Children considered 'at-risk' for school failure and other adverse life outcomes have received increasing attention in multiple countries across the world. The research literature is replete with studies that emphasize specific detrimental factors that may make a child's life more difficult upon entering adulthood. The traditional, negative perspective of first identifying deficits and pathology before offering aid contrasts sharply with resiliency research and the emerging positive youth development (PYD) model. The developmental assets framework is under the rubric of PYD and offers a strength-based approach to child development, prevention and intervention. This article reviews and integrates data which demonstrate how asset-building is beneficial to students considered at-risk. School psychologists are well-positioned to collaborate with teachers and other educators to play vital roles in implementing this proactive PYD model to help all students.

Bias in testing has been of interest to psychologists and other test users since the origin of testing. New or revised tests often are subject to analyses that help examine the degree of bias in reference to group membership based on gender, language use, and race/ethnicity. The pervasive use of intelligence test data when making critical and, at times, life-changing decisions warrants the need by test developers and test users to examine possible test bias on new and recently revised intelligence tests. This study investigates factorial invariance and criterion-related validity of the Woodcock-Johnson III for African American and Caucasian American students. Data from this study suggest that although their mean scores differ, Woodcock-Johnson III scores have comparable meaning for both groups.

Increasing numbers of grandparents are becoming full-time surrogate parents to their grandchildren. Grandparents who raise their grandchildren reportedly endure high levels of stress, and grandchildren purportedly experience childhood trauma that can lead to poor psychological adjustment. While anecdotal reports have suggested that grandchildren experience significant behavioral problems, there is a dearth of data to empirically support this view. This research was an initial endeavor to ascertain whether teachers perceive children raised by grandparents as exhibiting serious emotional and behavioral problems. Fifty-four African American children raised by their grandparents and a comparison group of 54 African American children living with their parents were studied to determine the grandchildren's functioning. Teachers perceived the children raised by their grandparents as experiencing significantly more emotional and behavioral problems than their similar schoolmates. Children in these families appear in need of schoolbased intervention services.

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Recently, large numbers of grandparents have become full‐time surrogate parents to their grandchildren. The term “grandfamily” was coined to easily identify families in which children are raised by grandparents. Grandchildren in these families are called “grandkin.” Grandparents who raise their grandkin tend to have elevated levels of stress that negatively impact their well‐being. Grandkin tend to develop problems with attachment and establishing social networks, which can lead to poor psychological adjustment and development. Grandparents who raise their grandchildren significantly influence the development of their grandkin in the school environment. Often the children experience severe academic and behavioral problems in school. This article provides a review of the literature about grandkin and grandparents in grandfamilies, particularly as the relationship influences the children's school functioning. In addition, the Grandfamily School Support Network is discussed as a means of ameliorating the difficulties experienced by grandkin and grandparents. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.