Abstract: The shortage of school psychologists is an ongoing concern, particularly as there is a dispro­portionately low number of school psychologists from marginalized groups. Only 14% of school psychologists practicing in schools are identified as racial-ethnic minorities, despite the prediction that non-white students will soon outnumber white students in K-12 education. To explore recruitment and retention efforts overall and for racial-ethnic minorities in school psychology, this study replicated two previous systematic reviews. The researchers identified 24 peer-reviewed studies that were published over the past eight years, through electronic and manual searches. Eleven of those studies focused on recruitment, four on retention, and nine on recruitment and retention strategies simultaneously. Findings showed a growing scholarly interest in this topic and highlighted various recruitment and retention strategies for programs and institutions, such as promoting school psychology as a desirable career option for K-12 students, highlighting diversity on program websites, providing faculty and peer support, forming collaborative partnerships with institutions that serve minoritized students, and involving minoritized individuals in research. The implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Abstract: The intentional and sustained actions to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in school psychology science and scholarship, will have reciprocal and dynamic influences on graduate preparation and practice. Herein, the School Psychology Review leadership team provides reflections on several of our intentional efforts, to date, to advocate for and advance DEI in school psychology scholarship, and the associated implications for graduate preparation and practice. Contemporary actions of the School Psychology Review leadership team have included; (a) establishing commitments to advocating for and advancing DEI as the foundation of our scholarship; (b) diversifying journal leadership and editorial board members to reflect the diverse student body school psychologists serve; (c) preparing future diverse journal leadership through mentored editorial fellowship programs, and a student editorial board with members from diverse backgrounds; (d) featuring special topics relevant to further understanding and supporting diverse and minoritized children, youth, families, and school communities; (e) providing professional-development opportunities and resources; (f) implementation of Open Science opportunities in the journal, (g) implementing triple anonymous peer review to reduce bias, and (h) implementing a journal action plan focused on advancing DEI. Collectively these efforts are aimed to influence positive change in advancing and sustaining DEI efforts in school psychology science, scholarship, graduate preparation and practice.

Abstract: Identifying and promoting students’ social-emotional strengths is essential in building their mental health. Covitality, representing the co-occurrence of psychological strengths, is a helpful framework for characterizing students’ well-being. This study used latent profile analysis to identify adolescents’ (n = 11,217; 50.3% female, 37.8% male; grades 9 [33.7%], 10 [21.0%], 11 [28.9%], and 12 [16.5%]) covitality patterns across 12 social-emotional health domains. We investigated whether student demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, parent educational attainment, ethnic identification) were related to profile membership. We further examined profiles’ relations to students’ proximal academic and mental health outcomes, including self-reported grades, school connectedness, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Four covitality profiles were identified—High, Moderate-High, Moderate-Low, and Low. Profile membership was statistically significantly related to students’ sex and socioeconomic circumstances but with small effect sizes. We identified consistent differences across covitality profiles on student self-reported proximal outcomes. Overall, students in profiles with higher covitality levels (High and Moderate-High) reported (a) higher grades, school connectedness, and life satisfaction and (b) less psychological distress, with students in the High profile reporting the most favorable outcomes. Assessing students’ strengths and providing interventions focused on building strengths across domains are recommended.

Abstract: In recent years, school psychology has increasingly recognized the importance of social-emotional health in achieving youth positive outcomes. Social-emotional skills, such as empathy, self-awareness, and responsible decision-making, are crucial for long-term academic and personal success. To help educators and school psychologists assess and promote students’ social-emotional health, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of this topic. This special section focuses on the significance of social-emotional skills and previous research on social-emotional learning (SEL) and their contributions and remaining questions. It includes seven contemporary articles on SEL-related school practices to enhance our understanding and suggest future directions for research and practice.

Abstract: School belonging has received substantial scholarly attention as children and adolescents spend most of their day at school building relationships with peers and adults. Research shows that students who feel a stronger sense of school belonging tend to exhibit positive academic, social-emotional, and behavioral outcomes. In the past, belonging and loneliness were often used interchangeably, implying that feeling a greater sense of belonging meant feeling less lonely. However, a recent study by Lim and colleagues (2021) proposed a Dual Continuum Model of Belonging and Loneliness to distinguish between these two constructs. To test the application of the model, the current study categorized 774 Korean 4-6th grade students into four groups based on their levels of loneliness and belonging: Socially Fulfilled, Socially Searching, Socially Distressed, and Socially Indifferent. The study then compared the levels of social–emotional health of the four groups to test the model's usefulness using analysis of covariance and post hoc analyses. Results showed that five of the six pairs of groups had significantly different levels of social–emotional health, except for the Socially Fulfilled and Socially Searching pair. This provides empirical evidence for the model's application and usefulness by demonstrating that both constructs, belonging and loneliness, play a significant and unique role in elucidating social–emotional health in children. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Abstract: Mixed methods (MM) designs have gained more recognition in psychology in recent years due to the complementary strengths of integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The central elements of a MM design can be particularly useful in the field of school psychology, where both generalizations of group characteristics and exploration of individual perspectives are valued. Given the advantages of MM and their potential benefits in school psychology research, it is important to know the extent to which MM studies are published in school psychology journals and the general characteristics of such studies. This study examined articles published from 2011 to 2020 in six well-known school psychology journals to (a) document the prevalence of MM articles published in each journal and in each year, (b) examine the characteristics of the identified MM studies, and (c) explore possible trends of MM publications in the 10-year period. Findings revealed that although there is a significant increasing trend of MM studies published from the first 5 years (2011–2015) to the second 5 years (2016–2020), the percentage of MM studies is still very small in the journals assessed. Explanations, future study directions, and practical implications are provided to call for more attention and effort in facilitating the training and application of MM research.

Abstract: The representation of Asian American teachers in schools is a unique asset in promoting diversity and advocating for social justice. However, they also face various barriers that negatively affect their work experiences. The diverse nature of the Asian American population is likely to yield different assets and barriers among teachers from different ethnic groups. To gain insight into how Chinese and Korean American teachers perceive their cultural identity in their teaching practices, we utilized a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with nine teachers who identified as Chinese and/or Korean American in K-12 public schools in California. Findings based on thematic analyses of the interview data revealed several assets, including empathy and understanding towards minority groups, more exposure to diversity, increased representation, and shared language skills. However, there were also identified barriers, including internalized model minority beliefs, cultural expectations of being passive observers, internalized racism, an overemphasis on education, and a savior complex. Based on our findings, we provide practical suggestions for recruiting and retaining Chinese and Korean American teachers in schools.