The Role of the School
Psychologist in Transition
Planning: A Comparison Between
National and State Surveys
David J. Lillenstein, Ed.D., NCSP
Edward M. Levinson, Ed.D., NCSP
Christina Sylvester, B.A.
Erin Brady, B.A.
As compared to people without
disabilities, people with disabilities:

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
experience increased unemployment rates
(National Council on Disability, 2000)
are more likely to live in poverty
(National Council on Disability, 2000)
have a higher school dropout rate (National
Center for Learning Disabilities, 2002; U.S.
Department of Education 2001)
But things are improving…



The National Longitudinal Transition Study
(1985-1993) and the National Longitudinal
Transition Study-2 (2000-2009) track the
experiences of 13 to 16 year olds throughout
high school
Information is collected through telephone
interviews, school surveys, student assessments,
and transcripts
data from NLTS-2 show an improvement
NLTS vs. NLTS-2

NLTS (1987)

55% of youth with
disabilities completed
high school

NLTS-2 (2003)


72% of youth with
disabilities completed
high school
significant increase in
the percentage of
students with mental
retardation, learning
disabilities, and
emotional
disturbances, who
completed school
Why have things improved?

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One reason could be transition planning
Transition planning helps students adapt to life
after secondary school in the areas of:

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Employment
Independent living
Post-secondary education
Transition Planning

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Transition Plans became a required part of the
Individualized Education Program in 1990
When IDEIA was signed into law, transition
planning became a requirement by age 16,
rather than 14, and is to be more resultsfocused
Transition Planning

Transition planning is mandated under IDEIA

But…

it does not specify who is responsible

school districts often use special education
teachers
Transition Planning

Transition planning should use a team approach
(deFur, 1999)

each member acts as a representative

expands the range of expertise
Transition Planning

The team should be representative of many
disciplines (Wehman et al, 1987)


better able to address the needs of individuals
(Krieg, Brown, & Ballard, 1995)
participation of therapy-related service
providers declines as students enter
secondary education (USDOE, 1995)
School Psychologists and Transition


studies have found that more than 90% of
practicing school psychologists believed they
should be more involved in transition activities
(Shepard, 1982)
a more recent national survey of school
psychologists found that less than 1% of time
was spent in vocational assessment (Carey,
1995)
School Psychologists and Transition

School psychologists possess many transitionrelated skills in the four NASP categories
 consultation
 psychological
and psycho-educational
assessment
 direct services
 program planning and evaluation
Consultation

in-service workshops

instructional consultant
Psychological and Psychoeducational Assessment

establish and test interventions

monitor progress

evaluate outcomes (Reschly & Ysseldyke, 1995)
Direct Services

social skills training programs

behavior management programs

meet with parents and students following an
assessment
Program Planning and Evaluation

planning and implementation of program
evaluation

assess the effectiveness of interventions

assess extent to which students are progressing
Purpose of Staab Study (1996)

National survey of school psychologists

involvement in transition

importance of involvement in transition

barriers to involvement in transition
Purpose of this Study

involvement of school psychologists in transition
planning in Pennsylvania

importance of involvement

barriers impacting involvement

comparison between national (Staab, 1996) and
Pennsylvania samples
Methods

adaptation of Staab’s (1996) survey


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demographic information
tasks from each of the NASP categories
 tasks
list of potential barriers
Methods

survey was sent to 450 school psychologists

follow-up was sent after 14 and 30 days
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150 school psychologists returned the survey
Demographic Information
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Study

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150 school
psychologists
38.4% male
61.6% female
mean number of years
of experience is 16.8
mean age - 44.6 years

Pennsylvania
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950 school psychologists
(PDE, 1999)
38% male
62% female
mean number of years of
experience is 15.6
Demographic information cont.
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8.1% urban
48.8% suburban
43.1% rural
35.8% Western Pennsylvania
39% Central Pennsylvania
25.2% Eastern Pennsylvania
Preparation to participate
Transition Planning

National (Staab, 1996)

Pennsylvania

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
Needed more information
- 50%
Adequately Prepared
- 33%

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Not prepared
- 9.6%
Needed more information
- 54.4%
Adequately prepared
- 25.6%
Well prepared
- 10.4%
Training


53.6% received training through in-service
workshops
.8 % received their training through a graduate
program in “transition”
Involvement vs. Importance



Independent samples t-tests compared
involvement and perceived importance
Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a
family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal &
Rosnow, 1991, p. 329)
Importance was greater than involvement for all
tasks (p < .0001)
Involvement



Independent samples t-tests compared national
and state samples on involvement
Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a
family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal &
Rosnow, 1991, p. 329)
Significant differences were identified in each of
the four categories
Consultation


similar level of involvement between national
and state sample on 70% of tasks
national sample reported greater involvement in:
 consultation to develop self-advocacy/selfdetermination
 coordination of assessments to avoid
duplication
 participation in local Transition Council
Psychological and Psychoeducational Assessment


similar level of involvement between national and state
sample on 67% of tasks
national sample reported greater involvement in:


interviewing students on interests/preferences for
future planning
explaining test results to students to understand
strengths/needs
Direct Services


similar level of involvement between national and state
sample on 67% of tasks
national sample reported greater involvement in:


providing student training on interpersonal/social
skills
identifying “at-risk” students and initiating transition
planning
Program Planning and Evaluation


similar level of involvement between national
and state sample on 89% of tasks
national sample reported greater involvement in:

developing social skills training programs for
students
Importance



Independent samples t-tests compared national
and state samples on importance
Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a
family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal &
Rosnow, 1991, p. 329)
Significant differences were identified in the
Consultation and Direct Services categories
Consultation


similar level of importance between national and
state sample on 90% of tasks
national sample reported greater importance of:

providing student training on
interpersonal/social skills
Direct Services

similar level of importance between national and
state sample on 57% of tasks

national sample reported greater importance of:

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attending secondary IEPs where transition is
discussed
providing student training on
interpersonal/social skills
Current Involvement vs. Perceived
Importance of Involvement
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differences between perceived importance and
current involvement in transition activities were
compared for the two samples
for each item, the involvement rating was
subtracted from the importance rating and these
scores were compared between samples
Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a
family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal &
Rosnow, 1991, p. 329)
Consultation


similar level between national and state samples
on 90% of tasks
larger difference for state than national for:

consulting to develop self-advocacy/selfdetermination
Psychological and Psychoeducational Assessment


similar level between national and state sample
on 83% of tasks
larger difference for state than national for:

explaining test results to students to
understand strengths/needs
Direct Services


similar level between national and state sample
on 71% of tasks
larger difference for state than national for:


attending secondary IEPs where transition is
discussed
identifying “at-risk” students and initiating
transition planning
Barriers to transition involvement
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a z-test compared the responses from
participants in the national and state samples
percentage of school psychologists listing each
barrier was computed
percentages were compared between groups
Barriers
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no significant differences between the two
samples on the ratings of 63% of the barriers
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transition is not part of job description
lack of interest in transition activities
lack of training in transition
high caseload
number of buildings served
Barriers
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significant difference between samples for the barriers:
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referral backlog
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71.2 %
56.8 %
little secondary work
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PA
National
PA
National
17.6 %
40.6%
role restrictions

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PA
National
36.8 %
58.6 %
Discussion
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many similarities in the perceptions of the role of
school psychologists in transition planning
similar involvement, perceived importance of
involvement, and differences between
involvement and importance
both indicated the need for additional training
Differences in Involvement
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The school psychologists in the national sample
reported greater involvement than the state sample
on several tasks:
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consulting to develop self-advocacy/self-determination
coordinating assessments to avoid duplication
participating in the local transition council
interviewing students on interests/preferences for future planning
explaining test results to students to understand strengths/needs
providing student training on interpersonal/social skills
identifying “at-risk” students and initiating transition planning
developing social skills training programs for students
Importance vs. Involvement


both samples reported greater importance than
involvement
this is consistent with existing literature
(Levinson, 1990; Reschly & Wilson, 1995; Staab,
1996)
Differences in Importance

National sample reported greater importance than
state sample on several tasks
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participating in the local Transition Council
attending secondary IEPs where transition is discussed
providing student training on interpersonal/social skills
identifying “at-risk” students
Differences between Involvement
and Importance

State sample reported larger differences than
national sample on several tasks




consulting to develop self-advocacy/self-determination
explaining test results to students
attending IEPs where transition is discussed
identifying “at-risk” students
Differences between Involvement
and Importance cont.

differences on the tasks, consulting to develop
self-advocacy/self-determination, and explaining
test results to students, are attributable to
greater involvement in these tasks by school
psychologists in the national sample
Differences between Involvement
and Importance cont.

differences between groups on attending IEPs
where transition is discussed, and identifying
“at-risk” students, are attributable to differences
in involvement
Barriers

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A larger percentage of participants in the
national study perceived “little secondary work”
and “role restrictions” as barriers
A larger percentage of participants in
Pennsylvania reported “referral backlog” to be a
barrier
Reasons for Differences

several factors may explain these differences

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50% of national sample respondents worked
at the secondary level
20% of the Pennsylvania respondents worked
at the secondary level
Reasons for Differences


89.6% of the Pennsylvania sample reported that
“assessment” was their primary role
previous studies have suggested that school
psychologists nationally spend 50% of their time
in “assessment-type” activities (Benson &
Hughes, 1985; Goh et al., 1981; Gutkin &
Conoley, 1990; Hutton et al., 1992; Reschly &
Wilson, 1995)
Reasons for Differences

differences may also be attributable to the
presence or absence of a "transition coordinator"
Limitations of the PA Study
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response rate
 28.3% of the surveys were returned
survey structure
 4-point Likert scale
Implications
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results from national studies may not be
indicative of trends in individual states
school psychologists need more transitionrelated training

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Training programs and workshops
Ulmer, 2004
Areas for Additional Research
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the role of the school psychologist in individual
states
further examination of barriers
review the curriculum content of NASPaccredited programs as it relates to transition
References
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Benson, A.J., & Hughes, J. (1985). Perceptions of role definition
processes in school psychology: A national survey. School
Psychology Review, 14, 64-74.
Carey, K. (1995). A national study of the role and function of the
school psychologist. Paper presented at the annual meeting of
the National Association of School Psychologists, Chicago, IL.
deFur, S. H. (1999). Special education, transition, and school-based
services: Are they meant for each other? In DeFur, S. H., &
Patton, J. R. (Eds.). (1999). Transition and school-based
services: Interdisciplinary perspectives for enhancing the
transition process. Austin, TX: Pro-ed.

Goh, D.S., Teslow, C.J., & Fuller, G.B. (1981). The practice of
psychological assessment among several psychologists.
Professional Psychology, 12, 696-706.
References
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Gutkin, T.B., & Conoley, J.C. (1990). Reconceptualizing school
psychology from a service delivery perspective: Implications for
practice, training, and research. Journal of School Psychology,
28, 203-223.
Hutton, J.B., Dubes, R., & Muir, S. (1992). Assessment practices of
school psychologists: Ten years later. School Psychology
Review, 21(2), 271-284.
Krieg, F. J., Brown, P., & Ballard, J. (1995). Transition: School to
work. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School
Psychologists.
Levinson, E.M. (1990). Actual/desired role functioning, perceived
control over role functioning, and job satisfaction among
school psychologists. Psychology in the Schools, 27(1), 64-74.
References
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
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National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2002). Students with
learning disabilities: A national review. Retrieved August 6,
2004, from National Center for Learning Disabilities Web site:
http://www.ncld.org/advocacy/pdf/NatlLDReview.pdf
National Council on Disability. (2000). National disability policy: A
progress, report, November 1, 1998-November 19, 1999.
Washington, D. C.: Author. (ERIC Document Reproduction
Service No. ED442240)
Reschly, D.J., & Wilson, M.S. (1995). School psychology
practitioners and faculty; 1986 to 1991-92. Trends in
demographics, roles, satisfaction, and system reform. School
Psychology Review, 24(1), 62-80.
References
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Pennsylvania Department of Education- Bureau of Education (1999).
Pennsylvania Guidelines for Secondary Transition for Students
with Disabilities. Harrisburg, PA: Author.
Reschly, D. J., & Ysseldyke, J. (1995). School psychology paradigm
shift. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school
psychology III, (pp. 17-32).Washington, DC: National
Association of School Psychologists.
Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R.L. (1991). Essentials of behavioral
research: methods and data analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shepard, J. W. (1982). Career development function of school
psychologists. Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, Virginia.
SRI International (2005). National Longitudinal Transition Study- 2
(NLTS2) Facts from NLTS2.
References



Staab, M. J. (1996). The role of the school psychologist in transition
planning (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas, 1996).
Dissertation Abstracts International, 58, 281.
Ulmer, T. P. (2004). An investigation of the factors that influence
the involvement of school psychologists in transition services
(Doctoral dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2004).
Dissertation Abstracts International, 65(7-B), 3731.
U.S. Department of Education. (1995). To assure the free
appropriate public education of all children with disabilities:
Eighteenth annual report to Congress on the implementation of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington, D.
C.: Author.
References
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
U.S. Department of Education. (2001). Twenty-third annual report
to Congress on the implementation of the individuals with
Disabilities Education Act. Washington, DC: Author
Wehman, P., Moon, M. S., Everson, J., Marchant, J., & Walker, R.
(1987). Transition from school to work: New challenges for
youth with severe disabilities. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
Contacts




Dr. David J. Lillenstein, NCSP
Director of Psychological Services
Derry Township School District, Hershey, PA
dlillenstein@hershey.k12.pa.us
(717) 531-2277 x5436
Dr. Edward M. Levinson, NCSP
Professor – Educational & School Psychology
Indiana University of PA
emlevins@iup.edu
(724) 357-3786
Erin Brady
Graduate Student – School Psychology
IUP
e.e.brady@iup.edu
(724) 357-2316
Christina Sylvester
Graduate Student – School Psychology
IUP
c.a.sylvester@iup.edu
(724) 357-2316