This paper discusses issues concerning deaf children who are of immigrant or refugee background. Information pertinent to the general refugee and immigrant population, focusing on migration, adaptation and acculturation are examined, as well as a series of issues that need to be addressed in order to develop programs to meet the many educational and mental health challenges of deaf children. The paper concludes with implications for school psychology consultation.

This article highlights factors concerning refugee school-aged children and their caregivers both in Canada and overseas. This article documents the impact of the International Children's Institute's Building Bridges programme, which has received validation from both qualitative and quantitative studies. It concludes with implications for authentic programmes which combine education, health and NGO (non-governmental organization) sector partnerships.

This article addresses key factors concerning immigrant and refugee school-aged children. Those include issues related to multicultural adaptation, second language learning, assessment trends and interventions. The article concludes with implications for ecological mental health services and recommendations for pre-service and in-service training.

A total of 341 multidisciplinary staff members in 55 elenwntary and secondary schools participated in a 1995 study that identified the characteristics of students referred to school teams. The study was in part a replication of one done in 1990, with additional focus on team recommendations formulated during consultation. Many of the findings indicate that over the past five years, teams continued to focus on the same needs and the same model of service. The number of individual students referred to teams has somewhat increased, from a mean of 66 to a mean of 72 per year. The characteristics of sfudents referred to teams continue to emphasize academic performance deficits and social-emotional needs. Secondary teams were more likely to focus on school recommendations, whereas elententary teams were more likely to concentrate on class recommendations. Consultation with parents was viewed by team participants as highly important. Implications and suggestions for the practice of school psychology and multidisciplinary teams are discussed.

We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.

This observation study in French immersion elementary programs was carried out in six class rooms over an eight-week period. An observation grid was developed for use in order to determine the predominant language and the type of communication strategies used by teachers and students. The results indicated that: (a) communication in French was maximized in the whole-class classroom grouping; (b) the greatest variely of communication in both French and English occurred in student-to-student interactions; (c) the greatest number of student-initiated interactions occurred in the small-group classroom grouping; (d) student-initinted interactions predominated in discussing, social, and discipline/acting out communications; (e) French was the predominant language used for asking, telling, and discipline/acting out communications, while English was the predominant language used for social communications and both languages were used for discussing communications; (f) French was the predominant language in all subject areas. Study findings are discussed in terms of their implications for school psychology consultation practices that involve school psychologists and teachers.

This study is a qualitative examination of the perceptions of school psychologists and regular classroom teachers on various issues regarding the implementation of recommendations from psychoeducational assessments. Fifteen school psychologists and 25 teachers were interviewed for the study. Findings indicated that recommendations can be categorized into four main types that vary in terms of their implementability as perceived by psychologists, and their helpfulness and ease of implementation to teachers. Findings also revealed that participants found it difficult to provide a valid estimate of the proportion of recommendations actually implemented. Both teachers and psychologists identified the following factors that affect recommendation implementation: practical considerations, consultation practices, teacher personality, knowledge and attitudes, format for presenting recommendations, and type of referral problem. Psychologists also identified psychologist variables, quality of relationships and rapport, and teacher theoretical orientation as factors. Teachers stated that child variables, specificity of recommendations, and support from colleagues, parents, and the psychologist are key factors influencing implementation.

Over the past two decades, there has been a shift in the practice of school psychologists from a unidimensional, direct service delivery model to a multidimensional role that includes indirect methods of service delivery such as consultation. This article considers the scope and adequacy of current ethical guidelines as they relate to the provision of school psychological consultation. Of particular concern is the issue of informal consent when the school psychologist is an active member of the school problem solving team. Following a delineation of the issues, severnl school practice dilemmas are examined and su ggestions are offered for dealing with consultation on individual practitioner, school-based, and professional association levels.

A total of 274 multidisciplinary staff members in 54 elementary and secondary schools participated in a study that identified the characteristics of students referred to school teams. The results suggested that meetings addressed academic and learning needs more often than emotional or psychological concerns. Implications for the practice of school psychology and the development of team-facilitated prevention programs are discussed.

This study of the functioning of multidisciplinary school teams is based on responses from 332 staff members in 43 elementary and 11 secondary schools. Respondents represented five professional groups actively involved with school teams: principals/vice-principals, teachers, psychoeducational consultants, social workers, and guidance counselors. The results indicate that elementary teams meet more frequently than secondary teams and that more frequent meetings are associated with higher levels of member satisfaction. Typically, three quarters of meetings are devoted to discussing individual students and their needs. Most respondents see team members as being actively and collaboratively engaged in decision making. Classroom teachers, however, felt less engaged as active participants. They were seen as providers of information about referred students rather than as sharers of expertise regarding strategies and interventions. Areas in which professional development needs were identified included (a) more focus on classroom and schoolwide prevention programs, (b) greater teacher involvement in decision making, and (c) more focus on intervention strategies and follow-up activities.