Concerns regarding whether a sufficient supply of school psychologists exists have been evident for decades. Studies have predicted that school psychology would face a critical personnel shortage that would peak in 2010, but continue into the foreseeable future. The current study is a 10‐year follow‐up investigation based on previously published personnel shortage projections. Data derived from the National Association of School Psychologists 2009–2010 national study were used to examine current personnel shortages as well as to project the extent to which personnel shortages are likely to continue. Findings indicate that the field of school psychology continues to experience a personnel shortage that will continue through 2025. Additionally, greater rates of retirements are projected for the field for school psychologists who are males, who possess a doctoral degree, and for university faculty. Analyses based on the U.S. Census Regions indicate that notable differences are likely to occur in the match between the supply of and demand for school psychologists based on geographical location. Implications are discussed relating to the recruitment and retention of school psychologists and to the services they deliver.
Comorbid disruptive behavior disorders occur in up to 80% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children with ASD often present as inattentive, noncompliant, and aggressive, making it difficult for them to engage in learning and social activities across settings. Parents and school staff report spending excessive time managing disruptive behaviors at the expense of engaging these children in meaningful skill development. Identifying effective interventions to decrease disruptive behaviors and increase positive skill development is of critical importance to improving outcomes for children with ASD. This case study presents the effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, an evidence-based intervention for young children with disruptive behavior, for addressing behavioral problems in a 7-year-old boy with ASD. Results suggested improvements in child compliance and decrease in disruptive behaviors. Further, parents increased their use of positive parenting strategies, including giving effective commands all of which serve to improve the parent-child relationship. Treatment implications for working with young children with ASD are discussed.
There is growing interest in school-based programs to promote students' subjective well-being (SWB). Students with greater SWB tend to have stronger relationships with their teachers and classmates, as well as behave in more positive ways. Drawing from theory and research pertinent to promoting children's SWB, we developed an 11-session classwide positive psychology intervention that targeted elementary school students' novel use of character strengths, gratitude, kindness, and relationships in the classroom. Throughout a pilot study, children in fourth grade experienced clinically meaningful lasting gains in multiple indicators of SWB, particularly positive affect and satisfaction with self, but no changes in distal indicators of behavioral student engagement (attendance, office disciplinary referrals). This initial application by school psychologists partnering with a classroom teacher provides evidence of promise that elementary school children can benefit from participation in universal positive psychology interventions that target internal assets (gratitude, kindness, and signature strengths) and environmental resources (student-teacher and peer relationships).Keywords Elementary school children . Positive psychology interventions . Classwide implementation . Subjective well-being Mental health is increasingly viewed as a complete state of being, consisting not merely of the absence of psychopathology, but also the presence of positive indicators of subjective well-being (SWB; Keyes 2009). Within a positive psychology approach, SWB is often used as an indicator of the complete range of psychological functioning, from miserable to content to flourishing. Researchers interested in happiness often define it as SWB, a multidimensional construct conceptualized as having cognitive and affective aspects (Diener et al. 2009). The cognitive aspect is indicated by life satisfaction judgments-global appraisals of the quality of one's life overall or in regard to specific domains of life. The affective aspects involve how often a person experiences positive emotions (e.g., delight, pride, and zest) and negative emotions (e.g., sadness and anger). People with high SWB judge their life to be going well on the whole and experience more frequent positive than negative emotions on a daily basis. Studies with children (Greenspoon and Saklofske 2001) and adolescents (Suldo and Shaffer 2008) find that youth with the best academic, social, and physical health outcomes have both minimal symptoms of psychopathology and high SWB (i.e., complete mental health). Thus, comprehensive mental health services entail both the prevention and amelioration of psychopathology, and the promotion of SWB. However, the science of how to increase SWB through school-based intervention strategies pales in comparison to knowledge of how to treat psychopathology.As explicated in a 2013 joint report from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the process of developing an educational intervention generally st...
This study examined facilitators of and barriers to comprehensive and integrated services. A national sample of 267 full‐time practicing school psychologists who were Regular Members or Early Career Members of the National Association of School Psychologists participated. We administered a survey to participants that measured the extent to which they engaged in comprehensive and integrated services and the top facilitators of and barriers to those services using web‐based survey procedures. Results indicated that the majority of facilitators identified (Personal Attributes, Stakeholder Involvement, Resources and Support, School‐Specific Variables, Contextual Variables) predicted greater levels of comprehensive and integrated service delivery. Identified barriers—which often reflected the opposite condition of the facilitators—predicted lower levels of service delivery in some instances; however, they predicted services less often than did facilitators. Implications for research focused on better understanding factors that impact service delivery and on processes for facilitating increased comprehensive and integrated service delivery are discussed. Additionally, implications for practice include the assessment of facilitators and barriers, the use of data to plan for the delivery of comprehensive and integrated services, and advocacy for systems change.
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