Little empirical evidence is available on the professional characteristics and practices of school psychologists in Portugal. This study surveyed a total of 477 Portuguese school psychologists employed in public (80%) and private schools (20%). Portuguese school psychologists are described with regard to demographic, professional, and educational backgrounds, school settings, roles performed, and main target populations served. Evaluating and counseling regular education students, vocational guidance, and special education-related activities emerged as the most time-consuming professional practices. A professional practice primarily focused on students, mainly from the highest education levels, was also observed. Results are compared with findings of previous surveys and reviewed in the context of the current literature on the school psychologist's role. Implications for the field are also provided.
ResumoTendo por base um inquérito junto a 477 psicólogos escolares de instituições públicas e privadas portuguesas, foram analisados o perfil e as necessidades de formação desse grupo profissional. Os resultados apontam que, a par da formação em áreas diretamente relacionadas com a prática psicológica em contexto escolar, muitos profissionais reportaram ser especializados no domínio da psicologia clínica e da saúde. As necessidades de formação identificadas parecem refletir a natureza dos problemas encontrados na área, como as dificuldades de aprendizagem, a indisciplina, e os problemas de comportamento. Tais necessidades parecem ainda apontar as principais áreas de intervenção desses profissionais, atinentes a necessidades educativas especiais, avaliação e consulta psicológica, e orientação vocacional. Paralelamente, elas evidenciam o desejo desses profissionais em expandir seu campo de atuação para além dos papéis ditos tradicionais. A partir deste estudo podem ser derivadas implicações tanto para a formação inicial quanto para a formação continuada dos psicólogos escolares. Palavras-chave:
Fluency is a central skill for successful reading. Research has provided evidence that systematic reading fluency interventions can be effective. However, research is scarce on the effects of interventions delivered remotely versus face-to-face. This study investigated the efficacy of a systematic and standardized intervention for promoting reading fluency in third-grade students (N = 207) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study had a pretest, posttest, and follow-up design, with two intervention groups (remote vs face-to-face) and a control group. The intervention groups experienced 20 intervention sessions (2 sessions per week), each lasting approximately 50 min. Word reading accuracy, text reading accuracy, and fluency were measured in the three rounds of assessment. In both intervention groups, all measures of reading showed gains from pretest to posttest. The results also suggested that the efficacy of the intervention was similar in the remote and face-to-face modalities. These findings highlight the relevance of systematic interventions in increasing reading fluency and support the use of remote interventions as an adequate alternative to face-to-face interventions.
Studies have generally characterized school psychologists as a relative homogenous population. Understanding the differences in professional practices and related variables is important for the development of the profession. Using a sample of 446 Portuguese school psychologists, this study used cluster analysis to identify distinct profiles of professional activity, based on practitioners' time distribution among different target audiences (i.e., students, parents, teachers, school board members, school non-professional staff, and other professionals within the school community). Three distinct profiles emerged from the data: a group highly oriented to work with students, a group that distributes time almost equitably between adults and students, and a group that concentrates attention and professional expertise on adults. Practice setting variables, such as school-psychologists-to-student ratio, schoolpsychologists-to-school ratio, number of referrals per year, and school community level of demand for different activities, were found to be significantly related to cluster membership. No personal-or professional-background-related variables differentiated the three groups. The main implications of these findings are discussed in light of recent literature regarding the models of service delivery for school psychologists.Keywords School psychology . Professional practice . Cluster analysis Survey research has a long tradition in the field of school psychology and has been widely used to collect data and answer research questions about school psychologists, their attitudes, and responsibilities. Several authors have stressed the importance of systematically gathering
This study examines the ethical dilemmas and difficulties encountered by Portuguese school psychologists. As part of a larger survey, participants were asked about ethical issues faced in daily practice and asked to describe ethical incidents. Of the 477 respondents, 274 reported 441 ethically troubling or challenging situations. Responses were coded into a six-category system based on the code of ethics of Portuguese psychologists. Most of the reported dilemmas concerned privacy and confidentiality principles (53%). Results are discussed in light of relevant literature and international findings. Implications for the development of the profession and future research are provided.
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