Her research interests focus on understanding the functions of school climate, social-emotional learning, school and classroom management techniques, and cultural factors in promoting and prohibiting the development of resilience among children and adolescents, particularly in programs targeting bullying and school engagement. SCHOOL BELONGING, United States, CHINA, United Kingdom. AbstractThe Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale has been used for more than 20 years to measure students' sense of school belonging, yet its psychometric properties have had limited examination with pre-adolescent children. This study investigated the utility and psychometrics of the PSSM in three primary school samples from the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Exploratory factor analysis revealed good fit for a unidimensional factor structure in the U.S. sample, which was subsequently confirmed in all three samples. Partial invariance across all three samples and full invariance across pairwise samples (United States and United Kingdom; United Kingdom and China) was found. Path analyses revealed significant positive relations of the PSSM total belonging score with gratitude and prosocial behavior, and significant negative relations with symptoms of distress. Future directions and implications are discussed.

Robust evidence links students’ positive mental health with academic achievement and provides a compelling rationale for developing and refining strength-based assessments. The Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S) assesses adolescents’ social and emotional skills and positive psychological dispositions. Previous studies provide reliability and validity evidence; nonetheless, there is a need for continued refinement and validation across diverse groups. The current study revised and standardized the updated SEHS-S-2020 to validate further its use in secondary schools (Grades 9–12) with a large, diverse adolescent sample. Study participants included 72,740 from 113 California schools (structural validation sample), 10,757 students from 15 randomly selected California schools (criterion validation sample), and 707 students from four additional California schools (test-retest sample). Data analyses examined structural validity, measurement invariance, criterion validity, internal consistency, and response stability. Results supported the SEHS-S-2020 validity across diverse groups of youth in various contexts. The discussion focuses on implications for assessing students’ psychosocial assets and universal school-based screening.

The COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent social distancing measures have imposed numerous challenges on school psychologists balancing public health and students' right to a free and appropriate education. This article addresses one of the most contentious issues for school psychologists during the pandemic: how to ethically conduct valid psychoeducational assessments without placing anyone's health at risk. Legal guidance and regulations pertaining to special education evaluations during the pandemic are first delineated, followed by a discussion of the feasibility of tele-assessment from ethical, legal, and implementational perspectives. Lastly, based on the epidemiological knowledge of COVID-19 transmission and practices implemented in other countries, a protocol for special education assessment is introduced that aims at assisting school psychologists to conduct necessary assessments in face of the ongoing pandemic. IMPACT STATEMENTWith limitations in current online assessment options, lack of certainty with regard to a vaccine solution, and the mounting number of assessments that will befall school psychologists, this article offers an assessment protocol in light of what is currently known about the epidemiological nature of COVID-19.

Schools are an essential setting for mental health supports and services for students. To support student well-being, schools engage in universal mental health screening to identify students in need of support and to provide surveillance data for district-wide or state-wide policy changes. Mental health data have been collected via anonymous and self-identified response formats depending on the purpose of the screening (i.e., surveillance and screening, respectively). However, most surveys do not provide psychometric evidence for use in both types of response formats. The current study examined whether responses to the Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S), a school mental health survey, are comparable when administered using anonymous versus self-identified response formats. The study participants were from one high school and completed the SEHS-S using self-identified ( n = 1,700) and anonymous ( n = 1,667) formats. Full measurement invariance was found across the two response formats. Both substantial and minimal latent mean differences were detected. Implications for the use and interpretation of the SEHS-S for schoolwide mental health are discussed.

The investigation of school belonging is crucial due to its established significant associations with mental health, academic achievement, and risky behaviors coupled with the limited research documenting the configurations of children's school belonging experiences. The current study explores school belonging in upper elementary school California students (N = 619). Latent profile analysis revealed the best fit for a three-profile solution: Low School Belonging, Moderate School Belonging, and High School Belonging. The majority of students were classified in the Low and Moderate School Belonging profiles. Demographic covariates indicated that female and Latinx students were more likely to experience high belonging than males and non-Latinx students. Concerning proximal outcomes, students in the High School Belonging profile reported higher psychological strengths and lower psychological distress. Practical implications include assessing and promoting school belonging more effectively in students, given the small percentage of students who perceive high levels of school belonging.