Assessment and intervention issues and models in School Psychology : the case of Europe and North America

As práticas da Psicologia Escolar parecem ser cada vez mais marcadas pelas necessidades de referenciação/diagnóstico de crianças para o subsistema de educação especial, em detrimento do desenho e implementação de intervenções dirigidas aos problemas específicos dos alunos. A aparente insatisfação dos psicólogos escolares com essa tendência, bem como as dificuldades na utilização de modelos categoriais de diagnóstico em contexto escolar, têm dado origem à progressiva implementação de modelos alternativos de avaliação e intervenção, principalmente de modelos Response to Intervention, Curriculum-Based Measurement e Problem Solving. A controvérsia quanto à natureza verdadeiramente alternativa desses modelos parece, no entanto, longe de se esgotar. Neste artigo são discutidas vantagens e limitações dos diferentes modelos, de acordo com a melhor evidência disponível na literatura, e são ainda equacionadas as suas implicações nas práticas da Psicologia Escolar. Practices in School Psychology seem to be increasingly restricted to referrals/diagnosis of children for the sub-system of special education instead of being focused on the design and implementation of interventions for students with specific problems. The apparent dissatisfaction of school psychologists with this trend and the difficulties dealing with categorical diagnostic models within the school context have stimulated a movement toward the implementation of alternative assessment and intervention models, such as Response to Intervention, Curriculum-Based Measurement and Problem-Solving. However, the controversy about the true alternative nature of these models seems far from being exhausted. The aim of this paper is to discuss the benefits and limitations of the different models according to the best evidence available. We also consider the implications for practices in School PsychologyPractices in School Psychology seem to be increasingly restricted to referrals/diagnosis of children for the sub-system of special education instead of being focused on the design and implementation of interventions for students with specific problems. The apparent dissatisfaction of school psychologists with this trend and the difficulties dealing with categorical diagnostic models within the school context have stimulated a movement toward the implementation of alternative assessment and intervention models, such as Response to Intervention, Curriculum-Based Measurement and Problem-Solving. However, the controversy about the true alternative nature of these models seems far from being exhausted. The aim of this paper is to discuss the benefits and limitations of the different models according to the best evidence available. We also consider the implications for practices in School Psychology(undefined

How portuguese and american teachers plan for literacy instruction

This study explored American and Portuguese elementary teachers' preferences in planning for literacy instruction using the Language Arts Activity Grid (LAAG; Cunningham, Zibulsky, Stanovich, & Stanovich, 2009), on which teachers described their preferred instructional activities for a hypothetical 2-h language arts block. Portuguese teachers (N = 186) completed Portuguese versions of a background questionnaire and LAAG electronically, in Survey Monkey; American teachers (N = 102) completed identical English measures using paper and pencil. Results showed that teachers in both groups usually addressed comprehension and reading fluency on their LAAGs and that they also allocated the most time to these two areas. However, American teachers were more likely to include teacher-directed fluency activities, whereas Portuguese teachers were more likely to include fluency activities that were not teacher directed. Significantly more American than Portuguese teachers addressed phonics in their planning, whereas significantly more Portuguese than American teachers addressed writing processes such as revision. Both groups of educators demonstrated large variability in planning, with many teachers omitting important components of literacy identified by researchers, for writing as well as reading. The study highlights the importance of providing teachers with comprehensive, research-based core literacy curricula as well as professional development on key components of literacy. Study findings also suggest significant relationships between orthographic transparency and teachers' instructional planning.This research was supported by a 2-year grant from the Foundation Francisco Manuel dos Santos in Portugal as well as by a Connecticut State University research grant in the U.S.A. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to these funding agencies as well as to the teachers and school districts who participated in the study and sent messages of interest about our research. In addition, warm thanks to our research assistants for their help with data collection, coding, and analysis, and to Anne Cunningham for providing us with inspiration as well as guidance in this work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Monitoreo del progreso del alumno en la identificación de riesgo en la lectura

Este estudo tem por nalidade analisar o uso da monitorização com base no currículo como sistema escolar de identi cação de alunos em risco na leitura, no contexto de um modelo educativo baseado no grau de resposta à intervenção. Realizou-se uma investigação quantitativa em que participaram todos os alunos do 3o ano (82 alunos) de um agrupamento de escolas do norte de Portugal. O tratamento de dados foi feito com recurso à estatística descritiva e inferencial. Destacam-se, entre outras conclusões, a existência de dez alunos em risco na leitura durante todo o ano letivo e o facto de, no nal do 3o ano de escolaridade, a média de resultados dos alunos que nunca estiveram em risco ser superior ao dobro da média de resultados dos alunos que estiveram em risco todo o ano.This study aims to analyze the use of curriculum-based monitoring as a school system to identify students at risk in reading, in the context of an educational model based on the degree of response to intervention. A quantitative investigation was conducted with all third grade students (82 students) from a group of schools in the north of Portugal. Data processing was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Among the conclusions, the following stand out: the existence of ten students at risk in reading throughout the school year and the fact that, at the end of the third year of schooling, the mean results of students who were never at risk was more than double the mean results of students who were at risk for the entire year.Cette étude a pour but d’analyser l’usage du contôle ayant pour base le coursus comme système scolaire d’identification des élèves présentant des risques dans la lecture, dans le contexte d’un modèle éducatif fondé sur le degrée de réponse à l’intervention. On a fait une investigation quantitative à laquelle ont participé tous les élèves de CM1 (82 élèves) d’un groupement d’écoles du nord du Portugal. Le traitement des données a été fait à l’aide de la statistique descriptive et inférentielle. On souligne, entre autres conclusions, l’existence de dix élèves en risque dans la lecture pendant toute l’année scolaire et le fait qu’à la fin de la troisièmme année de scolarité, la moyenne des résultats des élèves n’ayant jamais été en risque soit supérieur au double de la moyenne des résultats des élèves qui ont été en risque toute l’année.Este estudio tiene la finalidad de analizar el uso del monitoreo del currículo como sistema escolar de identificación de alumnos en riesgo en la lectura, en el marco de un modelo educativo basado en el grado de respuesta a la intervención. Se llevó a cabo una investigación cuantitativa en la que participaron todos los alumnos del 3er año (82 alumnos) de un agrupamiento de escuelas del norte de Portugal. El tratamiento de datos se efectuó por medio de la estadística descriptiva e de inferencias. Se destacan, entre otras conclusiones, la existencia de diez alumnos en riesgo en la lectura durante todo el año lectivo y el hecho de que, al final del 3er año de escolaridad, el promedio de resultados de los alumnos que nunca estuvieron en riesgo era superior al doble del promedio de resultados de los alumnos que estuvieron en riesgo todo el año.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Best practices in evaluating interventions

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facbooks/1056/thumbnail.jp

Functional behavioral assessment of classroom behavior

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facbooks/1057/thumbnail.jp