Terry B. Gutkin

Rational Emotive Therapy With Children and Adolescents A Meta-Analysis

This article systematically reviews the available research on rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) with children and adolescents. Meta-analytic procedures were applied to 19 studies that met inclusion criteria. The overall mean weighted effect of REBT was positive and significant. Weighted z r effect sizes were also computed for five outcome categories: anxiety, disruptive behaviors, irrationality, self-concept, and grade point average. In terms of magnitude, the largest positive mean effect of REBT was on disruptive behaviors. Analyses also revealed the following noteworthy findings: (a) there was no statistical difference between studies identified low or high in internal validity; (b) REBT appeared equally effective for children and adolescents presenting with and without identified problems; (c) non-mental health professionals produced REBT effects of greater magnitude than their mental health counterparts ; (d) the longer the duration of REBT sessions, the greater the impact, and (e) children benefited more from REBT than adolescents.The findings are discussed in terms of several important limitations along with suggestions for future research.

Ecological Psychology: Replacing the Medical Model Paradigm for School-Based Psychological and Psychoeducational Services

Traditional medical model service delivery systems have facilitated the creation of nationwide mental health and education pandemics for children and youth. The characteristics and shortcomings of medical model approaches leading to these problems are explicated, including the focus of services on individuals rather than populations, relying almost exclusively on remediation rather than prevention and early intervention, unintentionally creating a severe shortage of service providers, and providing treatments that lack sufficient efficacy. An ecological model of human behavior and service delivery is presented as an alternative that embodies the potential to address these problems and successfully address the mental health and education pandemics we currently face. It is concluded that a paradigm shift toward an ecological model is both essential and long overdue.

Teacher Resistance to School-Based Consultation with School Psychologists: A Survey of Teacher Perceptions.

This study investigated teacher resistance to real-world school-based consultation services delivered by school psychologists. In 2 analyses, the predictive power of both proximal and distal variables was examined with regard to the reported use of consultation over the course of the 1998—1999 school year by elementary school teachers. In the primaryfindings,factor analysis of survey items yielded 8 proximal variable factors: School Psychologist Characteristics, Principal Support for Consultation, Personal Teaching Efficacy, Teacher—School Psychologist Similarity, Classroom Management/Discipline Efficacy, Adequacy of Time Availability for Consulting, Opportunity to Reciprocate, and Teacher Consultation Insight. However, stepwise regression of actual reported teacher consultations on the factors revealed they were not significant. In the secondary analysis of distal variables, using stepwise regression, the number of hours the school psychologist is in the building was the only variable to make a significant, albeit small, contribution to the prediction of number of actual reported consultations. Several important methodological and conceptual differences between the present study and the literature on consultation are identified. Implications, study limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Effective Advising of Diverse Students in Community Colleges

In-depth interviews with 363 students across nine campuses capture the experiences of Latino, African American, Asian, Native American, White and Immigrant students in the California community college system. Four themes emerged with respect to advising and counseling: (a) Differences in the Use of Counseling and Advising; (b) The Importance of the Counseling Relationship; (c) Knowing the System; and (d) Cultural Understanding and Racism.

Contextual Influences and Response to Intervention: Critical Issues and Strategies

Amy L. Reschly, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia. reschly@uga.edu Melissa Coolong-Chaffin, EdS, is a doctoral student in Educational (School) Psychology at the University of Minnesota. cool0044@umn.edu Sandra L. Christenson, PhD, is Professor of Educational (School) Psychology at the University of Minnesota. chris002@umn.edu Terry B. Gutkin, PhD, is Professor of Counseling, San Francisco State University. tgutkin@sfsu.edu

Unstructured collaboration versus individual practice for complex problem solving : A cautionary tale

ABSTRACT. The authors used an experimental design to compare the effectiveness of unstructured collaborative practice with individual practice on achievement on a complex well-structured problem-solving task. Participants included postsecondary students (N = 257) from a liberal arts college serving primarily nontraditional students and from 2 state universities. Three videotaped instructional procedures were used: lessons on (a) introductory set theory, (b) a problem-solving heuristic, and (c) problem-solving modeling. Participants also engaged in active practice. A posttest assessed participant skills. A 2 (individual vs. collaborative treatment condition) x 2 (nontraditional vs. traditional educational setting) analysis of variance revealed significant main effects for treatment condition. Students who practiced individually outperformed those who practiced collaboratively. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.