Introduction to this Special Issue on Cross-National Differences in School-Based Counseling Practice

This special issue of the Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation presents the outcomes of the research of a team of international scholars seeking to better understand the nature of the variability of school-based counseling practice across countries and the contextual determinants of this variability. A lead article describes a large, ten-nation, factor analytic study of school-based counselors’ ratings on the International Survey of School-Based Counseling Activities (ISSCA) that identified five dimensions that describe cross-national variability. Five articles use this five-dimensional framework to describe the mode of practice for school-based counseling within a single country (India, Kenya, Malta, Nigeria, and the United States) and to organize a discussion of the contextual factors related to these modes of practice. One article used the five-dimensional framework to compare the modes of practice in two countries (Costa Rica and Venezuela). The last article reported the results of two separate factor analyses from respondents in Hong Kong and supported the validity and utility of the five dimensions presented in the lead article. Implications, future directions and limitations were discussed relating to the promotion of cross-national, comparative research in school-based counseling

School-Based Counseling in the United States: Mode of Practice and International Comparisons Related to Five Dimensions of Practice

This study used the five dimensions of practice identified by Carey, Fan, He, and Jin (2020) to describe the preferred mode of practice of US school-based counselors and compare this mode of practice with nine other countries. A total of 380 US school counselors completed the International Survey of School Counselor Activities-United States. Mean item ratings and mean BART scores were used for both descriptions and comparisons. US counselors indicated that Counseling Services; Advocacy and Systemic Improvement; Prevention Programs; and, Educational and Career Planning were all important aspects of their role. In comparison to international counterparts, US counselors placed greater emphasis on Advocacy and Systemic Improvement and Prevention Programs. Results confirmed previous scholarship suggesting that counselors in the US have a very broad role. Any reformulation of this role would benefit from comparative international research on the strengths and limitations of different modes of practice

The trisomy 18 syndrome

The trisomy 18 syndrome, also known as Edwards syndrome, is a common chromosomal disorder due to the presence of an extra chromosome 18, either full, mosaic trisomy, or partial trisomy 18q. The condition is the second most common autosomal trisomy syndrome after trisomy 21. The live born prevalence is estimated as 1/6,000-1/8,000, but the overall prevalence is higher (1/2500-1/2600) due to the high frequency of fetal loss and pregnancy termination after prenatal diagnosis. The prevalence of trisomy 18 rises with the increasing maternal age. The recurrence risk for a family with a child with full trisomy 18 is about 1%. Currently most cases of trisomy 18 are prenatally diagnosed, based on screening by maternal age, maternal serum marker screening, or detection of sonographic abnormalities (e.g., increased nuchal translucency thickness, growth retardation, choroid plexus cyst, overlapping of fingers, and congenital heart defects ). The recognizable syndrome pattern consists of major and minor anomalies, prenatal and postnatal growth deficiency, an increased risk of neonatal and infant mortality, and marked psychomotor and cognitive disability. Typical minor anomalies include characteristic craniofacial features, clenched fist with overriding fingers, small fingernails, underdeveloped thumbs, and short sternum. The presence of major malformations is common, and the most frequent are heart and kidney anomalies. Feeding problems occur consistently and may require enteral nutrition. Despite the well known infant mortality, approximately 50% of babies with trisomy 18 live longer than 1 week and about 5-10% of children beyond the first year. The major causes of death include central apnea, cardiac failure due to cardiac malformations, respiratory insufficiency due to hypoventilation, aspiration, or upper airway obstruction and, likely, the combination of these and other factors (including decisions regarding aggressive care). Upper airway obstruction is likely more common than previously realized and should be investigated when full care is opted by the family and medical team. The complexity and the severity of the clinical presentation at birth and the high neonatal and infant mortality make the perinatal and neonatal management of babies with trisomy 18 particularly challenging, controversial, and unique among multiple congenital anomaly syndromes. Health supervision should be diligent, especially in the first 12 months of life, and can require multiple pediatric and specialist evaluations

Development of a Logic Model to Guide Evaluations of the ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs

A logic model was developed based on an analysis of the 2012 American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model in order to provide direction for program evaluation initiatives. The logic model identified three outcomes (increased student achievement/gap reduction, increased school counseling program resources, and systemic change and school improvement), seven outputs (student change, parent involvement, teacher competence, school policies and processes, competence of the school counselors, improvements in the school counseling program, and administrator support), six major clusters of activities (direct services, indirect services, school counselor personnel evaluation, program management processes, program evaluation processes and program advocacy) and two inputs (foundational elements and program resources). The identification of these logic model components and linkages among these components was used to identify a number of necessary and important evaluation studies of the ASCA National Model

Activities and Role of School Counselors in West Virginia: A Comparison to a National Sample

A national study of school counselor role and professional activities (Fan et al., 2019) was replicated using a West Virginia (WV) school counselor sample to determine if WV’s unique context and state policies would reflect a difference in how counselors perceive their roles and conduct professional practices. The comparison between WV sample and its national counterparts showed that school counselors grade level is robustly related to professional practice, with high school counselors demonstrating different levels of work focus than middle and elementary counselors. The WV sample did not demonstrate any practically significant differences from the previously collected national U.S. sample (Fan et al. 2019) on any ISSCA-US subsamples or items. While these results add confidence to the generalizability of Fan et al.’s (2019) findings, interestingly, no differences in role or practice were identified given the significant state policy initiatives to tailor school counseling practice towards state needs, models, and approaches

Interfacial properties of most monofluorinated bile acids deviate markedly from the natural congeners: studies with the Langmuir-Pockels surface balance

We characterized the air-water interfacial properties of four monofluorinated bile acids alone and in binary mixtures with a common lecithin, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), using an automated Langmuir-Pockels surface balance. We compared 7alpha-fluoromurocholic acid (FMCA), 7alpha-fluorohyodeoxycholic acid (FHDCA), 6alpha-fluoroursodeoxycholic acid (FUDCA), and 6alpha-fluorochenodeoxycholic acid (FCDCA) with their natural dihydroxy homologs, murocholic acid (MCA), hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA), ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA). For further comparison, two trihydroxy bile acids, 3alpha,6beta,7alpha-trihydroxycholanoic acid [alpha-muricholic acid (alpha-MCA)] and 3alpha,6alpha,7beta-trihydroxycholanoic acid [omega-muricholic acid (omega-MCA)], with isologous OH polar functions to FMCA and FUDCA were also studied. Pressure-area isotherms of MCA, HDCA, UDCA, CDCA, and FMCA displayed sharp collapse points. In contrast, FHDCA, FUDCA, and FCDCA formed monolayers that were less stable than the trihydroxy bile acids, displaying second-order phase transitions in their isotherms. All natural and fluorinated bile acids condensed mixed monolayers with POPC, with maximal effects at molar bile acid concentrations between 30 and 50 mol%. Examination of molecular models revealed that the 7alpha-F atom of the interfacially stable FMCA projects away from the 6beta-OH function, resulting in minimal steric interactions, whereas in FHDCA, FUDCA, and FCDCA, close vicinal interactions between OH and F polar functions result in progressive bulk solubility upon monolayer compression. These results provide a framework for designing F-modified bile acids to mimic or diverge from the natural compounds in vivo

Noncommutative atiyah-patodi-singer boundary conditions and index pairings in KK-theory

We investigate an extension of ideas of Atiyah-Patodi-Singer (APS) to a noncommutative geometry setting framed in terms of Kasparov modules. We use a mapping cone construction to relate odd index pairings to even index pairings with APS boundary conditions in the setting of KK-theory, generalising the commutative theory. We find that Cuntz-Krieger systems provide a natural class of examples for our construction and the index pairings coming from APS boundary conditions yield complete K-theoretic information about certain graph C*-algebra