Cynthia E. Hazel

Student School Engagement Among Sexual Minority Students: Understanding the Contributors to Predicting Academic Outcomes

ABSTRACT Hierarchical multiple regression is used to examine whether student school engagement predicts grade point average (GPA) and fear-based truancy among 315 sexual minority youth aged 13 to 24 years. Results indicate that student school engagement is a significant predictor of GPA, and this relationship is strongest in the presence of a gay–straight alliance. Having an adult ally at school is associated with a decrease in fear-based truancy, while student school engagement predicts a decrease in fear-based truancy only for youth who have higher levels of subjective fear at school. Implications for future research and for practice among school-based helping professionals are discussed.

Creating inclusive communities through pedagogy at three elementary schools

This qualitative study investigated how pedagogy-driven schools create inclusive communities. From the analysis of open-ended interviews with members of 3 pedagogically driven public elementary schools (Core Knowledge, Experiential, and Montessori) in the United States of America, 3 themes emerged: (1) community and culture, (2) structure, and (3) responsibility and expectations. The emphasis on community building and conscious attention to culture was universal: Members wanted to be at that school, there was a strong belief in the pedagogy, and all school community members were clear that their most important outcome was student success. Each school had 3 essential building blocks in their pedagogy: academic education, affective education, and individualization of instruction. Each school expected adults and students to set and achieve high behavior and learning targets. Recommendations for applying these findings by practitioners and researchers are provided.

Training confident school-based consultants: The role of course content, process, and supervision.

Consultation competency is a critical component of health services psychology training, as consultation permeates all aspects of service delivery. Despite the increasing importance of consultation as a form of service delivery, school-based preservice-level consultation training has historically lacked rigor. Many components of training may contribute to psychology graduates’ confidence to consult in schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of specific consultation training components (i.e., coursework, competencies included in training, field experiences, supervision, and models) to the development of confidence to consult in early career school psychology practice. Data were collected as part of a larger study on early career school psychologists’ consultation training and practices (n = 262). Bivariate correlations, repeated-measures analysis of variance, and a multiple regression model were estimated to fulfill the purpose of the study. Results indicated (a) exposure to given consultation models were positively correlated with confidence consulting with different types of consultees, (b) respondents had varying levels of confidence consulting with different types of consultees, and (c) quantity of coursework, supervision strategies, and exposure to formal consultation models emerged as significant predictors of confidence to consult at graduation. Recommendations for consultation training include (a) coverage of systems-level consultation and team-based consultative problem solving, increasingly common contexts for consultation in contemporary schools; (b) implementation of applied experiences and supervision in tandem for the development of consulting confidence; and (c) inclusion of formal models of consultation in consultation training. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Timeless and Timely Advice: A Commentary on “Consultation to Facilitate Planned Organizational Change in Schools,” an article by Joseph E. Zins and Robert J. Illback

This commentary on Zins and Illbacks (1995) article, Consultation to Facilitate Planned Organizational Change in Schools, argues that the authors provided a solid foundation for well-planned, proactive, sustainable, internally-driven systemic change in schools that has yet to be widely realized. Their school organizational change model and more recent change models provide guidance for realizing a change from an individual, remedial focus to a population-based and preventative practice.

Early-Career School Psychologists’ Perceptions of Consultative Service Delivery: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

ABSTRACT School consultation is practiced in rapidly changing educational settings, including increasing student diversity and the implementation of a multitiered system of supports. This changing context may shift the boundaries of what it means to consult and how best to achieve change through consultation. The purpose of this study was to explore how early-career school psychologists (ECSPs) defined and implemented consultation and what barriers and facilitators influenced their perceived ability to achieve change through consultation. Triangulated quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of 262 ECSPs indicated gaps between historical, aspirational views of consultation in school psychology and what these practitioners reported is happening in the field. Tensions in the data are explored with consideration given to implications for consultation practice in current school contexts and in the early career.

Conducting Rigorous Survey Research in the Study of School-Based Consultation.

ABSTRACT The evidence base for school-based consultation practice and training is limited by a small number of studies, possibly due to unique challenges in researching consultation. For example, there are myriad variables to measure and idiosyncratic cultural and contextual factors to account for when investigating what works, for whom, and in what circumstances. Survey methodology offers one means for conducting consultation research. This article proposes a process for rigorous survey research in school-based consultation training and practice, which addresses some potential concerns regarding survey research. Specifically, issues of survey development, survey validation, sampling, and data collection are addressed. These processes are illustrated through the design and administration of an online survey of 262 early career school psychologists; preliminary data analyses suggested strong scale reliability, minimal item response bias, and population representativeness. Recommendations for future consultation survey research are provided.