Effectiveness of accelerated reader on children's reading outcomes: A meta-analytic review

Accelerated reader (AR) is a computerized reading program commonly used in schools. The program aims to enhance students' reading achievement and encourage students to read more through goal setting and frequent reading practice. A meta-analytic review of the AR was conducted to analyse its effectiveness as an evidence-based intervention for improving student reading achievement, attitude, and motivation. This study investigated potential moderating variables, including publication type, participant, and study characteristics that impact student reading outcomes. A total of 44 studies from peer-reviewed journal articles and dissertations met the inclusion criteria. Participants included 16,653 students enrolled in elementary, middle, and high school. Hedges' g effect sizes measures suggest pretest-posttest one-group AR studies have moderate effects (g = 0.541) while comparison group AR studies have marginal effects (g = 0.278). A meta-regression model of six potential categorical moderators of comparison group studies indicted no significant moderators. Implications and the need for further research regarding evidence-based and culturally appropriate reading interventions are discussed.

Researching the Effectiveness of Tree of Life: an Imbeleko Approach to Counseling Refugee Youth

With the growing worldwide refugee crisis, there is a need for evidence-based interventions that specifically deal with the consequences of cumulative trauma-exposure in refugee youth. Refugee children have unique service needs and differ from their non-refugee peers in terms of sociocultural trauma, language, culture, and educational barriers. This article explains the complexities associated with understanding refugee youth and presents a proposal for studying the possible benefits of Tree of Life therapy. At the present time, Tree of Life therapy has no evidence-base because the published studies of Tree of Life with refugee and/or immigrant youth have sample sizes of one, six, eight, and twenty-nine. As a culturally-grounded, strength-based group counseling approach, Tree of Life therapy addresses traumatic experiences, recognizes participants' cultural differences, highlights individual skills, and aids in instilling both confidence and hope for the future. Ncazelo Ncube, the co-founder and main developer of Tree of Life, describes this therapy as a collective narrative practice that considers cultural beliefs and values (2006, 2010, 2018, 2019). The proposed research design is to study the effectiveness of the Tree of Life in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The research plan is to use pragmatic, group-randomized controlled trials in the "real world" settings of schools and agencies in each of the four countries. In addition, the article describes the development of the Roots and Wings Questionnaire for Children and Youth, a culturally relevant, child-friendly questionnaire. The Tree of Life is a readily available therapy with great potential for helping traumatized refugee youth as well as other trauma-impacted young people worldwide.

A model for translating ethnography and theory into culturally constructed clinical practices

This article describes the development of a dynamic culturally constructed clinical practice model for HIV/STI prevention, the Narrative Intervention Model (NIM), and illustrates its application in practice, within the context of a 6-year transdisciplinary research program in Mumbai, India. Theory and research from anthropology, psychology, and public health, and mixed-method ethnographic research with practitioners, patients, and community members, contributed to the articulation of the NIM for HIV/STI risk reduction and prevention among married men living in low-income communities. The NIM involves a process of negotiation of patient narratives regarding their sexual health problems and related risk factors to facilitate risk reduction. The goal of the NIM is to facilitate cognitive-behavioral change through a three-stage process of co-construction (eliciting patient narrative), deconstruction (articulating discrepancies between current and desired narrative), and reconstruction (proposing alternative narratives that facilitate risk reduction). The NIM process extends the traditional clinical approach through the integration of biological, psychological, interpersonal, and cultural factors as depicted in the patient narrative. Our work demonstrates the use of a recursive integration of research and practice to address limitations of current evidence-based intervention approaches that fail to address the diversity of cultural constructions across populations and contexts.

Is the Moratorium Over? African American Psychology Professionals’ Views on Intelligence Testing in Response to Changes to Federal Policy

Collectively, advocates for the well-being of African American children have long called for a moratorium on the use of intelligence testing for the placement of children in special education. With the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, intelligence testing is no longer required and in some states prohibited as a tool for assessing learning disabilities. As such, the purpose of this descriptive study is to give an overview of these changes and how they will affect the assessment of African American children. A national sample of African American psychology professionals was surveyed, and the majority indicated that response to intervention (RTI) methodologies alone are not sufficient for special education placement. In addition, there was uncertainty if RTI procedures will reduce African American disproportionality in special education. Results are discussed in terms of the need to increase the number of intervention articles that include African American children and recruiting more African American school psychologists.