Progress will come in the balancing of needs: Professional desires, consumer demand, and why we have to specialize.

Conoley, Powers, and Gutkin (2020) have provided an assessment of the progress and lack thereof of school psychology as a profession toward school reformation, especially as related to their various earlier calls for changes in training and practice. Conoley and Gutkin especially (and I have been colleagues of both) have called for decades for an emphasis on working with teachers, other adults in the school system, and the school system itself to alter the delivery of education. In some earlier work, they have characterized this as adult school psychology.

Evidence-based assessment of ADHD diagnosis in children and adolescents.

This study illustrates the accuracy and efficiency of using an evidence-based assessment (EBA) strategy for diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by integrating the scale scores obtained on BASC-3 teacher and parent rating scales. The examined process used empirical diagnostic likelihood ratios (DLRs) derived from a sample of children with ADHD (N = 339) matched on demographic characteristics from the normative sample. The results show that behavioral scales of executive functioning and functional communication provided incremental utility in ADHD diagnosis.

Comprehensive trail-making test: gender and ethnic differences for ages 8 to 18 years old.

There is increasing concern for possible gender and ethnic differences on neuropsychological measures. The purpose of this study was to examine gender and ethnicity differences on the Comprehensive Trail-Making Test (CTMT) with a focus on individuals from 8 to 18 years of age. From the standardization sample, this included 251 boys and 306 girls with a mean age of 12.

Teacher-reported behavioral disturbances in children with traumatic brain injury: an examination of the BASC-2.

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with behavioral disturbances that can interfere with adjustment in the classroom. As such, standardized assessments of behavioral disturbances following TBI are useful in treatment planning and rehabilitation, although few studies have examined the sensitivity of standardized behavior assessments to behavioral abnormalities in this population. The present study compared the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition Teacher Rating Scale (BASC-2 TRS) profiles of 25 children who sustained TBI to those of 25 matched controls and to the BASC-2 standardization sample.

Prevalence of low scores in children and adolescents on the test of verbal conceptualization and fluency.

It is important to consider the prevalence of low scores when administering a battery of psychological tests. Understanding the prevalence of low scores is important for minimizing false-positive diagnoses of cognitive deficits in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to expand the literature on base rates for use in children and adolescents.

Two-factor structure of the Comprehensive Trail-making Test in adults.

Previous evaluation of the Comprehensive Trail-Making Test (CTMT) using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that for children, a two-factor model provided a better fit than did a one-factor model. The purpose of this study was to explore whether these findings suggested a developmental factor structure or if the two-factor structure also would be supported for adults. CFA was conducted using M-plus to examine the factor structure for adults in the standardization sample using all five trails tasks from the CTMT.

Developmental aspects of working and associative memory.

Developmental differences between working and long-term associative memory were evaluated through a cross-sectional age difference study based on data from a memory battery's standardization sample. The scores of 856 children and adolescents ranging from 5 to 17 years of age were compared on memory subtests that assess verbal working and long-term memory. Data were examined using curve fitting and ANOVA procedures that evaluated age group and years of age differences.

Understanding and preventing violence directed against teachers: recommendations for a national research, practice, and policy agenda.

Violence directed against K-12 teachers is a serious problem that demands the immediate attention of researchers, providers of teacher pre-service and in-service training, school administrators, community leaders, and policymakers. Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on this growing problem despite the broad impact teacher victimization can have on schooling, recruitment, and retention of highly effective teachers and on student academic and behavioral outcomes. Psychologists should play a leadership role in mitigating school violence, including violence directed toward teachers.

Improving test interpretation for detecting executive dysfunction in adults and older adults: prevalence of low scores on the test of verbal conceptualization and fluency.

Knowing the prevalence of low scores on a battery of executive-functioning tests supplements clinical interpretation and can reduce the likelihood of misdiagnosing deficits in executive functioning. The purpose of this study is to examine the base rates of low scores on the Test of Verbal Conceptualization and Fluency (TVCF; Reynolds & Horton, 2006 ) in healthy adults (n = 332; M (age) = 33.0 years, SD = 10.

Differential sensitivity of TOMAL subtests and index scores to pediatric traumatic brain injury.

The objective of the present study was to examine and compare the subtest, index, and factor scores of the Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL), using receiver-operating characteristic curves, to investigate their sensitivity and specificity to traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and adolescents. One hundred and fifty participants who had sustained TBI were compared to 150 controls matched on age and gender from the TOMAL's standardization sample. Results indicated that the greatest area under the curve (AUC) was for the Object Recall (OR) subtest score, the Composite Memory Index (CMI), and the attention factor score.

Confirmation of a two-factor model for interpretation of the comprehensive trail making test with children.

Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) of the Comprehensive Trail Making Test suggested a possible two-factor solution that might better reflect the differences in Trails 1-3 and Trails 4 and 5 as opposed to a single Composite Index for the total standardization sample. The purpose of this study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the two-factor structure with a subset of the standardization sample ages 18 or younger that had completed all five-trail tasks. The sample included 251 boys and 306 girls, ages 8-18, with a mean age of 12.

Executive functions in children with traumatic brain injury.

The maturational course of the development of executive functioning abilities is dependent on the functional capacity of the human brain. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of standardized functional assessments of executive functioning abilities for children. The present article describes neurodevelopment of executive functioning and several recent measures of executive functioning that have been developed to assess maturational periods of specific executive functions.

Behaviors that discriminate ADHD in children and adolescents: primary symptoms, symptoms of comorbid conditions, or indicators of functional impairment?

Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether behaviors that differentiate children and adolescents with ADHD from those without are related to the primary diagnostic criteria (i.e., inattention and impulsivity-hyperactivity), symptoms of comorbid conditions, functional impairment, or a combination, and to determine whether behaviors that discriminate are consistent between the key developmental stages of childhood and adolescence.

Response to Intervention: Ready or Not? Or, From Wait-to-Fail to Watch-Them-Fail.

Response to Intervention (RTI) models of diagnosis and intervention are being implemented rapidly throughout the schools. The purposes of invoking an RTI model for disabilities in the schools clearly are laudable, yet close examination reveals an unappreciated paucity of empirical support for RTI and an overly optimistic view of its practical, problematic issues. Models are being put into practice without adequate research and logistical support and neglect the potential negative long-term impact on students with disabilities.

Response to Intervention: Prevention and Remediation, Perhaps. Diagnosis, No.

Fletcher and Vaughn (this issue) describe recent changes to federal laws governing special education eligibility for specific learning disabilities focusing on what is commonly known as response to intervention (RTI). We are concerned about what appears to us as a selective review of empirical support for RTI and a consequently overly optimistic view of many practical issues surrounding the implementation of RTI models that neglects the potential negative long-term impact on the range of students with and without a learning disability. These include (1) the lack of a firm evidence base reflected in vagaries and ambiguity of the critical details of the model in practice; (2) the worrisome shortcomings of the RTI process as a means of diagnosis or determination of a disability; (3) the contextual, situation-dependent nature of who is identified; (4) the seeming lack of consideration of bright struggling readers in the RTI process; and (5) the apparent lack of student-based data to guide the most effective choice of approaches to, and specific components of, intervention.

On becoming a peer reviewer for a neuropsychology journal.

The peer-review process is an invaluable service provided by the professional community, and it provides the critical foundation for the advancement of science. However, there is remarkably little systematic guidance for individuals who wish to become part of this process. This paper, written from the perspective of reviewers and editors with varying levels of experience, provides general guidelines and advice for new reviewers in neuropsychology, as well as outlining benefits of participation in this process.

Learning disabilities: the need for neuropsychological evaluation.

A learning disability (LD) is a neurobiological disorder that presents as a serious difficulty with reading, arithmetic, and/or written expression that is unexpected, given the individual's intellectual ability. A learning disability is not an emotional disorder nor is it caused by an emotional disorder. If inadequately or improperly evaluated, a learning disability has the potential to impact an individual's functioning adversely and produce functional impairment in multiple life domains.

Early detection of risk of onset for dementia of the Alzheimer type and subtle executive dysfunction after TBI using the test of verbal conceptualization and fluency during clinical neuropsychological assessment: two case studies.

Two case reports are presented that illustrate the use of a new assessment instrument of executive skills, the Test of Verbal Conceptualization and Fluency (TVCF), as a component of a clinical neuropsychological assessment. The cases presented include the assessment of a patient at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and a patient with subtle signs of executive dysfunction subsequent to a mild head injury. Both patients had high levels of education and occupational status.

Do practice effects on Wechsler's Performance subtests relate to children's general ability, memory, learning ability, or attention?

The nature of practice effects on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WISC-III) Performance Scale was examined for 51 middle-class White children ages 11 to 13 years. The participants were tested twice on the six WISC-III Performance subtests (mean interval = 13 days) to determine whether the gain scores were significantly related to the children's ability level, memory, learning ability, and attention and motivation. Measures of these constructs were administered during the initial evaluation.

The importance of neuropsychological assessment for the evaluation of childhood learning disorders NAN Policy and Planning Committee.

When children experience learning difficulties, an appropriate evaluation of abilities and skills can provide the foundation for an accurate diagnosis and useful recommendations. When comprehensive information about a child's brain-related strengths and weaknesses is necessary to understand potential sources of the problem and implications for functioning, a neuropsychological evaluation is most often the best choice. This paper was written to help parents, educators, health care providers, and third-party payors to understand the nature of neuropsychological assessment and to choose the type of evaluation that will furnish relevant information for the child's educational planning.

MMPI--2 Code-Type Congruence of Injured Workers.

In this study, the authors examined the stability of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (J. N. Butcher, W.

A model of the development of frontal lobe functioning: findings from a meta-analysis.

Although past research has provided an initial examination of maturational trends of frontal lobe functioning, it has not yielded a unifying developmental model. The purpose of this study was to generate a model representing the maturation of frontal lobe function as determined principally through neuropsychological tests. A meta-analytic review of the literature on the development of frontal lobe functioning was conducted.