The competency-based movement in psychology has significant implications for how psychologists are trained and evaluated. For this reason, there is a growing need to examine how to develop and evaluate competence to ensure that psychologists are prepared for practice. One area in need of more attention is consultation. Consultation is a functional competence for all psychologists, and it is also a foundational competence for school psychologists. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess how competently school-based consultants implement consultation in a computer-simulated school setting. A qualitative case study design was used to evaluate the competence of four graduate students in school psychology. The results of the study indicate that although consultants had high consultation knowledge and confidence, there were weaknesses in their demonstrated skills. Implications for competency-based training as well as using computer simulation for competency-based assessment are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine how novice consultants address cultural factors during consultation. A qualitative case-study design was used to examine how four novice consultants implemented problem-solving consultation in a computersimulated school environment. The consultants were four advanced graduate students in school psychology who had completed consultation training and at least one year of school-based practicum. The consultants were recruited to complete one consultation case with a simulated European American teacher and a simulated African American student. On completion of the consultation case, each consultant was interviewed about her approach to multicultural consultation. Four themes emerged from the data indicating that, although consultants have some knowledge of how to address cultural factors during consultation, there are barriers that prevent them from demonstrating this knowledge during consultation (e.g., discomfort with raising cultural topics, a lack of multicultural consultation training). Implications for training are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent of training in multicultural assessment, intervention, and consultation of school psychologists in urban and rural contexts. Although there is greater cultural and sociodemographic diversity in urban settings as compared to rural settings, it is unknown whether school psychologists in urban settings have more training than school psychologists in rural contexts to assess, consult, or intervene in these multicultural settings. For this reason, 86 school psychologists in rural and urban contexts were surveyed about their training in multicultural assessment, consultation, and intervention. Results indicated that, overall, the school psychologists had little to no training in multicultural assessment, intervention, and consultation. However, school psychologists in urban context did indicate significantly higher level of training in multicultural intervention. Implications for multicultural training are discussed.
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