Upending the shortages crisis: A national survey of school psychology recruitment.

Abstract

School psychology is experiencing a shortages crisis. There is also lack of national data regarding current recruitment practices. Understanding these practices is essential to overcome these personnel shortages. In this national study, 151 school psychology programs within the US and its territories were surveyed. Participants were chosen from a national comprehensive list of school psychology programs compiled by the research team. The survey was created through a detailed review of relevant literature and distributed by email using Qualtrics. Various recruitment strategy domains were examined. Findings suggest that program representatives perceived program location to be most important and program cost the least important for students choosing their programs. Furthermore, respondents indicated a general consensus regarding the importance of establishing a recruitment pipeline. Moreover, programs within smaller communities appeared to be more involved in recruitment pipeline efforts. Descriptives for recruitment strategy domains are presented and implications are discussed. Impact and ImplicationsSchool psychology is experiencing a severe personnel shortage. Findings suggest that recruitment within school psychology is largely passive, and few efforts are being made to invest into strategic recruitment. Study findings may help to improve recruitment, thus, lessening personnel shortages.

Roles and Functions of School Mental Health Professionals Within Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems

“…The 2019 student-to-school psychologist ratio was 1382:1, nearly triple the recommended 500:1 ratio (NASP, 2020 ). The reasons for severe shortages of school psychologists are multifaceted and include a shortage of faculty and financial resources requiring creative solutions for addressing workforce needs (Bocanegra et al, 2022 ).…”

Centering the contributions, perspectives, and experiences of Black school psychologists: Commentary on Proctor (2022)

“…Citing Critical Race Theory (CRT; as reviewed by Brown, 2022), Proctor (2022) identifies counternarratives (i.e., discourse that centers the voices, perspectives, and experiences of those who have experienced oppression and challenges the status quo) as essential for shaping research and practice in school psychology. In particular, she identifies Graves’ (2009) article as a quintessential counternarrative because it (a) explicitly names the racist systems within which Dr. Beckham worked; and (b) documents Beckham's deconstruction of racist discourse on Black youth's intelligence (Proctor, 2022).…”

“…In a recent study, Bocanegra et al (2022) found that the majority of SPPs in their sample employed passive approaches to recruitment (e.g., responding to emails) rather than more proactive ones; moreover, nearly 30% indicated that they never implemented formal recruitment plans. Notably, Bocanegra et al's (2022) study did not focus on the recruitment of Black students specifically; however, ample research has indicated that many graduate programs do not engage in substantial outreach to prospective Black applicants, nor do they create welcoming and supportive environments for them upon matriculation. For example, findings have indicated that SPPs engage in minimal outreach to HBCUs and their students (Beeks & Graves, 2017).…”

Increasing the recruitment and retention of REM students within school psychology: The potential of diversity committees

“…REM STUDENTS Several strategies have been presented to increase REM student enrollment and retention in school psychology programs. However, research on the efficacy of implemented recruitment and retention strategies is scarce (Bocanegra et al, 2022). In an extensive review of school psychology literature within a 10-year span, Proctor and Romano (2016) found only five articles focused on strategies for recruiting REM students gathered from stakeholder research on either current practices or exemplary practices.…”