Effects of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce on Academic Engagement and Disruptive Behavior

This study assessed the effectiveness of prevent-teach-reinforce (P-T-R), a functional behavioral assessment-based intervention for students with behavior problems, using an A-B-A-B design with follow-up. Participants included three students in kindergarten, fourth grade, and fifth grade in a rural Midwestern school district. P-T-R interventions were implemented with fidelity by all teachers and P-T-R was associated with mean decreases in disruptive behavior for all participants with Tau-U effect sizes ranging from minimal to strong. All three participants demonstrated mean increases in academic engagement with strong effect sizes. P-T-R interventions were associated with moderate to high levels of perceived social validity. Implications for consistent and efficient FBA-based interventions in schools are discussed.     

The Successful Treatment of Diurnal and Nocturnal Enuresis and Encopresis

Two children, a boy aged six and a girl aged five-and-one half, were treated for diurnal enuresis. The boy was also treated for bedwetting and the girl for encopresis. The treatment program was conducted by the children's parents and featured daily, weekly, and monthly rewards, a feedback "star chart" and nonexclusionary timeout for accidents. The girl's daytime wetting and soiling were treated simultaneously with soiling being eliminated first. After the boy's daytime wetting had been eliminated, he was given dry-bed training (Azrin, Sneed, & Foxx, 1974) with equal success. Long term follow-ups revealed that all forms of toileting accidents had been eliminated.     

美国积极心理学介评

积极心理学是近年来美国出现的一个新兴的心理学研究领域,它对二战后心理学中存在以病理学研究为重点的倾向提出了异议,主张心理学应对人类自身拥有的正向品质加以研究。文章从其思想主张出发,结合有关研究现状及存在问题对积极心理学进行了一个概括的介绍及简评。     

Examining classroom influences on student perceptions of school climate: The role of classroom management and exclusionary discipline strategies

There is growing emphasis on the use of positive behavior supports rather than exclusionary discipline strategies to promote a positive classroom environment. Yet, there has been limited research examining the association between these two different approaches to classroom management and students' perceptions of school climate. Data from 1902 students within 93 classrooms that were nested within 37 elementary schools were examined using multilevel structural equation modeling procedures to investigate the association between two different classroom management strategies (i.e., exclusionary discipline strategies and the use of positive behavior supports) and student ratings of school climate (i.e., fairness, order and discipline, student–teacher relationship, and academic motivation). The analyses indicated that greater use of exclusionary discipline strategies was associated with lower order and discipline scores, whereas greater use of classroom-based positive behavior supports was associated with higher scores on order and discipline, fairness, and student–teacher relationship. These findings suggest that pre-service training and professional development activities should promote teachers' use of positive behavior support strategies and encourage reduced reliance on exclusionary discipline strategies in order to enhance the school climate and conditions for learning.     

Evaluation of a Targeted Intervention Within a Schoolwide System of Behavior Support

A recommended component of comprehensive behavior support in schools is a targeted intervention designed to efficiently and effectively meet the support needs of students who are not responding to preventive schoolwide intervention strategies (Sugai, Horner et al., 2000; Walker et al., 1996). This study provides a fine-grained analysis using a multiple baseline across students design with the targeted intervention as the independent variable, and both classroom problem behavior and academic engagement as dependent variables. The multiple baseline analysis documents a modest functional relationship between implementation of the intervention and reduction in problem behavior. Implications for the design of behavior support in schools and the development of future research are provided.     

Examining the Efficacy of School-Based Consultation: Recommendations for Improving Outcomes

SUMMARY

Schools are faced with the difficult task of educating students who present diverse learning and behavioral challenges. To meet student needs, schools tap the expertise of a variety of specialists who provide services through “pull-out” programs or consultation to general educators. Unfortunately, neither strategy has proved effective to date with respect to children and youth who present significant social behavior problems. A brief review of the literature points to the shortcomings as linked to multiple treatments with varying outcomes and inconsistent implementation of best practices. One option to address the challenges schools face in light of ineffective practices to date is the development of school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS). Effective implementation of school-wide systems of PBS will require moving the consultation process from individual cases to working with teams of educators. Key skills and possible measurement strategies to develop and sustain school-wide consultation efforts are discussed.     

A Survey of Behavior Analysis and Behavioral Consultation Courses in School Psychology: Implications for Training School Psychologists

All 216 doctoral and specialist level school psychology training programs were mailed a seven question survey to determine how much behavioral consultation and behavior analysis course work school psychology students are offered. One hundred and twenty-eight surveys were returned, yielding a return rate of 58.26%. The results indicated that almost all programs offer didactic courses in consultation (98.79%) and behavior analysis/behavior modification (91.52%). The percentage of practicum devoted to behavioral consultation and behavior analysis/modification was considerably less (about 25% for each) than other subject areas. The results are discussed within the context of training needed to meet the needs of practitioners in the areas of behavioral consultation and behavior analysis/behavior modification.     

The prevention of anxiety and depression in children from disadvantaged schools

A randomised controlled trial evaluated the Aussie Optimism Program in preventing anxiety and depression. Grade 7 students (n = 496) from disadvantaged government schools in Perth Western Australia, participated. Six schools were randomly assigned to Aussie Optimism and six schools received their usual health education lessons. Students completed questionnaires on depression, anxiety, attribution style, and social skills. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist. No significant group effects were found for student-reported data. Parents of intervention group only students reported reductions in internalizing problems at post-test. No follow-up group effects were significant. Students and teachers found the program acceptable.     

初中流动儿童的内隐群体偏爱、社会支持及其对学校适应的影响

以群体偏爱的IAT测验为实验材料,结合社会支持和学校适应问卷,考察初中流动儿童在内隐群体偏爱、社会支持上与本地儿童之间的差异,并探讨这两种变量对流动儿童学校适应的影响.结果表明：（1）流动儿童存在内隐外群体偏爱,对自身所属群体表现出内隐的消极认同;本地儿童存在内隐内群体偏爱,对流动儿童具有内隐的消极认知;（2）流动儿童在父亲、教师以及同性朋友的社会支持上显著差于本地儿童;（3）在对流动儿童学校适应的影响上,社会支持的主效应显著,内隐群体偏爱和社会支持的交互作用显著;高内隐群体偏爱组中,高社会支持流动儿童的学校适应优于低社会支持儿童.     

The Disproportionality Dilemma: Patterns of Teacher Referrals to School Counselors for Disruptive Behavior

Disproportionality plagues schools nationwide in special education placement, dropout, discipline referral, suspension, and expulsion rates. This study examined predictors of teacher referrals to school counselors for disruptive behavior in a sample of students selected from the Educational Longitudinal Study 2002 (National Center for Education Statistics, n.d.). Findings demonstrated that students’ race predicted English teacher referrals; students’ gender, previous disciplinary infractions, and teachers’ postsecondary expectations for students predicted English and math teacher referrals. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.     

Effects of harsh parenting and positive parenting practices on youth aggressive behavior: The moderating role of early pubertal timing

Prior research indicates that early pubertal timing is associated with aggressive behavior, particularly in the context of adversity as postulated in the contextual amplification hypothesis. However, few studies have examined harsh parenting as the context for the effect of early pubertal timing. Even fewer studies have tested the interactive effect of early pubertal timing and positive parenting on aggressive behavior. In this study, we tested the proposition that early pubertal timing, contrary to the general conception of it as a vulnerability, indexed susceptibility, and thus early maturing individuals were affected more by their environment in a “for better and for worse” manner. The sample consisted of 411 community‐recruited youth aged 11–12 years (51% boys, 80% African Americans). Participants reported Tanner Stages of pubertal development, aggressive behavior and harsh parenting practice of their parents. Puberty scores were standardized with groups of the same age, sex, and ethnicity, and those that scored the top one‐third were defined as early maturing individuals. Parents reported youth's aggressive behavior and their parenting practices towards the youth, including harsh parenting and positive parenting. Early pubertal timing significantly moderated the relationship between harsh/positive parenting and aggressive behavior. Specifically, harsh parenting was positively associated with aggressive behavior to a larger degree among early maturing individuals than among on‐time/late‐maturing individuals. Positive parenting was inversely associated with aggressive behavior but only among early maturing individuals. This study is the first to document support for early pubertal timing as susceptibility to the environmental influences in relation to aggressive behavior. Theoretical and intervention implications are discussed.

     

The left side of courage: Three exploratory studies on the antecedents of social courage

Abstract

Courage has been linked to important workplace outcomes, but little is known about the antecedents of courage. To identify possible methods to develop a more courageous workforce, the current article provides initial evidence regarding the antecedents of behavioral social courage from five broad categories: personality, job characteristics, leadership, culture, and demographic characteristics. Three exploratory studies show that certain antecedents from these categories have a significant relationship with behavioral social courage, including grit, proactive personality (personality), social support (job characteristics), empowering leadership (leadership), power distance (culture), and age (demographics). Perceived courage benefits and risks did not mediate the effect of most antecedents on behavioral social courage. These results suggest that certain antecedents may influence behavioral social courage, but the mediators of these relationships remain unknown. Further implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

初中生元认知阅读策略训练效应的实验研究

采用对比实验的方法,运用自编的元认知阅读策略训练教程对重点中学和普通中学的初二学生进行了训练。结果表明:(1)对初中生进行元认知阅读策略训练能有效地提高其阅读理解成绩;(2)对普通中学初中生进行元认知阅读策略训练的效果优于对重点中学初中生进行训练的效果。     

The Effects of School Bonding on High School Seniors’ Academic Achievement

The authors examine the effects of school bonding on academic achievement (measured by math achievement scores) in a sample of 12th graders from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 ( Ingels, Pratt, Rogers, Siegel, & Stutts, 2005 ). Components of school bonding have proximal and distal effects on academic achievement. Attachment to school and school involvement had direct effects on achievement; attachment to teachers and school commitment behaviors had indirect effects on achievement through school‐related delinquency and prior achievement. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Completion Versus Accuracy Contingencies on Practice-Exam and Actual-Exam Performance

Students in four sections of an undergraduate educational course (two large and two small sections) took out-of-class practice exams prior to actual exams for each of five course units. Each course unit consisted of five class sessions focusing on a specific developmental theme. Some sections received practice-exam credit based on the number of items completed, whereas other sections received practice-exam credit based on the number of items answered accurately. The contingencies were applied only to the practice exams. A two-way MANOVA included two independent variables (practice-exam contingency and group size) and two dependent variables (practice-exam performance and unit-exam performance). The analysis revealed a main effect for both independent variables across both dependent variables, with students performing better under the accuracy than the completion contingency and better in the small than the large groups. One exception to this overall pattern was a non-significant difference between the large and small groups on the practice exams across both contingencies.     

青少年学校满意度发展特点及其对学校归属感的预测

采用问卷法对1093名青少年进行调查,考察了青少年学校满意度的特点及学校满意度对学校归属感的预测。结果发现:1)青少年在学校满意度六个维度的均值排列顺序由高到低依次为:同学关系、师生关系、教学、学校管理、成就、课业学习。2)不同性别、年级、学习成绩的青少年在学校满意度各维度上的满意情况不同。3)青少年学校满意度和学校归属感紧密相关。年级、学习成绩、学校满意度均对学校归属感具有显著预测作用。     

Proximal Peer-Level Effects of a Small-Group Selected Prevention on Aggression in Elementary School Children: An Investigation of the Peer Contagion Hypothesis

Examined peer contagion in small group, selected prevention programming over one school year. Participants were boys and girls in grades 3 (46 groups, 285 students) and 6 (36 groups, 219 students) attending school in low-resource, inner city communities or moderate resource urban communities. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling (observations within individuals within groups) indicated that individual change in aggression over time related to the average aggression of others in the intervention group. The individual child was pulled toward peers mean level of aggression; so the intervention appeared to reduce aggression for those high on aggression, and to make those low on aggression more aggressive. Effects appeared to be magnified in either direction when the child was more discrepant from his or her peers. From these results we derive a principle of discrepancy-proportional peer-influence for small group intervention, and discuss the implications of this for aggregating aggressive children in small group programs.     

Mentoring Youth with Psychiatric Disorders: The Impact on Child and Parent Functioning

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effectiveness of a behavioral mentoring program aimed at serving youth with psychiatric disorders. Participants included 30 youth (8–12 years old) receiving services in a mentoring program for a mental health population and 30 wait-listed youth and their maternal caregivers. Participating in mentoring services was related to higher family functioning across a number of domains including child behavior, parenting stress, perceived parent social support, and perceived parent-child relationship quality. As predicted, parenting stress mediated the relationship between mentoring and children's externalizing behavior problems. Results suggest that mentoring services may be a useful adjunct service for highly stressed families with children with emotional and behavioral disorders.