A case study approach to delivering and evaluating services by a school psychologist

Two interrelated problems in delivering school psychological services by one school psychologist acted as a motivating force behind this study: the problem of how to plan and render services to a school system where the ratio of students to school psychologists is high, and the problem of how to determine the degree of effectiveness of these services. This study describes an approach which consisted of three distinct services rendered by a school psychologist. Evaluative measurements of the services were made in two areas: the effect of the services on the ongoing operations of the system, and the evaluation of the services by school personnel exposed to the services directly or indirectly. The relative merits and the limitations of such an approach are discussed.     

Continuity and Change in Role Definitions and Training Models of School Psychologists in Israel

Abstract

In accordance with one of the major challenges of psychology research and practice worldwide, school psychology in Israel has setas its aim the promotion of the emotional well-being of students. These aims are achieved through psychological evaluation and intervention, at the systemic and individual-student level. School psychology emerged in Israel in the 1930s, as a relatively narrow field, focused mainly on the placement of students in special education settings. Over the decades, major changes occurred in Israeli society, including waves of immigration, coping with security situations and additional socio-political challenges. In light of these transformations, the discipline grew and broadened, encompassing additional areas of professional practice. The training of school psychologists evolved in relation to these processes. From unsystematic training procedures, mostly embedded in child-clinical psychology and relying on on-the-job training, to a well-established system of graduate school programs producing dozens of school psychologists every year. Academic pre-service training is followed by a post-graduate internship in the public-school system. The developments in the field of school psychology brought about a host of challenges and dilemmas. These issues are discussed in relation to the broad aim of school psychology in Israel: the promotion of the emotional well-being of all students.     

Stress-management training: Evaluation of effects on school psychological services

School psychologists participated in a cognitive-behavioral stress-management training program. The data showed decreases in self-reported anxiety and increases in job satisfaction of school psychologists as a result of the training. In addition, teacher satisfaction with school psychological services increased after participation in teacher inservice workshops generated as a result of training the school psychologists.     

Is the Role of the School Psychologist in Early Childhood Truly Expanding? A National Survey Examining School Psychologists' Practices and Training Experiences

Historically, the role of school psychologists in early childhood settings has been limited to the identification and evaluation of children who may be in need of special education services under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It has been suggested that the role should reflect a more proactive model; specifically, it should continue to expand to include involvement in school readiness and early intervention for all students. The purpose of this study was to examine the present role of school psychologists in early childhood settings and investigate the graduate-level training provided to school psychology graduate students. Results of the survey found that a significant percentage of school psychologist practitioners continue to spend a substantial portion of their professional time completing special education evaluations. Furthermore, respondents reported minimal to moderate graduate training in the area of early childhood populations. Implications for school psychology practitioners and school psychology graduate training programs are discussed.     

Organizational school psychology: Issues and considerations

School psychologists have been encouraged to become actively involved in facilitating organizational change in public schools. Activities such as organization development, administrative-centered consultation, training of multidisciplinary teams, program planning, and program evaluation have been considered as important aspects of school psychology. However, when the practice of school psychology at the organizational level of public schools is considered as a distinct area, a range of conceptual and practical issues become apparent: (a) What is the nature and scope of organizational-level practice of school psychology? (b) Under what conditions may this kind of professional effort be useful, to whom, in what ways? (c) What are the knowledge and skills necessary for effective organizational-level practice? These issues are addressed in this article through delineation of the emerging area of “organizational school psychology (OSP),” an approach to school psychology practice which complements more established approaches that focus directly on the individual child or on groups of children.     

走向完善：人本主义心理学研究方案

为了完善人本主义心理学方法论,人本主义心理学家发展了多种研究方案。每一种方案都设定了自己特定的研究问题,确定了自己独特的研究过程。现象学、解释学、启发式和体验研究方案是其中较为重要的几种。这些方案体现出人本主义心理学家试图将心理学作为人文科学的努力,使人本主义心理学方法论不再流于理论倡导,而是融入到人性研究的具体实践并因此走向完善。在未来,它尚需以辩证唯物主义实践观看待人的本质,确立心理学的整合视野。     

Implementing school psychological service programs: Description and application of the durable approach

Implementing school psychological service programs is a challenging and complex endeavor facing school psychologists. In order to assure that their programs occur as planned, practitioners may benefit from organizational management strategies. This paper presents the DURABLE approach as a strategy that can be employed by school psychologists to facilitate implementation of counseling and other intervention programs. In the paper, the seven phases of DURABLE are described. Then results are reported of an investigation in which the approach was applied by school psychologists to facilitate implementation of group counseling programs in urban high schools. Discussion occurs within a context of the need for school psychologists to incorporate organizational management strategies into their practice.     

N=1: An alternative research strategy for school psychologists

Single subject (N=1) research strategies deserve increased emphasis in the training of school psychologists. Single subject methodology has demonstrated credibility in research and in monitoring effects of professional interventions, but school psychology programs have typically not provided systematic training in this area. This paper suggests that N=1 research paradigms offer a promising supplement and, in some cases, an alternative to traditional large N between group strategies in school-based research; it reviews some examples of N=1 research design and methodology; it discusses some advantages and limitations of N=1 research strategies; and it argues that school psychology training programs must train graduate students in N=1 research and encourage this form of research methodology in practice.     

School Psychology: Training Individuals for One of the Best Kept Secrets in Professional Psychology

Abstract

School psychology training at the doctoral level is discussed. Given the increasing diversity in the schools as well as the varied education and mental health needs of the population, school psychology training is necessarily broad, involving traditional skills such as assessment, intervention, consultation, and counseling, all of which are taught within a context of a changing school population with changing needs. Because there is compulsory education, school psychologists’ interface with a broad cross-section of individual children, their parents, and their teachers. Moreover, school psychological practice is not limited to schools, as doctoral school psychologists are health service providers; many of these individuals work in other settings for which they are trained to provide services. The complexities and challenges of training school psychologists within this broad agenda effectively across domains are discussed.     

Preparing psychologists for evidence-based school practice: lessons learned and challenges ahead

The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement has the potential to significantly advance the quality of psychological and educational services provided by psychologists working in schools. Training psychologists in EBP has challenged the profession and caused faculty in graduate programs to reevaluate and retool professional training curricula and instructional practices. Four domains of challenges in graduate training are identified: (a) integrating the EBP knowledge base into the curriculum, (b) expanding models of research training, (c) expanding training in prevention science, and (d) expanding training in problem-solving consultation and school contextual issues. For each of these, the author discusses the range and scope of the challenge and possible solutions for advancing graduate training in psychology relevant to school practice.     

The development of school psychology in the state of Washington: A personal perspective

The history of school psychology in the State of Washington is examined with respect to growth of the profession, changing roles, training programs, and professional activism. During the past 30 years growth has been influenced by increased demand for special education programs and funding from both the state and national level. Starting out as clinical psychology in the schools, the role has changed to link together assessment, consultation, and remediation. With the growth of the profession has come several training programs based on the masters degree model but requiring two or more years of academic work. This model led to a split within psychology in this State with the school psychologists forming their own organization. The present funding crisis in education leaves the future of school psychology uncertain. However, the author believes that the profession can continue to thrive through positive actions and that by the end of this decade the numbers retiring from and entering the profession will be in equilibrium.     

Favoriser les compétences sociales à l'école : un exemple de recherche–action en zone d'éducation prioritaire

Teachers are concerned with young children who present aggressive and disruptive behaviour at school. The teachers' requests concern the promotion of tools useful in the day by day management of these children's' behavioural problems. A behavioral program has been developed over three years with teachers, school psychologists, psychology students, psychiatrists and assistant professor in psychology. The interventions implemented in the classrooms are based on learning theory and proactive classroom management. The stages of the interventions, the philosophy of the project and three examples are presented. The results are discussed: it seems essential to promote the development of programs that seek to link institutions.     

Psychologists in (Neoliberal) Schools – What Kind of Marriage?

The paper aims to discuss how school psychology broadly is influenced by neoliberalism. Neoliberalism has attracted great attention among sociologists and economist, but less so among psychologists. This is a paradox since the psychological reach of neoliberalism is massive. The paper analyzes how new (neoliberal) school reforms place new professional demands on schools and therefore also new kinds of professional demands on school psychologists. Among other things, it is discussed whether the notion of resilience can act as a future guiding principle for school psychologists. The paper concludes with three suggestions as to how school psychologists can cope with some of the challenges imposed by neoliberalism. I suggest that school psychologists; 1) have to start asking educational questions to educational matters, 2) that they have to be aware of the political aspects of school psychology and 3) that they start acting against the corrosion of professional identity.     

Training in health psychology: An international look

With the progression of health psychology as a new field in psychology specific training programs are more and more needed. A survey of the training situation of health psychology in Northern America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand highlighted a lack of formalized training programs in most countries except the United States and Canada, as well as an enormous variety between countries on standards of training, and on the differentiation of health psychologists from clinical psychologists.

For the qualification of health psychology as an independent psychological discipline a plea is made for international standardization of quality control and suggestions for the content of formalized training programs in health psychology are given.     

Closing the gaps: developmental psychopathology as a training model for clinical child psychology

Espouses developmental psychopathology as a framework for training our future leaders due to its emphasis on an ecological, transactional lifespan perspective, as well as interdisciplinary bridging and policy focus. This perspective, used as a framework for questioning and thinking about the complex interplay of psychological and social phenomena, provides a method for closing the gaps in training future psychologists as it allows for the development of niche expertise under an umbrella of the broader, ecological perspective. In an increasingly complex world of shrinking mental health dollars and growing severity of mental health problems for families and youth, clinical psychologists are needed more than ever to solve social problems. The current training paradigms in clinical child psychology programs need redirection and clarification for future psychologists to contribute meaningfully to science, practice, and policy. This article provides background in the history and influence of the developmental psychopathology perspective, as well as future implications for doctoral training programs in clinical psychology.     

School psychology in Ghana

The nature of school psychology programs and practices in Ghana are described, beginning with the historical development of these practices during the period 1529–1971. Information on the years 1972–1979, based on the author's clinical experiences and research as well as a review of the relevant literature, serves as the basis for a comparative analysis of past and contemporary school psychology practices. Particular emphasis has been placed on students' mental health, the roles of pastoral (church-connected) counselors, and the nontraditional roles of classroom teachers. Discussion includes an examination of the system of school administration, professional education of teachers and psychologists, and the services they provide.     

Guidelines for planning and evaluating school psychology service delivery systems

Contemporary standards of professional practice (e.g., American Psychological Association, 1977) and recent educational compliance legislation (e.g., PL 94–142) emphasize the delivery of appropriate school psychological services geared to a range of school-age children with special needs. Thus, school psychologists must pay increased attention to the development of school psychology service delivery systems. Toward this end, guidelines are presented for planning and evaluating school psychology service delivery systems. The guidelines are set forth in order that school psychologists might consider them and adapt them to local circumstances. The eight principles which comprise the guidelines have been used by the author in planning and evaluating school psychology service delivery systems in several public school districts. One particular school district will serve to illustrate the utilization of the guidelines.     

Textbook preferences among trainers of school psychologists

A survey of trainers of school psychologists was conducted in order to determine which texts in each of 16 areas of psychology they felt to be most relevant to the training of school psychologists. Usable responses were obtained from 48 out of 143 training programs. A 69-item bibliography of ranked choices in each area was presented. Possible trends indicated by the trainers' choices were discussed.