Brett Zyromski

Adolescents' Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Parental Involvement: Implications for Parental Involvement in Middle Schools.

Abstract Adolescence is a critical period of development. Previous research suggests parent involvement in school directly impacts student success. However, different types of parental involvement and the efforts of middle school personnel to educate parents about these effective practices have received scant attention in the literature. The level and type of parental involvement, as perceived by adolescents, is correlated with adolescent psychological wellbeing. Perceived parental involvement positively or negatively affects adolescents’ sense of psychological well-being, especially self-esteem, self-evaluation, and peer relationships. Parenting style greatly influences children’s development as well. The authoritative/democratic parenting style influences middle school children, leading to positive developmental outcomes, positive adolescent selfevaluations, higher levels of adolescent self-esteem and adjustment, while also positively influencing levels of intrinsic motivation for learning. This article reviews research related to (a) adolescents’ perceptions of parental involvement, (b) the parenting style related to higher levels of psychological wellbeing, and (c) the impact of assorted parenting styles on adolescent psychological well-being. It concludes with implications for middle school systems, middle school counselors, families, parents, and community members.

A Training Model for School, Family, and Community Collaboration

Several authors emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to working with students, families, and their communities. However, existing school—community collaboration programs have not provided a model for direct clinical services to families using collaborative partnerships with counselors. The authors propose one training model that would allow counselors from different specialties to work together as clinicians, with families, as they provide Parent Education programs.

Online Reflections About Relationships at School: Implications for School Violence

This article presents a qualitative study of the Succeeding in School program, an Internet-based intervention designed to help students reflect on key elements of academic success. The 139 students (10–12 years old) who participated in this study were largely of American Indian heritage and attended an elementary school (K–6) in southeastern North Carolina. A phenomenological examination of the data found that students used the Succeeding in School program to identify relationship with peers, relationship with teachers, and finally the relationship with self. The relationships with peers, with teachers, and with themselves may lead to success, or may lead to violence.

Establishing the Factor Structure of the 18-Item Version of the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory

The Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory is a student self-report scale developed to correspond to a two-factor model of metacognition. Exploratory (N = 1,783) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 942) were conducted using data from students in Grades 6 through 12 with results supporting two underlying factors corresponding to Knowledge and Regulation of Cognition.