Esquecidos após a exclusão escolar: uma meta-análise do estudo da deriva educacional / Forgotten after school exclusion: an educational drift study meta-analysis / Olvidados tras la exclusión escolar: un metanálisis del estudio de la deriva educativa

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar os desafios e possibilidades encontradas no estudo da deriva educacional, condição em que os sujeitos já estiveram na escola, mas foram dela excluídos antes de concluir a educação básica, sendo responsabilizados pelo retorno aos estudos. Trata-se de um ensaio teórico-metodológico que foca no pensamento categorial, sobretudo a categoria da dimensão subjetiva como recurso para apreensão da concreticidade do fenômeno social estudado. A deriva educacional é um fenômeno social pouco estudado no campo da Psicologia da Educação e a possibilidade de explicá-lo é desafiadora, tendo em vista as armadilhas presentes nos discursos carregados da intenção de ocultar o modo como se trata de uma condição social e historicamente determinada no modo de produção capitalista. Diante dessa dificuldade, ter como base teórico-etodológica o Materialismo Histórico-dialético (MHD) e a Psicologia Sócio-histórica (PSH) foi fundamental. O pensamento categorial possibilitou, partindo das significações dos participantes da pesquisa, superar as múltiplas camadas de aparência para compreender a deriva educacional em sua complexidade. A categoria da dimensão subjetiva e o processo de análise por meio dos núcleos de significação possibilitaram chegar a uma síntese das múltiplas determinações da deriva educacional que permitiu explicá-la de forma contra-hegemônica, apontando para os movimentos já existentes ou ainda necessários para a transformação, sem recorrer à justificativas individualizantes, psicologizantes ou sociologizantes. (AU)

This article aims to analyze the challenges and possibilities experienced in the educational drift study, condition in which the subjects had already been to school, but were excluded from it before completing basic education, being held responsible for returning to their studies. This is a theoretical-methodological essay that focuses on categorical thinking, especially the subjective dimension category as a resource for apprehending the social phenomenon concreteness. Educational drift is a social phenomenon on which there are few studies in the field of Educational Psychology. The possibility of explaining this issue is a challenge, since the pitfalls present in the discourses intended to hide the way in which it is a social and historically determined condition in the capitalist mode of production. Faced with this difficulty, it was fundamental to have Historical-Dialectical Materialism (MHD) and Socio-Historical Psychology (PSH) as a theoreticalmethodological basis. The categorical thinking enabled us, starting from the research participants significations, to overcome the appearance of multiple layers and to understand the educational drift in its complexity. The subjective dimension category and the analysis processes through the signification nuclei made it possible to reach an educational drift multiple determinations synthesis that allowed us to explain the issue in a counter-hegemonic way, pointing to the already existing or still necessary movements to transformation, without resorting to individualizing, psychologizing or sociologizing justifications. (AU)

Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar los desafíos y las posibilidades encontradas en el estudio de la deriva educativa, condición en la que los sujetos ya habían ido a la escuela, pero fueron excluidos de ella antes de completar la educación básica, siendo responsables de regresar a sus estudios. Este es un ensayo teórico-metodológico que se centra en el pensamiento categorial, en especial la categoría de la dimensión subjetiva como recurso para aprehender la concreción del fenómeno social estudiado. Este es un fenómeno social poco estudiado en el campo de la Psicología Educativa, y la posibilidad de explicarlo es desafiante, dadas las trampas presentes en los discursos cargados con la intención de ocultar la forma en que es una condición social e históricamente determinada en la forma de producción capitalista. Ante esta dificultad, tener como base teórico-metodológica el Materialismo Histórico-Dialéctico (MHD) y la Psicología Socio-Histórica (PSH) fue fundamental. El pensamiento categórico nos permitió, a partir de los significados de los participantes de la investigación, superar las múltiples capas de apariencia para comprender la deriva educativa en su complejidad. La categoría de la dimensión subjetiva y los procesos de análisis a través de los núcleos de significación permitieron llegar a una síntesis de múltiples determinaciones de la deriva educativa que permitieron explicarla de manera contrahegemónico, apuntando a los movimientos ya existentes o aún necesarios a la transformación, sin recurrir a justificaciones individualizantes, psicologizantes o sociologizantes.(AU)

Inquiry in psychology.

When they discuss the Danish academic situation, Szulevicz, Lund and Lund (2021) address three questions about the academic training of psychology researchers: (a) why do Danish master's students in psychology more frequently choose the qualitative method for their research?; (b) what are psychology students working on?; and (c) what are they interested in? These three questions have led us to reflect on researcher training and the political and educational model universities adopt for psychology master's courses, not only in the Danish context, but also in other general contexts. In this commentary, we will discuss one strictly normative issue: what should the scientific ideal be for training researchers in psychology? Or more accurately: how can psychology contribute to discussions about the scientific ideal of researcher training in this knowledge area?

Aproximación al aprendizaje pedagógico en la discapacidad intelectual leve / An approach to pedagogical learning in mild intellectual disability

Este trabajo presenta una reflexión actualizada de métodos y estrategias eficaces para el aprendizaje del cálculo, la escritura y lectura en sujetos con discapacidad intelectual leve. Conforme con el análisis de las investigaciones abordadas, se puede concluir que, si bien los propósitos de la atención pedagógica a los sujetos con déficit intelectual vienen enmarcados bajo los principios de la educación inclusiva, se evidencia una gran diferencia entre las intenciones de la educación inclusiva y la realidad de las instituciones educativas. Así, los niños con discapacidad intelectual leve, pese a ser integrados en el aula regular, no logran recibir la atención educativa requerida para fortalecer los aprendizajes pedagógicos de lectoescritura y cálculo; situación que se relaciona con el desconocimiento, por parte de los docentes, de las estrategias pedagógicas para abordar las particularidades educativas de esta población. El resultado del análisis, evidencia la existencia de diversas técnicas; indica, al mismo tiempo, que no existe un método específico para el aprendizaje de habilidades académicas en los sujetos con deficiencias intelectuales leves, sugiere identificar el interés y la necesidad de los estudiantes para así establecer flexibilizaciones en las planeaciones pedagógicas y metodológicas del currículo que favorezcan el proceso de aprendizaje

This work presents an updated reflection of effective methods and strategies for learning calculation, writing and reading in subjects with mild intellectual disabilities. According to the analysis of the analyzed researches we can concluded that, although the purposes of pedagogical attention to subjects with intellectual deficits are framed under the principles of inclusive education, there is evidence of a great difference between the intentions of inclusive education and the reality of educational institutions. Thus, children with mild intellectual disabilities, despite being integrated into the regular classroom, do not manage to receive the educational attention required to strengthen the pedagogical learning of literacy and numeracy. A situation that is related to the ignorance, from teachers, of the pedagogical strategies to address the educational particularities of this population. The result of the analysis shows the existence of various techniques, indicates, at the same time, that there is no specific method for learning academic skills in subjects with mild intellectual deficiencies, we suggest identifying the interest and need of students in order to do so, establishing flexibilities in the pedagogical and methodological planning of the curriculum that favor the learning process.Keywords: Learning; Intellectual deficit; Intellectual disability; Inclusive education; Teaching; Reading/writing; Mathematics; Pedagogy.

Performance feedback during writing instruction: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

Students in K-12 settings experience poor writing outcomes, with less than 30% of students writing at the proficient level. Coupled with the pressure to improve academic outcomes with limited resources, schools are in dire need of efficient, universally provided instructional activities that promote writing skills. Performance feedback on writing fluency was designed to be a brief, low-resource universally provided instructional activity to facilitate writing development and has demonstrated moderate to large effects on formative writing measures. The current study was conducted to directly evaluate the extent to which performance feedback on writing fluency is cost-effective. This study uses the ingredients method to estimate the costs of providing performance feedback on writing fluency and calculates incremental cost-effectiveness ratios based on secondary data from a randomized controlled trial. Results suggest that performance feedback is more cost-effective than comprehensive systems reform initiatives and comparable to other universally provided interventions, and therefore should be considered a cost-effective approach to improve writing fluency for all students. Results provide school psychologists with concrete examples of how to support prevention and intervention activities aimed to improve student writing outcomes. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Experiential-Learning Opportunities Enhance Engagement in Pipeline Program: A Qualitative Study of the Doctors of Tomorrow Summer Internship Program.

PURPOSE: Doctors of Tomorrow (DoT) is a pipeline program between the University of Michigan Medical School and Cass Technical High School in Detroit where the overall mission is to encourage youth from communities that are underrepresented in medicine to pursue their interests in healthcare careers. Students have the opportunity to apply for a summer internship between 9th grade and 10th grade. There is limited literature on the effectiveness of experiential-learning opportunities in pipeline programs to support development of personal and professional skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of students participating in the DoT summer internship program in order to better understand how their engagement influenced personal and professional development. METHOD: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using responses from 27 students who participated in the DoT summer internship program between 2014 and 2018. Students engaged in self-reflective practices prompted by weekly surveys. Data were analyzed through an inductive process by coding and thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four overarching themes were identified: (1) engagement in authentic experiential-learning opportunities; (2) development of professional skills; (3) self-reflection and actualization; and (4) real world barriers in experiential-learning. CONCLUSIONS: High school students engaged in a variety of different community internships and shared insights that illustrated depth and diversity of understanding health in their community. Their reflections illustrate the added value of experiential-education in pipeline programs.

Allocation to groups: Examples of Lord's paradox.

BACKGROUND: Educational and developmental psychologists often examine how groups change over time. Two analytic procedures - analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and the gain score model - each seem well suited for the simplest situation, with just two groups and two time points. They can produce different results, what is known as Lord's paradox. AIMS: Several factors should influence a researcher's analytic choice. This includes whether the score from the initial time influences how people are assigned to groups. Examples are shown, which will help to explain this to researchers and students, and are of educational relevance. It is shown that a common method used to measure school effectiveness is biased against schools that serve students from groups that are historically poor performing. METHODS AND RESULTS: The examples come from sports and measuring educational effectiveness (e.g., for teachers or schools). A simulation study shows that if the covariate influences group allocation, the ANCOVA is preferred, but otherwise, the gain score model may be appropriate. Regression towards the mean is used to account for these findings. CONCLUSIONS: Analysts should consider the relationship between the covariate and group allocation when deciding upon their analytic method. Because the influence of the covariate on group allocation may be complex, the appropriate method may be complex. Because the influence of the covariate on group allocation may be unknown, the choice of method may require several assumptions.

Differences in specific learning disability identification with the Woodcock-Johnson IV.

The Ability Achievement Discrepancy model remains the primary identification method used by school personnel. This study examined identification of a specific learning disability using the Ability Achievement Discrepancy model with the Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ-IV). Two different test scores can be used to represent the ability construct: one that maintains the overlap between intelligence quotient (IQ) and basic psychological processes (i.e., general intellectual ability) and one that mostly removes the overlap between IQ and basic psychological processes (i.e., fluid-crystallized intelligence). The study included 3,736 individuals from the WJ-IV standardization sample to ascertain whether different proportions of individuals were identified by the 2 methods as well as identify which tests contributed to the differences. χ2 tests of independence and absolute ratios were used to examine the proportion of individuals identified; a multivariate analysis of variance and follow-up Tukey honestly significant differences were conducted to determine whether the groups of individuals identified in each model differed on their academic achievement scores, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to identify the tests that contributed to differences in identification rates. The results indicated that different proportions of individuals were identified as a function of the IQ score used, even though achievement scores were generally similar across identification methods. Black students were overrepresented and White students were underrepresented compared with their proportion in the total sample. Discrepancy profiles largely varied as a function of the internal psychometrics of the WJ-IV rather than characteristics of the individual. Implications for practice and methodological limitations are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Effectiveness of the Whole Inclusive School Empowerment (WISE) project in supporting preschool children with diverse learning needs.

AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Whole Inclusive School Empowerment (WISE) project in supporting preschool children with diverse learning needs. METHOD: This study adopted a mixed method design. The quantitative section was a quasi-experiment comprising eight intervention preschools (378 students, 68 teachers) with a support team of an educational psychologist and a teacher coordinator, compared with eight control preschools (281 students, 61 teachers) without the support team. Teachers completed questionnaires on students' school readiness and behavior as well as their own teaching efficacy at pre-intervention, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. The qualitative part consisted of preschool principals and teachers participating in focus group discussions. RESULTS: The quantitative results indicated a significant interaction effect (group X time) for students' school readiness, behavior problem and prosocial behavior, as well as teachers' efficacy. Qualitative findings from principals and teachers also showed that the WISE project brought benefits to the preschools, teachers, students and parents. CONCLUSIONS: The results provided promising evidence on the effectiveness of the WISE project in supporting preschool children with diverse learning needs.

Linear-linear piecewise growth mixture models with unknown random knots: A primer for school psychology.

Studying change over time requires rigorous and sometimes novel statistical methods that can support increasingly complex applied research questions. In this article, we provide an overview of the potential of piecewise growth mixture models. This type of longitudinal model can be used to advance our understanding of group and individual growth that may follow a segmented, or disjointed, pattern of change, and where the data come from a mixture of two or more latent classes. We then demonstrate the practical utility of piecewise growth mixture models by applying it to a subsample of students from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort of 1998 (ECLS-K) to ascertain whether mathematics achievement is characterized by one or two latent classes akin to students with and without mathematics difficulties. We discuss the applicability for school psychological research and provide supplementary online files that include an instructional sample dataset and corresponding R routine with explanatory annotations to assist in understanding the R routine before applying this approach in novel applications (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.03.004).

Evaluating implementation supports delivered within problem-solving consultation.

Teachers participating in problem-solving consultation often struggle to maintain adequate treatment fidelity, which is necessary to improve student outcomes. Low levels of treatment fidelity may result from implementation barriers, such as intervention compatibility, implementer skill, and implementer motivation. This study involves the evaluation of five implementation supports designed to address implementation barriers (i.e., Implementation Planning, Role Play, Participant Modeling, Raising Awareness, Motivational Consulting) within problem-solving consultation. Across 14 randomized individual single-case AB intervention designs, we evaluated the impact of these implementation supports on teacher treatment fidelity of classroom management plans and class-wide academic engagement and disruptive behavior. Visual analysis, descriptive statistics, and randomization test analyses suggest that these implementation supports have the potential to be broadly effective in improving teachers' fidelity and student outcomes. Teachers required a different number of supports to increase fidelity levels and rated the implementation supports positively. Implications of the study's findings are described.

Test use and assessment practices of school psychologists in the United States: Findings from the 2017 National Survey.

Although several studies have examined the specific instruments and procedures used by school psychologists when conducting comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations, the last one was published over 20 years ago (viz., Wilson & Reschly, 1996). Given the substantial theoretical and practical advances in assessment since then, the purpose of the current study was to examine the test use and assessment practices of contemporary school psychologists in the United States. Data from the 2017 National Survey of Assessment Practices in School Psychology revealed that test use and assessment practices have evolved significantly. Much of this change consists of the substitution of tests and practices with limited reliability and validity with those with greater psychometric support. Results of this study also indicate that school psychologists regularly conduct multi-method assessments to prevent, identify, monitor, and remediate child and adolescent learning difficulties and other presenting problems in the schools.

Public educational psychology services in Israel on the internet.

BACKGROUND: The public Educational Psychology Services provide mental health services for children and youth in Israel, alongside the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Services. The Psychological and Counseling Services Division of the Ministry of Education (known as SHEFI - Sherut Psychology Yeutzi), funds and supervises local Educational Psychology Services which are aimed at supporting child development and enhancing the emotional welfare of children and their families. The demand for the services of educational psychologists is increasing. Yet this demand is not being met due to the insufficient number of job slots allocated, the geographical distances in outlying peripheral areas, the already high loads in the psychologists' daily routine, and other such problems. A wide range of effective psychological services can be offered via the internet. The internet therefore has the potential to serve as a useful and efficient missing link between the high demands for educational psychology services on the one hand and the ability and desire among educational psychologists to meet those needs on the other. Moreover, even if the services were fully staffed, the resources would still be insufficient to provide personal (face-to-face) treatment for all, so that internet-based access to services would still need to be developed. Those services provide unique advantages such as overcoming distance and enabling higher availability of mental health professionals. The objectives of the current study were to describe the prevalence of public educational psychology services available online in Israel, with specific focus on the Arab minority and the peripheral regions, and to highlight the benefits of expanding those services. METHOD: During 2016, we conducted a survey comprising all 252 Public Educational Psychology Service units in Israel (n = 170 in the Jewish sector, and n = 82 in the Arab sector). The method used to search for online sites was in line with the actions taken by an average end-user searching for information on the internet. RESULTS: The survey found that 125 of the units in the Jewish sector (73.5% of those units) and all 82 units in the Arab sector had no online site at all, constituting 82.2% of all the units in Israel. Of the 45 Jewish websites located by the survey, 42 (93.3% of the sites) were not user friendly (not interactive), and only three offered the possibility of interacting with psychologists (6.7% of the sites). Nevertheless, all the sites (n = 45) offered a high degree of quality and variety that exceeded basic information. CONCLUSION: We believe that the presence of educational psychologists on the internet is essential in order to meet the challenges presented by the growing needs of students, parents and teachers in the current digital era. The survey revealed that the public educational psychology system in Israel has not yet bridged the technological gap. Special attention should be directed to the peripheral regions and to the Arab sector, where the technological services can make a significant contribution. The local public services' attempts to create and operate websites (45 Jewish websites according to the survey), are indicative of the determination to offer psychological support to the community at large, and of the ambition to overcome availability and accessibility problems. The concept of internet services might be useful not only for the SHEFI, but also for the array of mental health services for children and youth in Israel. Thus, we recommend that a policy should be formulated regarding internet-based mental health services for children and youth in Israel, and we call for a collaboration between the various ministries in implementing this process.

Experiencia Educación de la sexualidad desarrollada con estudiantes de primer año de la carrera Psicología / Sexuality Education Experience Developed with First-Year Students of Psychology

Introducción: En la Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad de la Habana se inició en el curso escolar 2015-2016 una experiencia de educación de la sexualidad con un grupo de estudiantes de 1.er año de la carrera. Objetivo: Implementar una asignatura optativa que contribuya a la satisfacción de necesidades básicas de aprendizaje sobre la sexualidad que poseen estudiantes de primer año de la carrera de Psicología, de la Universidad de la Habana. Método: La investigación se sustenta en una metodología alternativa, participativa y desarrolladora, en la pedagogía de la diversidad y la equidad y el enfoque humanista crítico. El grupo lo constituyeron 26 estudiantes de primer año de la carrera de Psicología de la Universidad de La Habana, quienes eligieron la asignatura La sexualidad de los/las jóvenes y su educación como optativa. El rango etario de la muestra fue de 19 a 24 años. Se aplicó un cuestionario diagnóstico para explorar sus saberes, experiencias y creencias en torno a la sexualidad. Se realizaron un total de 24 sesiones grupales con un 80 por ciento o más de asistencia. Resultados: Tanto los resultados diagnósticos como los obtenidos al finalizar el programa coinciden con investigaciones precedentes. En estos se muestran la carencia de saberes que tienen las personas jóvenes en torno a la sexualidad, sus componentes, funciones y dimensiones, especialmente, las relacionadas al vínculo de pareja y la relación con los progenitores. Conclusiones: Se implementó una asignatura optativa valorada de manera muy positiva, por la mayoría de los/las estudiantes que la cursaron. Fueron resaltadas como fortalezas sus contenidos, la metodología y el aprendizaje personal obtenido(AU))

Introduction: At the Psychology School oh Havana University, in 2015-2016 academic year, there was an experience of teaching sexuality education to students of 1st year. Objective: To implement an optional subject that will contribute to the satisfaction of basic needs of learning about sexuality that Psychology first-year students have. Method: The research is based on an alternative methodology, participatory and developmental, in the pedagogy of diversity and equity and the critical humanist approach.Twenty-six first-year students of the Psychology at Havana University formed the group. They chose the optional subject Sexuality of young people and their education. The sample age ranged from 19 to 24 years. A diagnostic questionnaire was used to explore their knowledge, experiences and beliefs about sexuality. A total of 24 group sessions were conducted with 80 percent or more of assistance. Results: Both the diagnostic results and those obtained at the end of the program matched with previous investigations. These showed the lack of knowledge that young people have about sexuality, its components, functions and dimensions, especially those related to the couple's relationship and the relationship with parents. Conclusions: An optional subject was implemented. It was very positive valued by the majority of students who took it. Its contents, methodology and personal learning obtained were highlighted as strengths(AU)

The role of school psychologists in the support of grieving children.

School psychologists are in a unique position to both identify and work with grieving students; to provide guidance to schools, families, and peers on approaches to support such children and youth; and to offer training to classroom educators so that they are better prepared to support grieving students. Yet, there has been minimal research published on this topic in professional journals. This special section of School Psychology Quarterly is devoted to grief and loss with the hope of beginning to narrow this gap in the literature. The three articles in this special section add to an evolving evidence-base that grief in children is common and the impact can be profound, that school professionals can and should play a major role in supporting grieving children, and that school psychologists can play a key role in empowering classroom educators and other school professionals so that no child in the future has to grieve alone. (PsycINFO Database Record

Multilevel modeling myths.

The use of multilevel modeling (MLM) to analyze nested data has grown in popularity over the years in the study of school psychology. However, with the increase in use, several statistical misconceptions about the technique have also proliferated. We discuss some commonly cited myths and golden rules related to the use of MLM, explain their origin, and suggest approaches to dealing with certain issues. Misunderstandings related to the use of the intraclass correlation, design effects, minimum sample size, multilevel factor structures, model R², and the misestimation of standard errors are reviewed. Many of the cited myths have much truth in them-though at times, researchers may not be aware of the exceptions to the rules that prevent their overall generalization. Although nesting should be accounted for, researchers should realize that MLM, which is a powerful and flexible technique, is not the only method that can be used to account for the clustering effect. (PsycINFO Database Record

Near-peer teaching in undergraduate nurse education: An integrative review.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Studies in peer learning and teaching reported in the nursing literature are mainly descriptive, summarising positive aspects using survey and interviews. Application of pedagogical approaches to near-peer teaching in undergraduate nursing, using educational psychology frameworks to explain the outcomes, is relatively unknown. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this integrative review was to ascertain outcomes of near-peer teaching in undergraduate nurse education and theoretical frameworks used to explain outcomes of near-peer teaching. DESIGN: Included qualitative and quantitative studies. METHOD: The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA protocol and Joanna Briggs Institute processes and included studies published between the years 1990 and 2017. Quality appraisal involved two independent reviewers analysing the data, and narrative synthesis was used to report results. RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty-one abstracts were assessed independently by two reviewers for relevance to near-peer teaching in undergraduate nurse education, 29 articles selected for further review with 10 meeting the inclusion criteria. Benefits of near-peer teaching were reported as creating a safe supportive learning environment, learners viewing near-peer teachers as effective role models and increased confidence experienced by learner and teacher. Studies focused mainly on cognition in relation to performance with little emphasis on metacognition or affective behaviours, highlighting the need for more studies to provide definitive evidence supporting this pedagogical approach and framing its implementation around theories, particularly from educational psychology. CONCLUSION: Lack of training provided to near-peer teachers highlighted that it is imperative that faculty embed near-peer teaching into the curriculum. To develop this educational intervention, studies in near-peer teaching are required to assess affective behaviours and metacognitive qualities of near-peer teachers to determine how this educational intervention can impact learning and performance of both the learner and near-peer teacher.

Toward a standard assembly of linear graphs.

Single-case data are frequently used in school psychology. In research, single-case designs allow experimenters to provide rigorous demonstrations of treatment effects on a smaller scale and with more precise measurement than traditional group experimental design. In practice, single-case data are used to evaluate the effects of school-based services to make decisions at the individual level within a multitiered system of support (MTSS). School psychology and related fields (e.g., special education) have worked to increase the rigor of single-case data by developing standards for single-case experimental design and developing robust single-case effect size statistics; however, in practice, single-case data are often collected with less experimental rigor and evaluated using visual analysis of a linear graph as opposed to quantitative effect sizes. This is concerning, as an emerging body of literature suggests that simple elements of the graphical display (e.g., ordinate axis scaling, ratio of X to Y axis length) can have a profound impact on effect size judgments made by visual analysts. Currently, there are no standards guiding the construction of linear graphs used to display single-case data. The purpose of this paper is to advance the perspective that our field must develop and adopt standards of linear graph construction or risk inaccurate decisions within a MTSS framework. (PsycINFO Database Record

What's in a name? Perspectives of dyslexia assessors working with students in the UK higher education sector.

Research findings and positions concerning the nature of the dyslexia construct are currently diverse and increasingly complex. The ability of assessor practitioners to operationalize such knowledge and categorically diagnose dyslexia in any reliable and consistent way is being questioned. This study aimed to explore the way in which diverse and complex research findings are operationalized in the dyslexia diagnostic assessment of UK higher education students. The perspectives of 118 professional assessors of dyslexia working within the sector were collected using a questionnaire and some interviews. Data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively, as appropriate, and then integrated. The results confirmed critics' concerns about the consistency and reliability of the construct as currently diagnosed within the higher education context. Key controversial aspects of practice that emerged included the contextualized interpretation of literacy difficulties, a general commitment to discrepancy concepts, scepticism about the face validity of prescribed psychometric tests, and a related reliance on professional observation and experience above test results. The findings pointed to the need for a more informed nuanced understanding of the dyslexia label and a more cautious and responsible attitude towards its use.