The Canadian Journal of School Psychology (CJSP) is offering scholars the opportunity to register research reports and make research protocols publicly available to promote replication, transparency, credibility, and utility for clinical practice. The purpose of this article is to outline the challenges regarding replication, reproducibility, and evidence-based practices, as well as describe the submission protocol and criteria for acceptance of registered reports. Advances and criticisms of the registered reports model are discussed. Although CJSP will accept submissions through the traditional peer-review model, registered reports and support of replication studies have the objective of promoting high-quality research to improve the research foundation for evidence-based practices in the profession of school psychology.
Prevalence rates of learning disabilities (LD) are inconsistent and poorly measured in Canada. Moreover, the definition of LD varies according to province and territory. A lack of a consistently applied definition of LD in Canada has implications for accurate prevalence rates, delivery of services, and allocation of resources. This review of government policies examines the similarities and differences concerning the definition of LD and the accompanying exam accommodations that are permitted in each province and territory. Results indicate that there exists much variability in provincial attitudes and approaches toward assessment, identification, and accommodation of students with LD. More importantly, most accommodations are not empirically supported, and more evidence is required to inform the use of extended time, readers, scribes, and technological aids, among others. Consequently, evaluating Canadian practices across provinces and territories with the goal of establishing a consistent definition of LD across Canada has implications for identification and accommodation of students with LD. Potential social benefits of a common Canadian definition of LD and better evidence-based practices, as well as directions for future research and revision of government policy are discussed.
Executive functions are widely considered as an umbrella term for the higher order cognitive processes that contribute to goal‐directed behavior. In addition, executive functions are highly correlated with positive academic outcomes. To promote the development of executive functions among youth within educational settings, some theorists and clinicians have proposed methods of explicitly instructing executive functioning skills, such as planning, organization, time management, and self‐regulation skills. This critical review serves to evaluate the theoretical rationale and the supporting evidence of the six most cited handbooks for improving executive functions skills among elementary and high school students via class‐wide instruction. Research that cited these handbooks and that addressed whole‐class instruction of executive skills was evaluated and critiqued according to the four levels of the Every Students Succeeds Act. The overall evidence supporting each handbook was then critiqued as lacking, emerging, or sufficient. Although the handbooks are informed by theory and clinical experience, the supporting research is limited to mostly Level 3 and 4 evidence, as defined by the ESSA framework, including only a handful of case studies and small sampled quasi‐experimental studies. Overall, the evidence supporting the explicit instruction of executive functioning skills through a class‐wide approach is lacking and more rigorous research is still required. Best practices for instructing executive functioning skills to students and directions for future research are discussed.
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