The Association Between Student Wellness and Student Engagement in School

School engagement has been identified as an important construct associated with student achievement, school completion, and more recently, student well-being. The present study included data from 200 ninth grade students of diverse ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic, & White) to explore dimensions of student wellness and their association with student engagement in school. Adolescents completed the Child and Adolescent Wellness Scale (CAWS) and the Student Engagement in School Questionnaire (SEQ). Results revealed that students viewed themselves positively on both measures, the two measures demonstrated adequate internal consistency, and all 10 dimensions of the CAWS were significantly related to student engagement in school. The current study provides support for dimensions of wellness contributing to measured student engagement in school, and discusses the potential of wellness concepts contributing to school mental health

Un estudio de las trayectorias de fluidez lectora oral en estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua y estudiantes de habla inglesa

Students’ oral reading fluency growth from first through fourth grade was used to predict their achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test (9th ed.; SAT-9 Reading) using a latent growth model. Two conditional variables related to student status were used to determine the effects on reading performance - English language learners (ELLs) with low socioeconomic status and low socioeconomic (SES) status alone. Results revealed that both types of student status variables reliably predicted low performance on initial first grade oral reading fluency, which later predicted fourth grade performance on the SAT-9. However, the reading fluency trajectories of the ELLs and monolingual English students were not significantly different. In addition, when both student status variables and letter naming fluency were used to predict initial oral reading fluency, letter naming fluency dominated the prediction equation, suggesting that an initial pre-reading skill, letter naming fluency, better explained fourth grade performance on the SAT-9 than either ELL with low SES or low SES alone. The discussion focuses on how to better enable these readers and how oral reading fluency progress monitoring can be used to assist school personnel in determining which students need additional instructional assistance.Los resultados revelaron que ambos tipos de variables sobre la condición del estudiante predecían de manera fiable un bajo desempeño en su fluidez lectora oral en 1o, que después predeciría el desempeño del 4o curso en el SAT-9. Sin embargo, las trayectorias de fluidez de lectura de los estudiantes ELL y de los estudiantes monolingües ingleses no presentaban diferencias significativas. Asimismo, cuando se utilizaron las dos variables sobre la situación del estudiante y la fluidez nombrando letras para predecir la fluidez lectora oral inicial, la fluidez a la hora de nombrar letras dominaba la ecuación de predicción, lo que indicaba que una habilidad inicial de prelectura como es la fluidez a la hora de nombrar las letras explicaba mejor el rendimiento de 4o curso en el SAT-9 que el hecho de ser estudiantes de legua inglesa con bajo estatus socio económico o el bajo estatus socioeconómico por sí sólo. El estudio se centra en cómo capacitar mejor a estos lectores y ver cómo se puede utilizar el seguimiento de su progreso en la lectura oral para ayudar al equipo escolar a determinar qué estudiantes necesitan recibir ayuda adicional en su formación

Supervision and satisfaction among school psychologists : an empirical study of professionals in Victoria, Australia

This study examined the supervision arrangements and job satisfaction among school psychologists in Victoria, Australia. Participation in professional supervision was explored in relation to the type of employment and job satisfaction. The results revealed that the frequency of participation in supervision activities was less than optimal, with many school psychologists reporting that they were unsatisfied with their supervision arrangements. Although school psychologists reported that they were generally satisfied with the nature of activities that make up their role, those in the Government school sector reported less satisfaction relative to those working in Catholic and Independent schools. Overall, more school psychologists working in Catholic schools reported that they participated in supervision than Government and Independent school psychologists. It is notable that many Catholic schools paid for supervision among school psychologists. Implications for practice and scholarship in the field of school psychology are discussed

Examining oral reading fluency trajectories among english language learners and english speaking students

Students' oral reading fluency growth from first through fourth grade was used to predict their achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test (9th ed.; SAT-9 Reading) using a latent growth model. Two conditional variables related to student status were used to determine the effects on reading performance - English language learners (ELLs) with low socioeconomic status and low socioeconomic (SES) status alone. Results revealed that both types of student status variables reliably predicted low performance on initial first grade oral reading fluency, which later predicted fourth grade performance on the SAT-9. However, the reading fluency trajectories of the ELLs and monolingual English students were not significantly different. In addition, when both student status variables and letter naming fluency were used to predict initial oral reading fluency, letter naming fluency dominated the prediction equation, suggesting that an initial pre-reading skill, letter naming fluency, better explained fourth grade performance on the SAT-9 than either ELL with low SES or low SES alone. The discussion focuses on how to better enable these readers and how oral reading fluency progress monitoring can be used to assist school personnel in determining which students need additional instructional assistance.Los resultados revelaron que ambos tipos de variables sobre la condición del estudiante predecían de manera fiable un bajo desempeño en su fluidez lectora oral en 1º, que después predeciría el desempeño del 4º curso en el SAT-9. Sin embargo, las trayectorias de fluidez de lectura de los estudiantes ELL y de los estudiantes monolingües ingleses no presentaban diferencias significativas. Asimismo, cuando se utilizaron las dos variables sobre la situación del estudiante y la fluidez nombrando letras para predecir la fluidez lectora oral inicial, la fluidez a la hora de nombrar letras dominaba la ecuación de predicción, lo que indicaba que una habilidad inicial de prelectura como es la fluidez a la hora de nombrar las letras explicaba mejor el rendimiento de 4º curso en el SAT-9 que el hecho de ser estudiantes de legua inglesa con bajo estatus socio económico o el bajo estatus socioeconómico por sí sólo. El estudio se centra en cómo capacitar mejor a estos lectores y ver cómo se puede utilizar el seguimiento de su progreso en la lectura oral para ayudar al equipo escolar a determinar qué estudiantes necesitan recibir ayuda adicional en su formación

Winning the battle and losing the war: Examining the relation between grade retention and dropping out of high school

The aim of this investigation is to provide a comprehensive review of dropout research that examines grade retention within both associative and predictive models. A systematic review of seventeen studies examining dropping out of high school prior to graduation demonstrates that grade retention is one of the most powerful predictors of dropout status. The discussion addresses the discrepancies among the perspectives of many educational professionals regarding the effectiveness of grade retention and deleterious long-term correlates. The transactional model of development is presented, which emphasizes developmental trajectories over time, in order to facilitate the interpretation of the association between grade retention and school withdrawal. Educational professionals, teachers, researchers, parents, and policymakers considering the efficacy of grade retention are encouraged to consider the implications of these findings

Addressing academic rejection: Recommendations for reform

The aim of this paper is to provide a number of reasoned and evidence-supported arguments and a list of recommendations for reducing the impact of academic rejection. A brief literature review examined the prevalence and negative impacts of academic rejection including its purported purposes, predictors, and consequences. Findings revealed that the topic of academic rejection is largely under-studied, with very few empirical investigations. The extant literature typically places the onus on the individual academic to deal with rejection. Few articles have recommended institutional changes to ameliorate the known mental health impacts of rejection. We propose that the discovery and dissemination of knowledge are among the core purposes of academia, and that scholars are far more likely to contribute through institutional and systemic support. Several elements of the current approaches are contraindicated, thus, we recommend several changes, at both the individual and institutional levels to reduce opportunity costs for grants and funding, improve the publication process, and promote academics’ mental health and wellbeing. When examining academic rejection through the lens of effective learning, the vast literature of feedback can support important changes to how publications are accepted and rejected. Considering the limited literature pertaining to academic rejection, we present recommendations for changes in how academic performance can be evaluated, for the benefit of both the academy and the mental health of its members