Student personnel services in the university without walls

With the growth of the university without walls, or the open university, a new and expanded role can be in the making for the student personnel professional. This professional's expanded functions should center around outreach services that are necessary for the special groups the open university can serve. An active role for the student personnel professional should become a reality within the nontraditional university.     

Sex-role stereotyping in school superintendents' personnel decisions

In this study, school district superintendents were asked to make personnel decisions that involved potential domestic conflicts. Sex-role stereotypes or sex bias were reflected in the respondents' choices in the following situations: (1) A male was more likely than a female to be selected for a job requiring travel; (2) when an employee's spouse's job required a move, the superintendents were less likely to attempt to influence a female employee to remain and more likely to try to find a female spouse a local job; (3) a female who expressed family priorities over job responsibilities was less likely to be promoted than a male who expressed an identical commitment; (4) a male's request for a leave of absence for child care was considered more appropriate and was more likely to be approved with pay than a female's identical request. Lack of sex-role stereotyping was evidenced by the responses to a case involving the social support of an administrator's spouse and in the tendency to base an administrator's promotion on past performance.     

Transactionalism and the coordinator of pupil personnel services

The transactional style of leadership is proposed as a method of operation for the coordinator of pupil personnel services, and Getzels and Guba's view of social behavior is used as the theoretical framework for the discussion. Two important factors affecting the coordinator's role are reviewed: the bureaucratic structure of the educational system and the roles of various pupil personnel specialists. Use of superordinate goals is suggested as being congruent with the transactional style of leadership.     

Attitudes toward interdisciplinary collaboration in pupil personnel services teams

A scale designed to measure the extent of collaboration of pupil personnel services teams was validated against a judge's rating of collaboration and the existence of regular planning meetings between pupil personnel services teams and school personnel. The judge's ratings and the collaboration scale scores varied in the classification of one team, which suggested two differing definitions of interdisciplinary collaboration to be further explored. The semantic differential responses of school personnel indicated that high collaboration teams in high input schools were seen as more independent and more cooperative than were the low collaboration teams and were reported as functioning more often as a team than as individuals.     

Elementary school principals assess services of school psychologists nationwide

A one-page questionnaire was sent to 400 elementary school principals nationwide to assess their opinions regarding services of the school psychologist. These elementary school principals indicated that the school psychologist was found to be most helpful when providing the traditional services of psychological testing, personality and emotional assessment, consultation, and screening. Changes in school psychological services desired by the elementary school principals were more time from the school psychologist and an increase in individual and group counseling, preventive mental health, and inservice training. If elementary principal opinion is to be regarded, gross alterations to existing services of the school psychologist are not indicated by the results of this study.     

Quality dimensions for school psychology services

Varying standards and quality among Norwegian school psychology services (SPS) have resulted in national SPS support and developmental programs. The present study aimed to reveal SPS quality dimensions to suggest a basis for development of service standards. Teachers (333) and administrators (136) responsible for corresponding cases referred to the SPS responded to a questionnaire including indices of case service quality and collaboration between schools and SPS. The statistical analyses included factor analyses and a multiple regression analysis. The data and results from an earlier study of parents' quality dimensions were included in an items analyses. The result suggests five central SPS quality dimensions: availability, participation, consideration, effectiveness and security. While effectiveness has the strongest effect on the evaluation of case service quality both for parents and school personnel, the dimensions have different significance for different consumer groups. Relations to general service quality dimensions and consequences of the findings are discussed.     

The development of school psychological services in Taiwan

This article reviews the historical development of psychological services in Taiwan schools, identifies some contemporary problems, and suggests possible directions for future developments.     

A consultation model for school psychological services

This paper proposes a consultative model for school psychology which includes several techniques that have been independently presented in the past. The primary contribution is the integration of these different methods into a model which is specifically designed for school psychologists. The proposed model is adapted from Caplan (1970), and it includes four levels of functioning: I) Direct Service to the Child; II) Indirect Service to the Child; III) Direct Service to the Teacher; and IV) Service to the School System; a distinction is made between the content and process of consultation, and a shift in emphasis from level I to the remaining levels is suggested.     

Helping the child with cancer: what school personnel want to know

As more children with cancer survive, the importance of facilitating school reintegration as a part of maximizing the quality of life has become evident. Workshops have been presented to school personnel to acquaint them with the issues facing cancer patients and their families, but there are gaps in our knowledge of what school personnel really need or want to know. In this study, 18 teachers of children with cancer and 15 teachers with no prior contact with students with cancer completed a questionnaire designed to assess needs, beliefs, and priorities with regard to working with cancer patients in the classroom. Significant findings included: (a) a consensus that a certain core of information about medical/psychological issues would be useful, and presentation of such information by psychologists and medical personnel working with such families would be optimal; (b) teachers having cancer patients as students were less likely to see the adaptation of siblings as an important issue; (c) teachers associated working with a student with cancer with less stress and demands on their time than predictable from previous studies; and (d) cancer patients as a whole were rated as having fewer behavioral, emotional, and learning problems than randomly selected students without a major illness, suggesting a "halo effect" or contradiction of some literature. Preliminary findings are detailed and implications are discussed for those attempting to help teachers facilitate students' adjustment to school following diagnosis and treatment of cancer.     

Transition in school psychological services: A case study

This article describes the transition of delivery of school psychological services from primarily a clinical model to one of consultation. It identifies existing conditions facilitating change, analyzes problems, and suggests solutions. New services arising from the changed perception of how a psychologist functions are discussed.     

Teachers' perceptions of school psychological services

Teachers from two schools responded to a structured interview designed to reveal their perceptions of the roles and functions of school psychologist-psychometrists. Responses of teachers grouped according to degree of teaching experience and amount of contact with school psychologists or psychometrists were compared on five sets of variables pertaining to the psychologist's role and functions. Results illustrate that teachers view the psychologist as a specialist in emotional problems whose major diagnostic procedure is testing, who recommends treatment but does little himself. Statistical analysis indicates that both the factors of teaching experience and contact with psychologists differentiate between teachers' percpions of the school psychologist's functioning. Teacher recommendations for change in psychological services are outlined.     

Pupil Personnel Services in the Elementary School

Student personnel services for the elementary school utilizing counselor, social worker, and psychologist are discussed with respect to their overlapping and unique skills. As a solution to the manpower shortage, a program for multidisciplinary training of paraprofessionals is suggested.     

Crisis intervention: Involvement and training needs of school psychology personnel

The results are reported of a national survey of practicing school psychological personnel regarding crisis intervention. The data are based upon the responses of 193 NASP members. The issues addressed were (a) previous training and interest in learning more about crisis intervention; (b) numbers and types of potential crisis situations being encountered; and (c) perceived adequacy of training in crisis intervention. The results suggest that practitioners are being asked to intervene in a variety of situations with crisis potential. Many respondents reported inadequate training for this role. However, most considered it an important area and are interested in learning more.     

Contingency counseling by school personnel: an economical model of intervention

An Attendance Counselor contacted adults (mediators) who controlled reinforcers for six chronic nonattenders (targets); agreements (deals) were made between mediators and targets that reinforcers would be provided, contingent on school attendance. Absence of the Attendance Counselor from school for a two-week period constituted a reversal condition, after which the "deals" were reinstituted. Results showed a significant increase over baseline in school attendance during the time in which deals were in effect. A second study involved 20 chronic nonattenders for whom deals were arranged as in Study One (contingency counseling), and 15 nonattenders provided more traditional attendance counseling (contact counseling). Contingency Counselors achieved results with the 20 nonattenders similar to those achieved in Study One. An experienced Contact Counselor did not achieve improved school attendance among her group of 15 nonattenders.     

A comparison of diagnostic labeling by school psychologists and psychiatric personnel

This study compared judgments regarding deviant child behavior made by 14 school psychologists with those made by 15 psychiatric personnel from a previous study in order to determine whether the law of parsimony is utilized in attaching labels. It was found that the school psychologist's behavior in attaching labels to deviant child behavior is diametrically opposite that of psychiatric personnel; school psychologists tend to be more attracted to the less complex labels and/or interpretation impressions.     

Perceptions of school psychology services from a staff perspective

This investigation examined how staff in an elementary school district perceived their school psychologists and how these perceptions differed across components of service and staff groups. We developed a School Psychological Service Questionnaire and then analyzed responses from regular education teachers, special education teachers, principals, and school psychologists in an urban school district. Although the findings are numerous, most noteworthy are, first, that consumer groups in the district had different perceptions than school psychologists about how school psychologists allocate their time and how this time should be allocated in the future. Second, consumer perceptions of school psychologists' knowledge generally were favorable. Third, in terms of domains appropriate for involvement by school psychologists, a factor analysis of consumer ratings revealed three relatively clear dimensions of recommended service provision — special education activities, interpersonal or school-climate activities, and administrative responsibilities. Fourth, the helpfulness of school psychologists, as perceived by consumers, related positively to frequency of contact. Fifth, differences in perception of school psychological services were evident across staff groups. Finally, comparisons between master's level and doctoral level school psychologists suggested numerous differences in how the staff perceived these service providers.     

Educational needs of school personnel regarding child abuse and/or neglect

From a review of literature a questionnaire was developed to identify problems related to child abuse/neglect in a rural school district. School administrators, regular and special education teachers, and counselors completed the survey to help establish more effective training programs. Analysis indicated that (1) school personnel need further assistance in dealing with problems pertaining to the maltreatment of students. (2) Formal, coordinated, workshop training for child abuse/neglect is needed. (3) Colleges and universities should offer instruction on abuse/neglect for persons preparing to work in schools. (4) School personnel need to be aware of and abide by the laws regarding reporting cases of abuse/neglect. (5) Improved communication among school, community, courts, and social service agencies is required for dealing wtih abuse cases. (6) School personnel should become more aware of what happens after abuse/neglect has been reported. Information from such analysis even for one school district can increase insight into problems.