School Psychology International

This study examines the influence of social ecological risks within the domains of parenting, family environment, and community in the prediction of educational outcomes for 770 adolescents (49% boys, 51% girls, M = 13.6 years, SD = 2.0) living in a setting of protracted political conflict, specifically working class areas of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Controlling for religious community, age, and gender, youths’ lower academic achievement was associated with family environments characterized by high conflict and low cohesion. School behaviour problems were related to greater exposure to community violence, or sectarian and nonsectarian antisocial behaviour. Youths’ expectations about educational attainment were undermined by conflict in the family environment and antisocial behaviour in the community, as well as parenting low in warmth and behavioural control. Findings underscore the importance of considering family and community contributions to youths’ educational outcomes. Suggestions regarding targeted interventions toward promoting resilience are discussed, such as assessing both child and family functioning, developing multidimensional interventions for parents, and building community partnerships, among others.

Students in Bedouin schools in Israel completed a survey in which they indicated how frequent abusive teacher behaviors occurred in their classrooms; responses indicated that abusive teacher behaviors occur often. Female students tended to register higher levels of punitive teacher behaviors than male students and secondary school students tended to register higher levels of punitive teacher behaviors than elementary school students. Also, the perceived frequencies of abusive teacher behaviors presented in this study tended to be significantly higher than perceived frequencies of similar teacher behaviors reported in a comparable 1997 study. This problem of school violence deserves attention and resolution.

This study examines similarities and differences in teacher ratings of behavioral problems and adaptive skills between a sample of 320 students from Anguilla, BWI and 315 children from the United States of America using the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). The study also compared teacher ratings of boys and girls in the Caribbean sample. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed that Anguillian teachers rated their students as having higher mean school problems, while the mean score for adaptive skills was higher for US students. Effect sizes were small, though, indicating that little of the variance in ratings was attributable to cultural group. Boys in the Caribbean sample had significantly higher mean scores on externalizing and school problems. Girls were rated at having more adaptive skills. Again, effect sizes for the differences were small. Scientific and practice implications are offered.

This study examines the contribution of epistemological beliefs to middle school students’ reported use of self-regulated learning strategies. One hundred and sixty 8th and 9th graders from three public middle schools participated in the study. Gender was about equally represented in the sample (89 girls, 71 boys). During the group examination phase, the participants were asked to complete a Greek version of Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ), based on Schommer-Aikins, Mau, Brookhart and Hutter’s (2000) middle school version of EBQ. During the individual examination phase, they were interviewed using the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS). Epistemological beliefs about the speed of learning and the ability to learn significantly predicted the reported use of cognitive as well as motivational regulation strategies. The educational implications of the results are discussed in relation to cultural influences on the formation of epistemological beliefs.

Aggressive behaviors in schools and bullying behaviors amongst children are a serious problem in the school context. As a consequence of an aggressive atmosphere in the classroom, learning processes are disturbed and children are less likely to experience pleasure when attending school. Teachers face a big challenge as a result. As we know from previous research, teachers have different possibilities when handling incidents of aggressive behaviors and bullying in their classrooms. The present study sought to examine correlates (e.g. attitudes toward aggression) of ways of handling bullying in German teachers. Factor analysis indicated a two-factor solution with respect to ways of handling bullying (Factor 1: Ignoring vs. Taking Action, Factor 2: Attribution of Responsibility) and it was demonstrated that attitudes toward aggression and beliefs about the changeability of aggressive behaviors are correlates of the different strategies that teachers use. The implications for the school context and for teacher preparation are discussed.

The goal of the current study was to investigate whether parental involvement is an important predictor of student outcomes within the Cuban school system, where extensive support for pupils’ progress and adjustment are available from the peer group, community, and family. The participants were 188 children in Grades 2 and 3 from four localities in Cuba. School-based involvement was significantly higher among parents of children not at risk for behavioral problems than among parents of at-risk children. Parental involvement in Year 1 did not significantly predict changes in student academic competency or total difficulties between Year 1 and Year 2. These results suggest that school-based parental involvement may be of some importance in the adjustment of Cuban children. Any effects of parental involvement, however, were not strong enough to cause changes in ratings of student adjustment and achievement from Year 1 to Year 2.

This study examines the relationships among Taiwanese ninth graders’ perceptions of autonomy support versus psychological control in the classroom context, work engagement versus academic burnout, and their avoidance of help seeking as well as self-handicapping behaviors. Four hundred and thirty-five ninth-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing these variables. Results of hierarchical regressions indicated that in terms of environmental predictors, teachers’ autonomy support negatively predicted both help avoidance and self-handicapping, whereas teachers’ psychological control positively predicted self-handicapping only. As for the predicting effects of individual factors, students’ dedication negatively predicted both avoidance of help seeking and self-handicapping. By contrast, the lack of efficacy positively predicted help avoidance, whereas cynicism positively predicted self-handicapping. Further, results of MANCOVA revealed that even after controlling for the effects of teachers’ autonomy support and psychological control, burnout students were significantly more likely to avoid seeking academic help and self-handicap than were engaged students.

This article examines whether variation in school effectiveness in terms of reducing bullying can be attributed to differences in their classroom and school learning environment. All 6th grade students (n = 1504) of 35 primary schools in Cyprus participated in this study. The revised Olweus bully/victim questionnaire was used to measure bullying at the beginning and at the end of the school year. A questionnaire measuring the classroom learning environment was also administered to the student sample. A teacher questionnaire was used in order to measure school policy and actions taken to improve the school learning environment. Multilevel modelling techniques were used to analyse our data. Almost all factors concerned with the school and the classroom learning environment and school evaluation were found to be associated with reduction of bullying. Implications of findings for research on bullying are drawn.