Background, purpose. The purposes of this study were (a) to identify common factors underlying several Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) methods of assessing written expression among regular elementary school children, (b) to determine what quality writing components account most for ranking or rating of students’ overall writing competency, and (c) to determine which method(s) of scoring CBM Written Expression probes best predict students’ overall writing competency as rated by grade level (2nd through 5th grades) teachers. Material and methods. Two hundred seventy-four second-to-fifth grade students whose data on CBM written expression probes who were available served as subjects. Their teachers were asked to identify critical components of quality writing and to rate their students’ writing samples. Results, conclusions. Results from factor analysis of CBM scoring metrics, confirming past research, revealed two factors – the production-dependent factor, and the productionindependent factor. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the best CBM predictor of teachers’ holistic rating of student writing for second graders was percent correct letter sequence, but was total words spelled correctly for other grades. Multiple correlation between CBM scoring metrics and teacher rating was 0.67 in second grade, dropped to 0.50 in third grade, and then increased to 0.63 and 0.71 in later grades.

Background, purpose. Many children are currently living in poverty and are suffering from the effects of poverty. School psychologists are in a position to assist these children and families. The purpose of this study is to determine what factors relate to school psychologists’ comfort working with poverty and to assess the need for training institutions to incorporate or further develop this type of preparation into their programs. Materials, method. All school psychologists in a Midwestern state were mailed a survey asking for information regarding demographics and practitioner related information. 144 useable surveys were returned and analyzed to answer the research questions. Results, conclusion. The highest predictors of comfort working with poverty are years of experience working with poverty and time spent working with poverty. Although it is important for training programs’ multicultural courses to address the culture of poverty, it is essential that school psychologists in training be given exposure and opportunities to work directly with children and families living in poverty.

The goal of providing early intervention services is to decrease costs to society by decreasing the need for special services in school and beyond (Carpenter, 2007; Jacob, Hartshorne, 2007). Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the perceived importance of infant mental health services and the perceived performance of these services as provided in the United States and Lithuania. Material and methods. A questionnaire was created by the researcher and comparisons were made for importance and performance as rated by Lithuanian students as compared to that rated by students and practitioners in the United States. Results. Results indicated that both Lithuanian and American respondents rated significant differences between importance and performance of services. When groups were compared, Lithuanian students rated “services provided in the appropriate environment” significantly higher in importance than American respondents. American students and practitioners rated “services being coordinated by a single agency” as being performed signifiantly better than Lithuanian students’ ratings. Conclusion. This study brings awareness to the international differences that exist when providing early intervention services to students.

With continued emphasis on accountability and student achievement scores, schools are finding ways to address the gaps between males and females. One means of addressing this gender gap is through the use of single gender classrooms. Previous literature reports data indicating the improvement of achievement scores for boys. Limited research is available indicating the impact of single gender classrooms on girls’ academic achievement. The comparison of scores from male and female single gender classrooms and traditional classrooms needs to be analyzed to identify if improvement in scores is equal for both boys and girls who are learning in single gender classrooms. Purpose. The purpose of this research study was to provide information about gender specific classrooms by presenting data collected at a Midwestern elementary school. Material and methods. Archival data was obtained on gender specific classrooms and was entered into a data recording form. Results. Math scores for females in the gender specific classroom were higher than scores from females in the traditional classroom. Additionally, females in the gender specific classroom scored higher than males in both gender specific or traditional classrooms. However, the results also suggest that traditional classrooms are more suited to increase reading achievement than gender specific classrooms. Conclusion. The results from this study indicate that gender specific classrooms can be used to improve achievement.