Psychologists'' and teachers'' reactions to mental health and behavioral school consultation

School psychologists and elementary school teachers were shown videotapes of a psychologist consulting with a teacher, with the psychologist using either behavioral or mental health consultation techniques. Problem situations and teacher-consultee verbalizations did not differ across the two sets of videotapes. Afterwards, subjects judged the effectiveness of of the consultation and the personal attributes of the consulting parties. In general, teachers preferred behavioral consultation, while psychologists rated the mental health consultation as more effective. Implications of these findings for consultation reaearch and practice are discussed.     

Acceptability of positive and reductive behavioral interventions: Factors that influence teachers'' decisions

Treatment acceptability refers to individuals' judgments as to whether psychological treatment procedures are appropriate, fair, and reasonable for a given problem. In the present two-experiment study, experienced teachers' ratings of acceptability for positive (i.e., praise, home-based reinforcement, and token economy) and reductive (i.e., ignoring, response-cost lottery, and seclusion time-out) behavioral interventions were investigated. Using the Intervention Rating Profile (IRP) and a case study methodology to manipulate variables of intervention complexity and problem behavior severity, it was established that (a) teachers' acceptability ratings of both positive and reductive interventions varied with the severity of a target behavior, (b) the complexity of an intervention influenced teachers' ratings of acceptability, less complex or time-consuming interventions being rated generally more acceptable, and (c) mean acceptability ratings were significantly more favorable for positive than reductive treatments. These findings are discussed in the context of previous acceptability research and future investigations.     

An analysis of the relationship between children''s self-concept and their teachers'' assessments of their behavior: Implications for prediction and intervention

The importance of teachers as significant others in the formation and development of children's school-related self-concepts has been widely recognized. However, the relationship between teachers' assessments of children's nonacademic school-related behaviors and children's school-related self-concepts has not been sufficiently investigated. The present study examined the relationship between children's self-concept of their intellectual and school status and their teachers' assessments of their behavior in school. The sample included 142 children in grades 3, 4, and 5 and 70 teachers. The results showed that teachers' assessments of children's behavior in three areas accounted for 72% of the variance in school-related self-concept.