Engaging and collaborating with families across multitiered systems of support: Current school psychologists' practices

Abstract

The National Association of School Psychologists emphasizes consultation, collaboration, and family-school-community collaboration as domains within school psychology practice. Family engagement is defined as caregiver participation in children's learning and instruction. While research outlines best practices in engaging and collaborating with families across multitiered systems of support (MTSS), there has been little examination of the current practices of school psychologists within this domain. This study investigated family engagement practices in schools, school psychologists' involvement in these practices, and their perceived effectiveness. Results indicated that while family engagement and problem-solving consultation methods were used within MTSS, school psychologists were less involved in implementation. Implications and future research are discussed.