School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 1-12; doi:10.1037/spq0000583

There is a compendium of research to support the premise that positive teacher–student relationships (TSR) set the stage for children’s success via classroom engagement, social functioning, and academic skills development. Although studies have demonstrated reciprocal associations between TSR and academic achievement, inferences that stem from prior study results are limited due to methodological designs that fall short in capturing directionality in developmental change processes. To address gaps in the literature and improve our understanding of the complex associations between TSR and academic achievement, we analyzed the codevelopment of TSR and achievement in reading and mathematics using dual change score models (DCSM), a type of latent change score model, focusing on the associations between longitudinal trajectories of TSR-achievement pairs and on the reciprocal prediction of latent changes between each wave of measurement. We examined data from a large-scale, nationally representative study (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of 2010–2011). Results of our DCSM, contrary to prior findings, demonstrate that variability in the ratings of TSR did not predict subsequent latent changes in reading or mathematics achievement. Likewise, the variability in achievement scores did not predict subsequent latent changes in ratings of TSR. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 13-23; doi:10.1037/spq0000571

Mental illness in adolescents is on the rise, thus it is vital to study factors that can improve youth mental health. The extant theory and research have identified both social (school climate; school identification) and individual (resilience) constructs as protectors of mental health. However, these protective factors remain in silo and require further integration. To address this issue, the present study proposed and investigated an integrative model in which social factors (i.e., school climate, school identification) nurture individual (i.e., resilience) protective factors, which in turn impact adolescent mental health. Using three-wave longitudinal data (2017–2019) from school students (Grades 7–8; N = 1,357), we found evidence supporting the integrated model examining five dimensions of mental health: anxiety, depression, happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect. Greater Wave 1 school climate predicted greater identification 1 year later, which in turn predicted greater resilience. Furthermore, greater resilience predicted lower depression and anxiety, and greater happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect 1 year later. These results support efforts to strengthen the school climate and reconceptualize resilience as an outcome of social processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 24-35; doi:10.1037/spq0000564

Guided by the social cognitive theory and job demands–resources model, we used multiple regression analyses to examine the concurrent and interactive influences of professional support and efficacy beliefs on compassion fatigue during COVID-19 among 231 school principals in California. Controlling for principals’ individual- and school-level demographic factors, professional support and their district collective efficacy (but not self-efficacy) were significantly and negatively associated with compassion fatigue. The negative association between professional support and compassion fatigue was moderated by both collective and self-efficacy. Professional support had a significantly negative association with compassion fatigue only among principals with both lower collective and self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, female principals reported significantly higher compassion fatigue than their male counterparts. Principals who oversee schools with larger student populations (i.e., 500–1,000 students) reported significantly less compassion fatigue than those who lead smaller schools (i.e., less than 200 students). Findings highlighted the importance of promoting principals’ efficacy beliefs and increasing professional support to address their compassion fatigue. Findings also indicated that professional support and efficacy beliefs interact with each other in a compensatory way to influence the principal’s compassion fatigue concurrently. Practical implications for school psychologists’ capacity to support school leaders’ compassion fatigue are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 36-44; doi:10.1037/spq0000587

Studies investigating students’ social interactions and related experiences have mostly relied on retrospective methodologies–techniques known to be subject to recall bias that threaten ecological validity. This article is the second part of a systematic review of experience sampling studies on students’ social interactions. This article focuses on exploring associations between interpersonal contexts, positive emotions, and related experiences assessed by intensive repeated measurement techniques in naturalistic environments. A systematic literature search was conducted for experience sampling studies between 1996 and 2020. Details of the literature search process and results were reported in the companion (Part I) of the study (Mölsä et al., 2022; Frontiers in Psychology 2022; 13: 844698). Using a narrative synthesis, the associations of interpersonal contexts and positive emotionality in school students were analyzed. Findings suggest that school students experience higher levels of positive emotions during peer, teacher, and family interactions than when they are not being with someone. The overall findings indicate that positive emotionality in children and adolescents is dependent on the characteristics of the interpersonal contexts, although the multilevel associations vary. This review contributes to experience sampling research on students’ social interactions. The systematic review concludes with discussion of the main findings, theoretical implications, and an analysis of limitations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 45-55; doi:10.1037/spq0000613

Limited research has considered how family and school factors combine to support Latinx students’ academic achievement in early adolescence. We examined associations between parental academic socialization (PAS), teacher support (TS), school belonging, and achievement outcomes to understand the roles of family and teacher factors in youths’ school belonging and achievement. Youth (N = 65, mean age = 11.74, SD = 1.11) and their parents completed questionnaires on school belonging, PAS, and TS, and we collected grade point average, standardized test results, and teacher perceptions of student skills and traits from their schools. Results indicated that TS, but not PAS, was negatively associated with school belonging and achievement. Belonging mediated the effect of TS on academic outcomes through a positive indirect relation. Findings implicate the role of school psychologists in guiding teacher support strategies for Latinx students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 56-64; doi:10.1037/spq0000588

Students are less likely to hear and understand teacher-delivered directions or instructions when they are attending to other activities (e.g., a classmate, a previously assigned task). A classroom management system known as the Color Wheel System includes rules and transition procedures designed to increase the probability that students stop their current activities and attend to teachers as they deliver directions or instructions for the next activity. A withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effects of the Color Wheel System on a teacher’s repeated directions in a first-grade general-education classroom. Results showed large and immediate decreases in teacher repeated directions both times the Color Wheel System was applied and an immediate increase when it was withdrawn. Discussion focuses on limitations and directions for future longitudinal research evaluating the effects of the Color Wheel System on uninterrupted teaching and learning time, classroom climates, student–teacher relationships, and compliance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 65-76; doi:10.1037/spq0000597

The purpose of this study was to independently assess the best-fitting factor models of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) student and teacher forms. To do this, we used previously published confirmatory factor analysis procedures (see von der Embse, Iaccarino, et al., 2017) in an attempt to replicate the factor structure. Unidimensional, correlated-factors, higher order, bifactor, and bifactor with correlated residuals models were assessed. The bifactor model yielded the best fit for the student, χ² = 286.58, p< .001, χ²/df = 1.91, RMSEA = .070, CFI = .839, TLI = .796, WRMR = 1.047, and teacher forms, χ² = 502.44, p< .001, χ²/df = 3.78, RMSEA = .095, CFI = .977, TLI = .971, WRMR = 1.193. Nonetheless, the majority of the fit statistics indicated an adequate fit for the student form. The SAEBRS Total Behavior score was found to have the greatest reliability for the student, ω = .77, ωH = .76, and teacher forms, ω = .93, ωH = .86, as well. Model, factor, and item-level indexes indicated mixed support for unidimensionality versus multidimensionality on student and teacher forms. Generally, it is implicated that the SAEBRS overall score was the soundest score for screening risk with the student and teacher forms. However, future investigations could consider a wider variety of methods to test competing factor structures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 77-84; doi:10.1037/spq0000609

The Academic Competence Evaluation Scales–Short Form (ACES-SF) is a brief measure of students’ academic skills and academic enablers that is completed by K–12 teachers for screening and intervention planning purposes. This study examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the ACES-SF using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to support cross-group comparisons of students’ academic competence across grade level, gender, and race/ethnicity. The sample included 512 certified K–8 teachers from across the United States who provided demographic information and ACES-SF ratings for 1,024 students (50% female). Results indicated good fit of a seven-factor structure and full scalar invariance across gender, grade level, and race/ethnicity. Implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 85-91; doi:10.1037/spq0000368

This research evaluated the effects of a year-long mindfulness intervention in a predominately Black student sample in an urban high-poverty middle school. Five English Language Arts classrooms (n = 56) were randomly assigned to brief daily 5-min mindfulness practice or an active control. Students were measured at three time points throughout the school year on standardized curriculum-based measures of reading performance. Results indicate that students in the mindfulness condition had significantly higher reading scores (sentence-level comprehension and fluency) than students assigned to control condition at the end of the school year. Our findings indicate that brief mindfulness practice may indirectly affect performance in specific academic skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

School Psychology, Vol 40(1), Jan 2025, 92-100; doi:10.1037/spq0000580

Neurodevelopmental disorders of inattention and disruptive behavior, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, are among the most common youth mental health conditions across cultures. There is a need to develop more accessible school-based intervention and training programs, as well as create a system with clinical research capacity for scalable school clinician training and evaluation, to support students with attention and behavior concerns worldwide. We adapted the collaborative life skills program for Mexico (i.e., CLS-FUERTE) for remote delivery (i.e., CLS-R-FUERTE) and conducted a three-school open trial with N = 67 participants (n = 7–8 students per school [ages 6–12] and their parents, teachers, and school clinicians). We examined fidelity to program content, attendance and adherence records, in vivo observations of program delivery, and postmeeting feedback informing iterative program changes between each school cohort. We also examined improvements in youth attention and behavior rated by parents and teachers to evaluate the remote program effectiveness. CLS-R-FUERTE feasibility, acceptability, and usability findings were promising. Iterative program changes between each school cohort were minor and included adapted curriculum order, enhanced engagement strategies, and technology adjustments. Many students demonstrated reliable change, and the pre–post program improvements were comparable to outcomes from the in-person CLS-FUERTE trial, indicating preliminary effectiveness. Our pilot CLS-R-FUERTE effort supports the process of iteratively adapting, implementing, and evaluating remote school-based intervention and training programs to enhance potential flexibility, accessibility, and scalability. Challenges emerging from technological problems and in context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as solutions, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)