{"title":"Initial Validation of a Brief Attachment Measure in a Sample of High School Students","authors":"S. Yampolskaya, O. Massey, Connie Walker-Egea","doi":"10.1093/CS/CDAB018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/CS/CDAB018","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Attachment to a caregiver is considered a major component of youth well-being, but currently few measures are available to assess attachment in youths. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Connection to Caregiver (CtC) instrument, a measure of connection to a caregiver similar to the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). The study was driven by a need to assess connection to a caregiver and the appeal of creating a scale from an existing survey that allows a great deal of longitudinal research on already existing data. The psychometric properties of the new measure, which consists of a set of items used in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being study, were examined among high school students. Confirmatory factor analysis of the three-factor model showed excellent fit. Concurrent validity of the CtC with the equivalent subscales of the IPPA and convergent validity of each of the scales with the depressive symptoms were good. The results suggest that the CtC instrument is a valid tool for use in research with adolescents.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45357153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
JoDee Keller, C. Miller, Chance LasDulce, Rachel G Wohrle
{"title":"Using a Community-Based Participatory Research Model to Encourage Parental Involvement in Their Children’s Schools","authors":"JoDee Keller, C. Miller, Chance LasDulce, Rachel G Wohrle","doi":"10.1093/CS/CDAB015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/CS/CDAB015","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Parental engagement with their children’s education has been shown to have positive effects for children’s academic outcomes; thus, learning ways to increase parental engagement can be beneficial for students. Because of the importance of understanding schools in the context of the community and the essential role that community can play in supporting schools, community-based participatory research (CBPR) may be a particularly effective approach to data collection because it engages community partners as well as parents and school personnel, and it gains information that leads to meaningful interventions. This study explored the use of CBPR within an economically and ethnically diverse school community with the intent of developing strategies to foster increased parental participation in their children’s education. Social workers and social work students facilitated focus groups with parents and community stakeholders to explore ways to increase parental engagement in their children’s school and to identify barriers to engagement. The article identifies next steps based on the recommendations of participants and describes the outcomes of preliminary implementation of these steps.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43437007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Certification and Professional Preparation of School Social Workers, School Psychologists, and School Counselors","authors":"Brandon D. Mitchell, A. Frey, Michael S. Kelly","doi":"10.1093/CS/CDAB016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/CS/CDAB016","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Educational leaders are faced with the difficult task of providing optimal services to all students. Among their many challenges is to choose between a variety of professionals whose mission is to improve outcomes by addressing largely nonacademic risk factors that affect students’ ability to benefit from their educational experiences. Specialized instructional support personnel are often hired to help remove barriers to learning and improve student outcomes; however, certification requirements for these professionals vary by discipline and state. The purpose of this article is to replicate Altshuler and Webb's analysis of certification requirements for school social workers, school psychologists, and school counselors. To do so, the authors adopted a comparative case study approach to collect, identify, compare, and contrast extant documents related to state certification, including degree, education-specific coursework, practicum/internship experiences, and examination requirements. Results indicate that although school social work certification has become more rigorous, its requirements remain more varied across all categories reviewed compared with those for school psychologists and school counselors. The article concludes with recommendations for practice, policy, and research.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49153863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Felipe I. Agudelo, Donna M. Cole, Sarah D. Gallant, Cassandra Mabee
{"title":"Restorative Justice and the School-to-Prison Pipeline: A Conceptual Framework to Address Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality","authors":"Felipe I. Agudelo, Donna M. Cole, Sarah D. Gallant, Cassandra Mabee","doi":"10.1093/CS/CDAB014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/CS/CDAB014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article develops a restorative justice framework that aims to address racial and ethnic disproportionality in the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) in the United States. The framework uses literature on restorative justice and the STPP as its foundation and applies a restorative justice approach to three major strategies related to racial and ethnic disproportionality in the STPP: (1) school climate and school–student relationship, (2) a school’s cultural humility and connectedness, and (3) exclusionary discipline reduction. The first strategy proposes the development of respectful and credible relationships among teachers, staff, and students. The second suggests two techniques: (1) self-reflection to address implicit biases among teachers/administrators and (2) parental involvement. Both the first and the second strategies are considered prevention strategies. The third strategy uses techniques of intervention, including peer mediation, restorative circles, and community service, as alternative punishments. This framework theorizes that a focus on these three major strategies will challenge institutional racism in schools as a determinant of the disciplinary inequity that students of color experience. This framework further theorizes that addressing institutional racism through these specific interrelated strategies will result in three major outcomes that can decrease racial and ethnic disproportionality in the STPP.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42424069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Children’s Experiences with School Lockdown Drills: A Pilot Study","authors":"Rebecca Bonanno, Susan McConnaughey, Jenny Mincin","doi":"10.1093/cs/cdab012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab012","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In response to the threat of school shootings, lockdown drills have become commonplace in K–12 schools throughout the United States. Educators, parents, and others continue to debate the potential disruptive and traumatizing impact drills have on children. A small number of quantitative studies have examined the effects of lockdown drills on students’ perceptions of safety, preparedness for crises, and fear and anxiety. Less is known about children’s actual lived experiences of lockdown drills. This pilot child-centered qualitative study explored how children ages eight to 11 thought and felt about their experiences of school lockdown drills. Fear was found to be their common emotional response to the drill and, to a lesser extent, so were feelings of safety, annoyance, and excitement. Although children were found to have good understanding of what to do in lockdown drills, they were not always clear about what the purpose of the drills was and what threats the drills were intended to protect against. These findings support professional and advocacy groups’ recommendations for planning and implementing lockdown drills and offer original recommendations from children’s points of view on ways to mitigate negative outcomes of drills for students.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42706889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Teacher Reactions to Trauma Disclosures from Syrian Refugee Students","authors":"Christine Mayor","doi":"10.1093/CS/CDAB013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/CS/CDAB013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Despite the growing interest in creating trauma-informed schools, including for trauma-affected refugee students, little research has focused on the perspectives of teachers supporting these youths. This qualitative study focused on one school district in southwestern Ontario, Canada; it examined 11 narratives from seven teachers that centered on Syrian refugee student trauma disclosures in the classroom. Two full narratives are provided to illustrate the key thematic findings: teachers feel unsettled by unexpected disclosures, teachers are disturbed by students’ lack of affect, tension exists between emotional expression and containment, and teachers engage in meaning making when hearing the stories students want to tell. These findings are discussed within the wider research context of emotional labor, vicarious trauma, and burnout, and indicate that additional support is needed for teachers given the reported professional and personal strain that trauma disclosures can cause. This is not only important for the well-being of teachers but is also critical for Syrian refugee and other trauma-affected students to learn within a more equitable educational environment. School social workers are discussed as a possible resource for providing this ongoing training and support for teachers.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44531979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ethics in an Epidemic: Nine Issues to Consider","authors":"James C. Raines","doi":"10.1093/cs/cdab011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab011","url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses nine ethical concerns facing school social workers during an epidemic and other emergency situations when they must rely on electronic communication platforms, such as Doxy.me, Skype, or Zoom. These issues of concern are use of appropriate terminology, client self-determination, technological competence, informed consent, confidentiality, boundary issues, social justice, record keeping, and professional self-care. The article combines research on the psychosocial effects of quarantine on students and their families and data about the effectiveness of telemental health. It provides legal expectations from the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as well as ethical guidance from the American Telemedicine Association and the National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics to provide practical strategies about how to help students and their families during a time of prolonged stress. The article takes a strengths-based approach to crisis intervention by indicating both the advantages and the disadvantages of using electronic communication tools to provide continuity of care to clients.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/cs/cdab011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49536032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"School Social Work: Adapting the Ways of Connecting during COVID-19","authors":"Jennifer Polizotto, Kelly Zinn","doi":"10.1093/cs/cdab017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab017","url":null,"abstract":"M arch 16, 2020, marked the beginning of an uncharted journey for school districts in New Jersey as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As schools closed, albeit temporarily, it quickly became apparent that this journey would not be linear. Instead, it has been one of constant change, week-to-week and monthto-month. As the pandemic spread, so did the need for increased mental health and academic support for students and families in districts across the state. In this column, two school social workers share their experiences in adapting their practice skills to support the mental health and academic needs of students and families during this unprecedented health crisis.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44264854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tiffany M. Jones, Anne Williford, M. Spencer, N. Riggs, Rebecca Toll, M. George, Kaylee Becker, Samantha Bruick
{"title":"School Mental Health Providers’ Perspectives on the Impact of COVID-19 on Racial Inequities and School Disengagement","authors":"Tiffany M. Jones, Anne Williford, M. Spencer, N. Riggs, Rebecca Toll, M. George, Kaylee Becker, Samantha Bruick","doi":"10.1093/cs/cdab009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract School disengagement is a critical factor that will likely exacerbate long-standing racial inequities in educational outcomes during the aftermath of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Due to their training and contact with at-risk students, school social workers and other school-based mental health professionals (SMHP) are in an ideal position to understand the impact of COVID-19 and virtual learning on K–12 students. To that end, this study reports on findings from a survey of SMHP about the differential impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on students and their families. The findings suggest that COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on families overall, especially among populations who were experiencing hardships before the current outbreak. In addition, several barriers were noted for student learning, with many students—particularly students of color—completely disengaging from school during spring 2020. However, SMHP reported several important insights on how to support students and their families—some requiring immediate action on the part of school districts and others requiring greater community-level investment into the economic, social, emotional, and overall health of families. Findings are discussed in light of addressing disengagement and educational inequities for students of color.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49286701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
G. Grumbach, Annette H Johnson, Erik Engel, Linda D. Campos-Moreira
{"title":"Virtual Termination amid COVID-19: Strategies for School Social Work Interns and Field Instructors","authors":"G. Grumbach, Annette H Johnson, Erik Engel, Linda D. Campos-Moreira","doi":"10.1093/cs/cdab008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the natural rhythm of the school year, affecting the way services are rendered. This shift has implications for the termination of services and the guidance of school social work interns through the termination process. This article provides lessons learned from the rapid transition from face-to-face practice to telemental health services in schools. The authors present strategies for supervising the termination process in a remote environment. In keeping with social work’s professional mandate, field instructors must guide interns on conducting termination services properly and engage interns in this reflective process. This article also addresses issues of equity and access for students and their families. Attention is given to the impact of termination on student clients, families, school social work interns, and field instructors. Telemental health demonstrates promise in supporting a model of practice that provides opportunities for innovation. Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to continue this discourse for engaging in and developing best practices for telemental health services, termination of services, and supervision of social work interns in the school setting. The school social work profession must continue to augment policies related to the provision of telemental health services in school settings.","PeriodicalId":35453,"journal":{"name":"Children & Schools","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43189038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}