ethnicity, years of experience, and motives of hope and fear on the academic success of African-American students in reading and math. Data were collected from 55 7th- and 8th-grade teachers from a charter school system (25 reading teachers and 30 math teachers) using a survey and the Multi Motive Grid. Forward …

Investigating Variation And Strength In Social Networks, Timothy D. Immelman, Richard M. Wielkiewicz

Psychology Faculty Publications

Participants were 318 college students from two small, Catholic liberal arts institutions in the Upper Midwest. Variation (i.e., having friends with varied interests and activities) of an individual’s social network was measured by a researcher-developed inventory, the Social Network Variation Scale (SNVS). Social network strength was measured by the researcher-developed Social Network Strength Scale (SNSS). People with more variation or more strength in their social network had higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress. Autonomy mediated the relationships between variation and stress and strength and stress. Personality moderated the relationships between variation and happiness and variation and stress.

Cyberbullying Prevention And Intervention: Perspectives Of School Psychologists And School Counselors, Rachel E. Burlet

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recent studies have found that increasing numbers of students are experiencing cyberbullying during middle and high school. The current study examined how school psychologists and school counselors are involved in the prevention and intervention of cyberbullying as well as what practices their schools are implementing to address this issue. Results found that school counselors were more involved than school psychologists with cyberbullying prevention and intervention efforts. However, 50% of school psychologists felt that their skills were being underutilized and 59% expressed a desire to be more involved in cyberbullying prevention and intervention efforts. Receiving training on cyberbullying was found to …

Alcohol Expectancies Among Students In The City Of Pokhara, Nepal, Niran Tamrakar

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Alcohol plays a vital role in various aspects of Nepalese society. It also presents public health risks. Though adolescents in Nepal are at high risk for negative consequences from alcohol use, there is limited information available on their alcohol behaviors and beliefs. The present study aims to describe alcohol expectancies among a sample of secondary students in Nepal to identify and understand motivations underlying their alcohol-related behaviors. A self-report survey was administered to 591 students from different Englishmedium schools in the city of Pokhara. This study began with the Chinese Adolescent Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (CAAEQ), then used qualitative methods to …

Examining The Meaning Of Course Evaluation, Tyesha Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teaching evaluations significantly influence faculty members’ annual evaluations and progress toward tenure and promotion within academic programs in higher education. Those with consistently strong, positive, teaching evaluations have been deemed effective instructors and often validated with increases in salary, teaching awards, and promotion and tenure. This is especially the case when strong course evaluations are received in addition to documented scholarship and research activities and positively evaluated professional service. However, questions are being raised about the meaningfulness of students' ratings of course instruction. Do these measures effectively assess competence as instructors or do they measure other unknown processes in the …

Estimating Wasi Iq Scores To Assist In Identifying Elementary School Gifted Students, Debra Garrett Pregler

Dissertations

Identifying gifted students early is important so they may receive adaptations in their learning environment including admittance into gifted programs (Subotnik, Olszweski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2012). An effective method to increase the likelihood of identifying gifted students is needed (Pfeiffer, 2003). Admission at the elementary level primarily uses the individually-administered intelligence test; yet, the test is only administered to students nominated to the gifted program. The purpose of this study was to determine if individually-administered IQ test scores were related to specific information available to the elementary school counselor to aid in the determination of unidentified gifted elementary school students who …

Einstein Or Columbine: Impact Of School Environment On The Socioaffective Development Of Gifted And Talented Adolescents, Rebekah Granger-Ellis

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Why do some gifted minds thrive in life while others fail to fulfill their potential? The spotlight on violence perpetrated by bright individuals questions what went wrong, could it have been prevented, and whether schools are meeting the needs of gifted individuals. Thus, it is important to examine the impact of participation in various gifted and talented programs on the socioaffective development of gifted adolescents. The purpose of this study was to understand (1) if gifted individuals’ social and emotional development were similarly developed as their academic and creative abilities, and (2) if a particular school environment led to differences …