Role and function of school psychologists, 1992–93: A comparative study

Abstract

The roles and functions of 52 school psychologists from Iowa and Tennessee were examined. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test differences between reported time spent on prereferral. assessment, intervention, consultation, and curriculum-based assessment. Significant differences were found for the time spent in all areas. A second one-way MANOVA was used to test the differences between the two groups in reported actual time spent and desired time spent. A significant difference was found for consultation. A third MANOVA was utilized to test the differences between the two groups' desired time spent on the five variables. A significant difference was found for curriculum-based assessment. The results suggest that school psychologists in Tennessee and Iowa occupy different roles. School psychologists in Tennessee reported spending the majority of their time on assessment activities, whereas the Iowa sample balances their time between the five functions. The Iowa role exemplifies alternative functions for school psychologists. The Tennessee role is oriented more toward the refer, test, place model.Historically, school psychology has focused on the testing and placement of children who seemingly could not succeed in the regular classroom. However, there has been a growing revolution in certain parts of the United States resulting in expanded roles for school psychologists. Some believe this is not only desired but essential to the continuance of school psychology as a profession (Bradley & Reschly, 1993; Reschly, 1988).In recent years there has been growing pressure on professional roles in school psychology. On the one hand, PL 94-142 legislation guaranteed the regression to traditional testing and placement roles (Pfeiffer & Dean, 1988). On the other hand, the regular education initiative (Will, 1988) has urged school psychologists to abandon assessment and become involved in consultation and intervention in the regular classroom.Several notable empirical studies have investigated the roles of school psychologists. Each study commented about the prominence of assessment and the lack of time spent in consultation. For example, Davis (1976) surveyed school psychologists in Tennessee and found them to be heavily involved in individual assessment, report writing, and parent-teacher conferences. The sample preferred to spend more time in consultation as well as in group and individual counseling. In 1978, Meacham and Peckham surveyed a national sample of school psychologists. They found that the school psychologists' roles emphasized assessment, with less emphasis on consulting, interpretation, remediation, and research. However, when preferred job functions were ranked, the rankings were: consulting, assessment, change agent, interpretation, remediation, and research.Smith ( 1984) found similar results with a national sample. While his respondents spent 54% of their time doing assessment, 23% of their time was spent on intervention activities including counseling with students, teachers, and p...

Role Function and Job Satisfaction of School Psychologists Practicing in an Expanded Role Model

“…This is consistent with previous studies in which preferred roles for psychologists included reduced time spent on assessment and increased time spent on direct interventions and problem-solving consultation (Reschly & Wilson, 1995). More than 75% of the respondents in this study, however, devote less than 40% of their time to assessment related activities, which is much less than the 51% spent in assessment related activities by the majority of the school psychologists in other studies (Levinson, 1990;Roberts & Rust, 1994;Brown, Swigart, Bolen, Hall, & Webster, 1998;DeSimone, 1998). Despite reporting decreased time spent on assessment-related activities when compared to previous studies, there continues to be a significant discrepancy between actual and desired time spent on assessment.…”

“…This is consistent with working in a single school where school psychologists are more integral members of the school staff and have a more diverse set of duties. School psychologists who reported diversity in their roles in past studies also reported higher job satisfaction (Jerrell, 1984;Roberts & Rust, 1994). School psychologists in the expanded role models of service delivery have diversified their roles to include active participation in instructional support programs and student assistance teams as well as other roles not typically associated with school psychologists.…”

“…Much of their role functions are dictated by the workplace setting, and school psychologists typically spend up to two-thirds of their time on activities related to students with disabilities and special education programs (Reschly & Connolly, 1990;Brown, Swigart, Bolen, Hall, & Webster, 1998;DeSimone, 1998). Research on school psychologists' preferred versus actual role and function indicates they would prefer to spend less time in assessment and spend more time in other facets of the job, particularly, consultation with school personnel (Benson & Hughes, 1985;Roberts & Rust, 1994;Levinson, 1997;Brown, Swigart, Bolen, Hall, & Webster, 1998).…”

Bridges and barriers in behavioral consultation

“…School psychologists have consistently reported they would like to spend more time engaged in consultation and less time conducting assessments (Costenbader, Swartz, & Petrix, 1992;Reschly & Wilson, 1995;Roberts & Rust, 1994). School psychologists have consistently reported they would like to spend more time engaged in consultation and less time conducting assessments (Costenbader, Swartz, & Petrix, 1992;Reschly & Wilson, 1995;Roberts & Rust, 1994).…”

Are school psychologists reform‐minded?

“…Previous research (Fisher et al, 1986;Meacham & Peckham, 1978;Smith, 1984) has documented that school psychologists spend most of their time on cognitive assessment. Given the influence of conducting CBA and the preference for a modified assessment role, perhaps the reform-minded psychologists in this study more closely resembled those in the Wilson (1991) study and some of the participants in the study by Roberts and Rust (1994), whose participants were engaged in statewide training on CBA, prereferral intervention, and schoolbased consultation.…”