High-quality home-school partnership can bring significant benefits to children's learning and wellbeing. While evidence-based parenting programs often target key determinants of high-quality home-school partnership (i.e., parenting self-efficacy and parental self-regulation), it remains unknown whether parenting programs can promote the home-school partnership. The present study, an incomplete stepped wedge cluster randomized trial of an evidence-based parenting program, namely the seminar version of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, represents the first attempt in addressing this knowledge gap. Data were collected from a sample of 912 parents of children (range between 4 and 13 years old; 50.2% girls) attending 160 different primary schools across three Australian states. Although the home-school partnership was not the intervention target, we found improvements at post-intervention and three-month follow-up assessments, with small effects in parent-teacher communication (d = 0.16 at T2 and 0.15 at T3) and parent school-based involvement (d = 0.19 at T2 and 0.22 at T3). These findings were systematically replicated through steps. Null findings were found on home-based involvement, parent-school relationship, and parents' perceived quality of the school's involvement in the local community due to potential ceiling effects. The mechanism of change was explored in Part II of the article series. The findings provide additional support to the notion that evidence-based parenting support should be made available in schools, as it not only brings well-documented benefits on children's learning and wellbeing but also has the potential of strengthening the home-school partnership through enhancing the quality of parent-teacher communication and increasing parents' participation in school-based activities.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of Psychology in the Schools ( PITS ), the second-longest-running journal in the field of school psychology. Since its founding in 1964, PITS has served as a central outlet for research and practice focused on the intersection of psychology and education, with an emphasis on advancing the practice of school psychology. The paper highlights the enduring legacy of PITS in advancing school psychology practice, including the journal's origins, editorial leadership, and evolving scope, including contributions from editors William A. Hunt, B. Claude Mathis, Gerald B. Fuller, LeAdelle Phelps, David E. McIntosh, and the incoming editor Shane R. Jimerson. A decade-by-decade analysis illustrates the major themes represented in the journal, including role definition and assessment in the 1960s, consultation and behavior change in the 1970s, mainstreaming and intervention research in the 1980s, data-based decision-making and discipline in the 1990s, workforce issues and Response to Intervention (RTI) in the 2000s, equity and prevention science in the 2010s, and mental health, crisis readiness, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in the 2020s. The article also highlights the contemporary emphasis of PITS in advancing the practice of school psychology internationally. Representative articles from each decade are cited and summarized, demonstrating how PITS has consistently bridged research and practice to support students, educators, and the profession of school psychology. The article also describes the vision of the leadership team, emphasizing three intertwined priorities: strengthening the quality and timeliness of the peer review process, advancing rigorous scholarship that directly informs practice, and expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion across the journal's leadership, contributors, and published research.

Home–school partnerships offer an opportunity to coordinate strategies and provide consistent support across both home and school settings, including supporting children’s learning and wellbeing. The rising prevalence of mental health problems among children highlights the need for accessible support for their wellbeing, such as through home-school partnerships. Parents play a key role in promoting children’s development, while schools hold a unique position in prevention efforts for mental health issues. However, they may not always be equipped with skills, knowledge, and resources to work with one another towards shared goals. Parenting programs have been shown to enhance parenting practices and parental engagement with schools. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, leveraging the content of parenting programs to develop a shared language and toolkit of strategies for both parents and school staff has not previously been trialled. This study explores the impact of a parenting program with reciprocal school staff resources and training focused on supporting children’s learning and wellbeing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 school staff across three Australian states, and data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results showed that the program supported the development of shared strategies, language, and understanding and facilitated family-school interactions. The school staff resources and training also promoted overall confidence and sense of self-efficacy for supporting and working with families, knowing that they have been equipped with evidence-based and effective strategies. These findings suggest that taking a partnership approach to supporting children’s wellbeing require increasing the capacity of both parents and school staff to work collaboratively.

Research has demonstrated the importance of secondary students' sense of belonging to school and its impacts on a range of outcomes, including wellbeing and academic success. However, a large percentage of secondary students worldwide lack a strong sense of school belonging, and this remains an important area for intervention. Although the teacher-student relationship is one of the most significant factors affecting students' sense of belonging, little is known about how teachers can assist their students in this area. This study aims to address this gap by exploring teachers' perspectives regarding the facilitators and challenges associated with building students' sense of belonging in the context of secondary schools in Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews with seven teachers in the urban and suburban areas of Hanoi, Vietnam, revealed that teachers prioritised the establishment of caring and sympathetic learning environments for students and did their best to set up effective support for students despite challenges in relation to workplace pressures and a lack of support. This study contributes to the field of wellbeing research in education and identifies several recommendations for building secondary teachers' capacity to support students' sense of school belonging.

High levels of parental involvement in children's learning and education bring considerable benefits to children and act as a protective factor for difficulties in children's social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment. Parental self-regulation and efficacy have been found to have positive associations with both their contributions to the home-school partnership and to children's wellbeing. However, most previous studies examining these relationships have applied an “average” approach that overlooked potential individual differences. Using latent profile analysis, this study aimed to investigate the individual differences in the interplay among parental involvement, parental self-regulation and parenting self-efficacy, and children's social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Data were drawn from a survey of 2265 parents of primary-school-aged children in Australia. The sample was randomly split into two similar sized subsamples (N = 1147 and N = 1125) to cross-validate the profile solution and the results of subsequent analyses. We identified four distinct parent profiles: proactive (42.4%), adequate (28.6%), help-seeking (16.9%), and disengaged (12.0%). Profile memberships were associated with a range of child and parent demographic factors, parenting practices, family adjustment, and parental emotional adjustment. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the considerable individual differences in the parent population. These findings also highlight the need for schools to utilize practical strategies to promote parenting capacity, strengthen home-school partnerships, and address child adjustment difficulties.

High-quality partnerships between families and schools can bring enormous benefits to the development, learning, and well-being of children. Although past literature has frequently identified the parenting self-efficacy element of parental self-regulation as a key determinant of the strength of the home-school partnership, this knowledge base relies heavily on cross-sectional studies. This paper follows on from an article in Family Process reporting the findings of a cluster randomized trial of an evidence-based parenting program designed to promote parental self-regulation, namely the seminar version of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program. The trial found post-intervention improvements in two domains of the home-school partnership, namely parent-teacher communication and parent school-based involvement. Given that the home-school partnership was not a target of the intervention, the current study conducted a mechanism of change analysis to examine whether improvements in the home-school partnership could be attributed to post-intervention improvements in parental self-regulation. Data were collected from a sample of 912 parents of children attending 160 different primary schools across three Australian states. Following a Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) approach, bidirectional within-participant effects between parental self-regulation and parent-teacher communication were found, while unidirectional within-participant effects were found for parent school-based involvement. The findings provided support to the proposed theory of change where improvements in parental self-regulation are the underlying mechanism behind reported post-intervention improvements in the quality of the home-school partnership. The findings also support the potential spillover benefits of school-based delivery of evidence-based parenting programs. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12623000852651.

High quality home-school partnership is associated with a wide range of educational, developmental and wellbeing outcomes in children. Despite decades of research supporting the benefits of effective home-school partnerships, there remains significant controversy in the literature around its' conceptualisation and measurement. Most existing home-school partnership measures either only failed to capture the bi-directional aspects of this partnership or lack psychometric support. Therefore, this study aims to validate the Partners in Education Survey (PIES) as a brief, 18-item measure of the bi-directional home-school partnership. A total of 2,198 Australian parents of primary school-aged children (M = 7.92, 50.8 % male) participated in the current study. A five-factor structure was supported through achieving adequate model fit in confirmatory factor analysis which includes: home involvement, parent-teacher communication, parent-school relationship, parent-school involvement and working with the community. All subscales displayed adequate to excellent internal consistency. We found evidence supported measurement invariance for the influence of socioeconomic status and cultural diversity. The validation of the PIES will enable researchers and policymakers to more accurately assess the strength of homeschool partnerships and to evaluate interventions aimed at improving these partnerships.

This scoping review identified the international literature on teachers' skill development for enhancing home-school partnerships (HSP), encompassing both initial teacher education and continuing professional development. Using the PRISMA-ScR method, the search spanned six databases, yielding 2947 records. After screening 2044 records, 30 studies met the inclusion criteria. Over half the professional learning opportunities were delivered in person, including a theoretical focus addressing parent/carer engagement, practical behaviour skills training and interpersonal skill development. Teacher attitudes and perceptions both enabled and constrained professional learning. Successful programs supported genuine stakeholder collaboration and created a shared understanding of HSP.

Critical Thinking development in Indonesian secondary schooling has been paired and emphasized in English as an Additional Language in order to respond to global changes and position the nation for better engagement with global concerns. This article presents a qualitative study that investigated in-service teachers' perceptions about facilitating Critical Thinking in their English language classes in an Indonesian high school through in-depth interviews. Teacher interviews in this study were analyzed with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and the findings revealed that teachers appeared to lack Critical Thinking concepts and were faced with constraints in their English language classes. Substantial obstacles such as inadequacies of students' English language proficiencies, authentic Critical Thinking materials in English as an Additional Language as well as appropriate assessment tasks also minimized teachers' efforts in facilitating and developing Critical Thinking in their English language classes. As a result, teachers claimed that they required further professional learning about Critical Thinking practices and related assessment tasks before they would be able to effectively facilitate students' Critical Thinking. The need to overcome these barriers to effective Critical Thinking facilitation in English language classes provides a rationale for including observations of teacher and student practices in classrooms, as well as policy.

BACKGROUND:This study evaluated the efficacy of three interconnected parenting seminars delivered online and through schools in promoting positive parenting practices and improving children's social, emotional and behavioural wellbeing. METHODS:The study employed an incomplete batched stepped wedged cluster randomised trial design, which tests systematic replication of effects across different batches and steps and allowed schools to be recruited throughout the project. Parents (n = 912) of children aged 4-13 years (M = 7.91) from 160 primary schools in three Australian states were included in the evaluation. A comprehensive set of measures was administered at baseline, post-intervention and follow-up to track changes in child- and family-related outcomes. Data analysis adopted an Intention to Treat (ITT) approach, and intervention effects were estimated with Latent Growth Curve Models (LGCMs). RESULTS:ITT analyses showed significant improvements in positive parenting practices, parental adjustment and parental self-regulation, as well as reductions in coercive parenting, child anxiety symptoms, emotional maladjustment, behavioural problems and peer relationship problems with small-to-medium effect sizes. Intervention effects were systematically replicated in seven randomly assigned cohorts. Null effects were found on measures of parental relationships and child depression symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:A universally offered, brief, low-intensity, school-based parenting seminar series can produce meaningful improvements in parents' reports of their parenting practices and parental self-regulation, as well as their children's social, emotional and behavioural adjustment.

Willingness to communicate (WTC) is important in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms as engaging in discourse helps to promote students’ language learning skills. Classroom belongingness and classroom enjoyment have been shown to mediate students’ engagement in classroom activities, as well as their relatedness to fellow students. It is therefore suggested that classroom belongingness and enjoyment have an impact on WTC. Despite this potential link, no research has explored the relationship between classroom belongingness, classroom enjoyment, and WTC among elementary students studying EFL. To address this gap, 300 EFL elementary school learners in Iran completed a questionnaire measuring classroom belonging, classroom enjoyment, and WTC. Results indicated that there was a positive and significant correlation among classroom belonging, classroom enjoyment, and WTC. This study highlights the importance of EFL students’ classroom belonging and enjoyment in their WTC and provides several possible explanations for these correlations. These include the role of respect and support from teachers and peers, learners’ engagement, and the fostering of positive relationships and environments.

This review describes available research on interventions delivered by Occupational Therapists (OTs) in schools to identify the outcomes addressed and in which tiers of support (universal, focalized or intense) the interventions are situated. Previous reviews focus on the effectiveness or efficacy of OT school interventions, but the participation of OTs has not been considered. Electronic database searches were conducted to locate eligible journal articles published in any language and using any methodology. The population were students aged 3 to 16 years, and interventions required to be delivered by OT practitioners targeting any outcome expected from an OT intervention. We identified 50 studies since 1990, the majority of which were pre-post studies addressing mostly school performance and conducted with students aged five to eight years old, with difficulties primarily in fine motor skills and diagnoses such as autism. Interventions were provided across all three tiers of support, but most were focalized interventions addressing academic tasks, particularly handwriting. OTs and researchers should reflect on the outcomes from OT addressed in the published interventions and the tiers of support these interventions have taken. This is vital for the school practice as it is constantly evolving and requires research that considers its reality.

Providing an effective and high-quality education for all children and young people remains a significant challenge throughout the world. Disputes and contradictions contribute to the prevailing debate as to the justification and merits of inclusive education. One of the reoccurring themes within the literature on inclusive education is the relationship between the successful application of teachers' knowledge, skills, and abilities utilised to include inclusive strategies in their classrooms, and their attitude towards inclusion. A teacher with more positive attitudes will be more accepting of students, build more successful relationships with them, aid in a child's sense of belonging, student academic success and social integration. To address this issue, the Teacher Attitudes to Inclusion Scale (TAIS) was developed by the first author to measure the attitudes of qualified (in-service) teachers towards inclusive education. Using an Exploratory Principal Components Analysis and Reliability, a revised version of the TAIS, the TAIS-R provides a psychometrically validated measure of two constructs - a global attitude and a personal attitude towards inclusive education that provides an accurate evaluation tool for research and practice.

Transforming teaching and learning across the Asia Pacific region has moved in waves, from colonial and religious drivers to more recent policy borrowing, resulting in traditional and prescriptive didactic approaches. Nevertheless, an inherent danger exists in introducing global teaching and learning practices without considering the local context. This article proposes a localised solution to global policy reform, a conceptual model that demonstrates the alignment of Pacific teaching and learning methods with contemporary Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs). The conceptual model will illustrate the considerable overlap between these two constructs and provide a contextual and useable framework for future Pacific pedagogical practices that address global educational drivers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a major public health challenge across the world, including in Bangladesh. Little scholarly work has explored the mental health experiences of persons with disabilities in rural areas of Bangladesh during the pandemic. A qualitative case study was conducted in the rural areas of Narayanganj, Gazipur, and Narsingdi. A total of 13 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with persons with disabilities and 13 key informant interviews (KIIs) with different stakeholders and caregivers were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed five major themes: lockdown-induced mental health problems, including fear of infection, symptoms of anxiety and depression, sleep disturbance, suicidal ideation, and domestic violence; perceived attitude towards mental health issues, including stigma and discrimination; perceived vulnerability was observed in relation to gender, age, and type of disability; barriers to seeking mental health care including distance, financial burden, and indifference towards mental health care; and finally, availability of mental health care which reaffirms a lack of mental health care in rural areas. The findings highlight the importance of integrating mental health into the primary healthcare system with a focus on persons with disabilities to minimise mental health repercussions during times of emergency.