Reconceptualizing Educational Contexts: The Imperative for Interprofessional and Interagency Collaboration in School Psychology

Setting the Stage for Play: Exploring the Relationship Between Play Type and Positive Caregiving Strategies During Therapeutic Playgroup

IMPORTANCE

Although play and positive caregiving strategies have been associated with child well-being, little is known about the relationship between play type and strategies used by caregivers in early childhood.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether a relationship exists between play type and positive caregiving strategies.

DESIGN

Exploratory correlational nonexperimental design.

SETTING

Early childhood center.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample that included 60 observations of 14 caregivers during a therapeutic playgroup with 14 children with and without disabilities ages 15 mo to 3 yr (4 fathers, 3 mothers, 1 nanny, and 6 female early childhood teachers; age range = 30-39 yr). The caregivers were Black (n = 1; 7.1%), Hispanic (n = 5; 35.7%), and White (n = 8; 57.1%).

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Positive caregiving strategies were scored using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes.

RESULTS

Results revealed no significant correlations between play type and positive caregiving strategy. There was a positive, significant correlation between caregiving strategies (affection, responsiveness, encouragement, teaching, and total; rpbs = .767-.970, n = 58, p = .001). The play type and caregiver type variables did not predict total positive caregiving strategies, F(2, 57) = 2.147, p = .126. One variable, caregiver type, added statistical significance to the prediction (p = .045).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

The findings show no relationship between play type and positive caregiving strategy. Consideration of the types of caregivers participating in a therapeutic playgroup and their roles and use of positive strategies during play is worthy of further investigation. Plain-Language Summary: This study explored how parent and teacher caregivers supported children (both with and without disabilities) during a therapeutic playgroup at an early childhood center. Therapeutic playgroups are a special type of group play in which a trained professional helps guide play activities to support participation. The researchers wanted to see whether there was a connection between the type of play the children engaged in and how the adult caregivers interacted with them. The surprising finding was that there was no link between play type and how caregivers interacted. However, the caregivers often used positive strategies with the children, regardless of the play activity. Interestingly, type of caregiver (parent, teacher) seemed to make a slight difference in how they interacted with the children during playtime. Overall, this study suggests that more research is needed to understand how the types of play activities and objects might influence caregiver interactions during group play.

What matters in low-threshold collaboration? Perceptions of interprofessional collaboration between education and social and healthcare professionals in Finnish primary schools

This study examined the factors linked to low-threshold interprofessional collaboration in the context of Finnish primary schools. The main purpose of the study was to analyze how education and health and social care professionals perceived their mutual collaboration. The PINCOM-Q scale was used to identify factors related to interprofessional collaboration in professionals' work settings. The results indicate that individual factors such as work motivation and personal power are prominent in low-threshold collaboration. At the group level, communication has an important role to play in interprofessional collaboration. Professionals (n = 204) perceived mutual exchange of information as an important aspect of working together. The aspects that matter in the low-threshold mode of interprofessional collaboration are a complex combination of individual, group and less obvious organizational factors, all of which both reflect and are reflected in an individual's motivation and commitment to cooperation. The establishment of long-term and systematic low-threshold, interprofessional collaboration presupposes that individual interests are realized in good interaction in equal encounters between different organizational domains.

Social-environmental factors as mediators of IQ and achievement differences across race groups in adolescents with high risk congenital heart disease

An increasing number of neuropsychologists are evaluating children with congenital heart disease (CHD). When conceptualizing results, the provider must consider medical risks such as abnormal neuroimaging and comorbidities, along with social risks such as socioeconomic status. The aim of the current study was to examine the influence of parent income and education on IQ and achievement across race groups in adolescents with CHD, while also accounting for medical risk (e.g., gestational age, number of ventricles, neuroimaging). This is a single-center cross-sectional study, including 92 children ages 12-19 years (median 14.9 years; 59% male; 71% White; 29% Black) with high risk CHD (i.e., cardiac surgery <12 months) who were referred for a neuropsychological evaluation. Retrospective data were retrieved from a larger clinical registry. Patients completed an intellectual assessment (WISC-V; WAIS-IV; WASI-II), Word Reading and Math Calculation tests. Parents completed questionnaires assessing the family environment [income, parent education]. Results revealed significant differences in IQ when comparing children who were Black versus White (11.4 point IQ difference); however, around 70% of this variance was explained by parent income and education. Medical variables accounted for 12% of the variance in IQ. For academics, parent income and education accounted for 91.5% and 78.8% of the variance in race group differences for reading and math, respectively. Medical risk and sex explained 11.7% and 14.7% of the variance in reading and math, respectively. Findings suggest that sociodemographic factors should be weighed heavily during the neuropsychological evaluation, including prioritizing risk, making recommendations, and facilitating referrals.

Addressing the Need for Training More School Psychologists to Serve Toddlers and Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has risen significantly in the past two decades. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of mental health providers who have specialized training in delivering evidenced-based services to this population. Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is an evidenced-based treatment recommended for toddlers with ASD, and school psychologists are uniquely positioned to help children with ASD receive it. However, many school psychologists do not receive adequate training in this subspecialty. This paper makes recommendations to school psychology training programs about how to add or improve training in this subspecialty based on the results of an Office of Special Education Programs grant-funded ASD training program which involved collaboration between a NASP-approved and APA-accredited school psychology training program and a community-based early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) clinic. The grant supported development of an interdisciplinary didactic and clinical training program to increase the ASD knowledge, skills, and competencies of school psychology graduate students, with the broader goals of developing a replicable training model and increasing the workforce of trained providers for this underserved population. Fifteen graduate students completed the training program. Outcomes related to trainee knowledge, skills, and competencies, trainee satisfaction, and lessons learned over time analyzed within a logic model that guided the project's development and execution can be informative for other school psychology programs undertaking training in this subspecialty.

Influences of student race/ethnicity and gender on autism special education classification considerations

LAY ABSTRACT

Autism prevalence has continued to rise in recent years. However, females and children from Black, Latinx, and Asian backgrounds are often misidentified or identified less often than White males. These identification disparities make it difficult for children to receive appropriate special education and school intervention services. In this study, school psychologists read a vignette featuring a student with possible autism symptoms. The vignette varied by student race/ethnicity and gender. Afterward, participants rated the likelihood that they would classify the student with autism and their confidence in this rating. Student race/ethnicity and gender influenced both classification likelihood and confidence. These results suggest that school psychologists are influenced by implicit bias and do not fully consider cultural factors in school autism evaluations. This may contribute to identification disparities.