Contemporary practices in school psychology: A national survey of roles and referral problems

Abstract

Eight hundred school psychologists who were members of the National Association of School Psychologists were mailed a survey designed to assess their roles, types of referrals, consultation practices, and crisis team involvement. Three hundred seventy (49%) completed surveys were analyzed. Assessment was the most common role followed distantly by consultation. Academic problems were the most frequent type of referral with reading being the most common concern. Of the behavioral referrals, externalizing problems were more frequent than internalizing concerns. Behavioral consultation was the most common model used but less than half of respondents follow all of the stages. Only forty percent use an evaluative component in consultation. A majority of the informants had some involvement with their schools' crisis team. Implications of these findings for training, professional development, and future roles are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.School psychology needs to maintain an ongoing data base specific to professional practices (Reschly & Wilson, 1995). Periodic updates of this information are essential in planning for training, professional development, research, and role change. Surveys of school psychologists have explored a wide range of professional issues including job satisfaction (Anderson, Hohenshil, & Brown, 1984), preferences for specific job functions (Smith & Lyon, 1985), assessment practices (Stinnett, Havey, & Oehler-Stinnett, 1994), involvement in peer support groups (Zins & Murphy, 1996), participation in various service activities (Ramage, 1979), and actual time engagement in specific roles and functions (Benson & Hughes, 1985;Lacayo, Sherwood, & Morris, 1981;Nastasi, Varjas, Bernstein, & Pluymert, 1998;Reschly & Wilson, 1995;Smith, 1984).The amount of time that school psychologists allocate to different service activities reveal some consistent patterns. Assessment has remained the dominant role of practitioners with approximately half of the school psychologist's time spent in these activities (Benson & Hughes, 1985;Reschly & Wilson, 1995;Stinnett et al. 1994). Despite the prominent role that consultation has been awarded in the professional literature and training of school psychologists (e.g., Bramlett & Murphy, 1998) there does not appear to be substantial evidence reflecting a recent increase in consultation (Reschly & Wilson, 1995). In surveys by Benson and Hughes (1985), Lacayo et al., (1981), Smith (1984, Smith andLyon (1985), andStinnett et al., (1994) school psychologists spent between 18% and 25% of their time engaged in consultation. Although consultation is routinely included in surveys developed to assess professional roles and functions, no information appears to be available on school psychologists' use of specific consultation models (e.g., behavioral, mental health, etc.).Intervention and prevention are two professional roles which have been advocated as important roles of school psychologists as part of the problem-solving process (Gutkin & Curtis, 1999). Reschly and ...

Perceptions and Realities: The Role of School Psychologists in Melbourne, Australia

“…These results are consistent with the dissatisfaction expressed by school psychologists concerning the large proportion of time designated to these tasks and consequent reduced time available for activities (Bradley-Johnson & Dean, 2000;Bramlett et al, 2002;Curtis et al, 2002;Farrell, Jimerson, Kalambouka, & Benoit, 2005;Levinson, 1990;Nastasi, 2004;Watkins, Crosby, & Pearson, 2001). No differences were found in relation to the number of systemic practices completed, or the importance of these practices, between systems, suggesting considerable consistency across systems.…”

“…School psychologists are noted for responding and adapting to the needs of clients (Bradley-Johnson & Dean, 2000;Bramlett, Murphy, Johnson, Wallingsford, & Hall, 2002;. However, a number of factors influence the role the school psychologist adopts, including governmental, educational, and personal/school issues (Farrell, 2010;Thielking, 2006).…”

“…Although the relationships were small, it is proposed that levels of engagement in different tasks can influence job satisfaction in opposing ways. This relates to the evidence that demonstrates that school psychologists prefer to conduct fewer assessments and engage in more non-assessment based tasks (e.g., Bramlett et al, 2002;Hatzichristou, 2004;Levinson, 1990;Roberts, 1970;Watkins et al, 2001). The only demographic factor found to be associated with job satisfaction was the student-psychologist ratio.…”

The Impact of Teaching Self-Determination Skills on the On-Task and Off-Task Behaviors of Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

“…On-task behavior was selected because it is a common desirable behavior for students with EBD (Bramlett, Murphy, Johnson, Wallingsford, & Hall, 2002) and it has been consistently used in the literature as a positive behavior indicator that is readily available in a classroom setting (general or special education) with diverse populations (Beck, Burns, & Lau, 2009;Damon, Riley-Tillman, & Fiorello, 2008;Gilbertson, Duhon, Witt, & Dufrene, 2008;Hume & Odom, 2007;Sutherland, Wehby, & Copeland, 2000). On-task behavior was defined individually for each student in this study and these specific definitions are provided in Table 8.…”

Universal Emotional Health Screening at the Middle School Transition

“…The decision was made to use a lower standard score on the depression dimension and a higher standard score on the externalizing behavior dimension because within the school setting, internalizing symptoms were less likely than externalizing symptoms to have been identified and treated (Bramlett, Murphy, Johnson, Wallingsford, & Hall, 2002).…”