ONLINE LEARNING MODULES
Module I: Introduction: The Future of
School Psychology
Developed by
Patti L. Harrison, The University of Alabama
Jack Cummings, Indiana University
Advisory Board
Rachel Brown-Chidsey, University of Southern Maine
Sandra Christenson, University of Minnesota
Michael Curtis, University of South Florida
Peg Dawson, Seacoast Mental Health Center, New Hampshire
John Desrochers, New Canaan Public Schools, Connecticut
Sissy Hatzichristou, University of Athens, Greece
Cathy Lines, Cherry Creek Schools, Colorado
JoAnne Morgan, Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts
Diane Smallwood, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Gary Stoner, University of Massachusetts
Chris Willis, Newport County Regional Special Education, Rhode Island
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS
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Module 1: Introduction
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to use a new file name for your personalized Word file.
Important Notices
The online learning modules were adapted from materials developed for and resulting
from the 2002 Conference on the Future of School Psychology. Complete conference
materials are available on the conference Internet site
(http://education.indiana.edu/~futures/ ). The futures conference was co-sponsored by
National Association of School Psychologists, American Psychological Association
Division 16, Society for the Study of School Psychology, Council of Directors of School
Psychology Programs, Trainers of School Psychologists, American Academy of School
Psychology, American Board of School Psychology, and International School
Psychology Association.
The online learning module materials have been made available free of charge to the
public. The materials may be adapted, reproduced, reprinted, or linked to websites
without specific permission. However, the integrity of the content must be maintained
and proper credit must be given (Harrison, P.L., & Cummings, J. The future of school
psychology online learning modules,
http://education.indiana.edu/~futures/resources.html)
While every effort was made to present accurate and reliable information on the
learning modules and futures website, the module developers or sponsoring
associations do not endorse, approve or certify such information, nor do they guarantee
the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, timeliness, or correct sequencing of such
information. Use of such information is voluntary and reliance on it should only be
undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy, completeness, efficacy, and
timeliness. Reference to any specific commercial product, process or service by trade
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endorsement, recommendation or favoring.
At certain places in the materials, live "links" to other Internet addresses can be
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completeness, efficacy, timeliness, or correct sequencing of the information located at
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these websites.
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Module 1: Introduction
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MODULE I INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PURPOSE AND OVERVIEW
RESOURCES FOR READING AND REVIEW
QUESTIONS FOR GROUP DISCUSSION OR INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION
APPENDICES
 Appendix A: Selected Essays Written by Onsite Participants Prior to the 2002
School Psychology Futures Conference
 Appendix B: Selected Comments and Categories in Essays Written for
Applications for Onsite Participation in the 2002 School Psychology Futures
Conference
 Appendix C: Brief Summary of Focus Groups Held Prior to the 2002 School
Psychology Future’s Conference
 Appendix D: Guiding Principles and Critical Issues/Outcomes Identified by Onsite
and Remote Site Participants in the 2002 School Psychology Futures
Conference
OPTIONAL MATERIALS
 Module I: Professional Development Activity Documentation Form
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MODULE I: INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
PURPOSE AND OVERVIEW
The purpose of Module I is to provide background information about the current status
of school psychology and to examine the need for planning in order to effectively meet
the needs of children, families and schools. The goals of the 2002 Conference on the
Future of School Psychology will serve as a context within which to reflect on potential
future directions. Additionally, Module I presents values, assumptions, and key
principles that will guide your evaluation and strategies, as needed for your completion
of Modules II-VI.
Nationally, school psychology has undergone tremendous growth in terms of
membership in the profession and the vision we hold for the purposes of the work that
we do. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the profession is faced with a national
shortage of school psychologists that threatens its capacity to meet the needs of
children in schools. Furthermore, the needs and pressures facing children growing up
in America today are greater than they have been in our lifetime. Given the changes the
profession is facing and their implications for the practice of school psychology, the
goals of the 2002 futures conference and the present learning modules are as follows.

Achieve consensus on current and future personnel demands for school
psychologists and our profession's ability to meet those demands.

Conceptualize the practice of school psychology in the face of diminishing
numbers of professionals but increasing demand for services.

Develop an agenda for using the resources available to maximize the benefits to
the children, families, and schools that we serve.
Values and Assumptions
1. The focus of the learning modules is on current and future needs of children,
families, and schools and the capacity of school psychology to provide services to
meet those needs. The focus is not simply on advancing the field of school
psychology or protecting the jobs of school psychologists.
2. Diversity—of the clients we serve, of school psychologists, of other professionals—
will be celebrated and respected at all times.
3. School psychology is faced with a national personnel shortage, with some parts of
the country impacted more than others. However, the shortage cannot be
addressed adequately by simply recruiting more individuals to the profession. We
must consider alternatives to, and possible restructuring of our service delivery
practices, in order to plan for the shortage and ensure that adequate services will be
provided to children, families, and schools.
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4. In order to maximize our future services to benefit children, families, and schools, we
recognize that we must consider all aspects of school psychology, including preservice graduate training; services provided by individual school psychologists and
school psychological services units; the organizational components of school and
community agencies; public advocacy at the local, state, and national levels; etc.
5. Users of these learning modules are encouraged to be innovative—to go beyond the
“tried and true” of their typical school psychology practice.
6. The learning modules provide many opportunities for discussion (if they are being
used in graduate classes, inservice activities, or other groups) or individual reflection
(if being used in individual self-study or independent learning) and are structured
and organized to focus on outcomes and actions. However, it is important that the
learning modules be viewed as much more than an opportunity for talk, interaction,
or self-reflection. It is hoped that the modules will lead to the actual implementation
of action plans for change at the individual, local, state, or national levels.
7. To facilitate accomplishment of the activities in the learning modules, whether in
groups or by individuals, a problem-solving process will be used that is similar to the
process used in the 2002 Futures Conference. The problem solving model was
selected because it is a familiar model for most participants and is expected to result
in efficient and effective activities.
8. When conceptualizing strategies as part of activities in the learning modules, users
should recognize the importance of resources that exist beyond school psychology.
Social workers, counselors, other psychological specialties, other professionals,
paraprofessionals, etc. represent important mental health resources. All professions
will be treated with respect for their potential contributions to services for children.
9. You will be asked to read ideas generated by participants in the 2002 Futures
Conference. The conference participants represented a wealth of backgrounds,
experiences, and viewpoints. The diversity of participants was recognized as an
important contributor to the success of the conference. Differences of opinion were
expected (and welcomed) at the conference, and will provide you with important and
diverse viewpoints as you proceed through the learning modules. Similarly, if you
are participating in these learning modules in groups (graduate classes, inservice
sessions, planning sessions, etc.), it is important that all participants in your group—
and their viewpoints— be treated with courtesy and respect.
10. If you are participating in these learning modules in groups, note that all participants
are expected to contribute equally to discussions, brainstorming, and action
planning. Participants will provide others in their group with opportunities to
contribute to the discussion, will stay on task and focused on the topic of
discussions, and will not dominate the discussions in their group. Group facilitators
will promote contributions from all participants, will keep discussions from getting
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Module 1: Introduction
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bogged down on less relevant topics, and will prevent discussions from being
dominated by outspoken individuals in the group.
11. Change is inevitable and departing from the status quo naturally will generate
anxiety about the unknown. Although the 2002 Futures Conference---and these
learning modules---focus on improving services to children, families, and schools,
please recognize and be sensitive to people’s responses and feelings. We must
anticipate the predictable consequences of change.
Module I is divided into two major sections (Resources for Reading and Review and
Questions for Group Discussion/Individual Reflection,), with associated appendices. If
you are completing these modules as part of a group, your course instructor, workshop
presenter, or other group leader will provide you with instruction about which of these
two sections you will complete. Or, if you are completing the module for independent
self-study, you may elect to complete either or both sections of this module.
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MODULE I: INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
RESOURCES FOR READING AND REVIEW
Primary Readings Based on 2002 Futures Conference:
a. Selected essays written by futures conference participants (see Appendix A
later in this module)
b. Selected comments and categories essays written by futures conference
participants (see Appendix B later in this module)
c. Brief summary of focus groups held prior to the conference (see Appendix C
later in this module)
d. Key issues/outcomes identified by futures conference participants (see
Appendix D later in this module)
e. Sheridan, S. M., & D’Amato, R. C., (2004). Partnering to chart our futures:
School Psychology Review and School Psychology Quarterly Combined
Issue on the Multisite Conference on the Future of School Psychology.
School Psychology Review, 33, 7-11. If a NASP member, access this article
by linking to NASP website; http://www.naspwebservices.org/. OR read the
article published concurrently in: School Psychology Quarterly, 2003, 18, 347351.
f. Harrison, P. L., Cummings, J. A., Dawson, M., Short, R., Gorin, S.,
Palomares, R., (2004). Responding to the needs of children, families and
schools: The 2002 multi-site conference on the future of school psychology.
School Psychology Review, 33, 12-33. If a NASP member, access this article
by linking to NASP website; http://www.naspwebservices.org/ . OR read the
article in: School Psychology Quarterly, 2003, 18, 358-388.
g. Personal reflections from conference participants
http://www.nasponline.org/publications/futuresCQ.html
Additional readings: Optional readings as applicable:
Kratochwill (2002) webcast and powerpoint: Research to Practice: The Role of
Evidence-Based Interventions in Practice
http://education.indiana.edu/~futures/kratoch.ppt )
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Kratochwill, T. R., & Shernoff, E. S. (2004). Evidence based practice: Promoting
evidence-based interventions in school psychology. School Psychology Review,
33, 34-48. If a NASP member, access this article by linking to NASP website;
http://www.naspwebservices.org/ . OR read the article in: School Psychology
Quarterly, 2003, 18, 389-408.
Kratochwill, T.R., & Stoiber, K.C. (2002). Evidence-based interventions in school
psychology: Conceptual foundations of the Procedural and Coding Manual of
Division 16 and the Society for the Study of School Psychology Task Force.
School Psychology Quarterly. Special Issue: Evidence-based interventions in
school psychology: The state of the art and future directions. 17, 341-389.
Reschly, D. J., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (2002). Paradigm shift: The past is not the
future. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.). Best Practices in School Psychology-IV
(pp. 3-20). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
Ringeisen, H, Kelly Henderson, K, & Hoagwood, K. (2003). Context matters:
Schools and the "research to practice gap" in children's mental health. School
Psychology Review, 32, 153-168. If a NASP member, access this article by
linking to NASP website; http://www.naspwebservices.org/
Sheridan, S. M., & Gutkin, T. B. (2000). The ecology of school psychology:
Examining and changing our paradigm for the 21st Century. School Psychology
Review, 29, 485-501. If a NASP member, access this article by linking to NASP
website; http://www.naspwebservices.org/ .
Tilly, W. D., Best practices in school psychology as a problem-solving enterprise.
In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.). Best Practices in School Psychology-IV (pp.
21-36). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
White, J. L., & Kratochwill, T. R., (2005). Practice guidelines in school
psychology: Issues and directions for evidence-based interventions in practice
and training. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 99-115.
NASP. (2000). Guidelines for the provision of school psychological services.
http://www.nasponline.org/certification/FinalStandards.pdf
APA. (1998). Archival description of school psychology.
http://education.indiana.edu/~div16/G&O.htm
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MODULE I INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
QUESTIONS FOR GROUP DISCUSSION OR INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION
Consider the following focus questions and target questions in your groups or for
individual reflection. Focus questions are similar to those used in focus groups prior to
the 2002 Futures Conference; these brief questions promote an initial orientation and
consideration of the topic. The more comprehensive target questions require your
consideration of specific issues and findings from background readings and your
application of the issues to your own setting.
Groups: Before group discussion, the group leader can distribute or read the
questions, and allow group members to write brief responses to each question.
To begin group discussion of each question, the group leader should read the
question aloud and ask each group member in turn to give one response. As
time allows, ask each group for a second response or discussion of frequent or
related responses. A recorder can note and display responses on an easel,
computer monitor, or other display.
Self-study/independent learning: Read, consider, and write brief responses to
each question below.
Focus questions: Group discussion or individual reflection
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
In ten words or less, define a school psychologist?
What three strengths do school psychologists have?
What three weaknesses do school psychologists have?
How can school psychology attract more professionals to the field?
How can school psychologists meet service demands despite diminishing
numbers in our profession?
f. How can graduate education in school psychology respond to the personnel
shortage in our profession? How can inservice training by school systems,
professional associations, etc, respond to the personnel shortage in our
profession?
Target questions based on background reading: Group discussion or individual
reflection
a. From the sample essays, analysis of essays, or focus groups (See
Appendices A, B, and C), which comment or comments did you find to be
most relevant to your own perception of the needs of the profession? How do
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Module 1: Introduction
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b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
the needs identified on the national level relate to the local provision of
psychological services?
The futures conference focused on school psychology services for children,
families, and schools. Why is it important for school psychology to consider
all three (children, families, and schools)?
A major principle of the futures conference was “In order to be effective,
school psychological services must demonstrate respect for and
understanding of diversity factors for children, families, and schools, including
factors related to cultural, individual, and role differences.” How does
diversity impact children, families, and schools in your setting? How can
school psychology respond most effectively to diversity?
The participants in the 2002 futures conference identified five critical
issues/outcomes on which to focus their national planning activities (see
Appendix D later in this module). In your opinion, which one or more of the
critical issues/outcomes has increased in importance since the 2002
conference? Why?
A “problem-solving model” was used to guide the conference, as well as
organize these learning modules. What are advantages of problem-solving
models for analysis and planning? What are examples of applications of the
model in school psychology practice?
Kratochwill supports “evidence-based“, or scientifically-based, practice as an
important component of the future of school psychology. What resources are
needed to promote more evidence-based practice by school psychologists?
The following learning modules will ask you to identify and analyze issues,
strategies, and activities related to school psychology practice. At what level
will you focus your target goals as you progress through the modules: your
own individual service delivery goals, local school district goals, state goals,
or national goals? How will you integrate your individual, local, or state goals
with a national agenda for school psychology?
Optional: Complete “Module I: Professional Development Activity
Documentation Form” (see Optional Materials at the end of this module)
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Appendix A: Selected Essays Written by Onsite Participants
Prior to the 2002 School Psychology Futures Conference
Desrochers, John E.
In some respects the current shortage of school psychologists merely amplifies longstanding unresolved
problems within the profession concerning its very identity. Looked at in an optimistic light, this shortage
may be just the crisis to spark reform and resolution of the more intractable issues in our profession. I
believe that the Futures Conference, born of this shortage, is faced with the very survival of school
psychology as a specialty. It has the once in a lifetime opportunity to create a future for school psychology
and chart the course of our profession for years to come.
The shortage of school psychologists, like all shortages, is a matter of both supply and demand. Most
proposed solutions focus on the supply side of this equation. We have heard recommendations to
increase enrollments in our training programs, publicize the field to undergraduates, and develop
respecialization procedures. We also hear calls to raise the compensation and professional status of
school psychologists or to create a ladder for career advancement. APA and NASP should jointly develop
a very specific set of guidelines for respecialization. If we do not do this, state departments of education
will, utilizing whatever means necessary (very likely involving a significant reduction of standards) to
relieve district school superintendents of the pressure of non-compliance with mandated special
education testing requirements. APA, NASP, and training institutions should develop web-based training
opportunities both for core knowledge areas and for more advanced training. This could make training
opportunities more easily available to a broader range of people who might want to enter the profession.
In general, NASP and Division 16 have to resolve their differences, especially over training issues. While
they fiddle, Rome burns and Division 12 creates a section for Clinical Psychology in the Schools. We're
wasting our resources. School psychology has to unite. Our very identity as a profession is at stake.
While these supply side ideas are worthy suggestions, they are unlikely to produce an increase in school
psychologists at the rate that appears to be needed to meet the demand. It is the demand side of the
equation that may offer the greatest potential for solutions to the problem, though the field will have to
decide whether it has the political will to attempt to reduce the demand for our services (as currently
practiced) and risk a halt to the rapid growth of school psychology that we have seen over the last twentyfive years.
The demand for school psychologists since passage of P.L. 94-142 has been driven by special education
and its requirements for placement testing. These positions have continued to emphasize testing and the
chores that surround that task, diminishing our ability to implement the best practices of the profession.
Research shows that 79% of a school psychologist's time is consumed by tasks involved with
assessment for determining special education eligibility. Most of this time is devoted to legally mandated
assessment procedures (e.g., determining "the discrepancy") that the profession essentially declares to
be bad practice and the paperwork and meetings surrounding that process. Decreasing the demand for
that kind of service by even half would be equivalent to immediately increasing the number of school
psychologists by nearly 40%! This would go a long way toward alleviating the national shortage. School
psychology must risk reducing its identification with the processing of special education eligibility. We
have to speak the truth about testing, administrative routine, paperwork, and all that the test and place
practices of special education law entail.
The job description for school psychologists has to change. It should promote positive school psychology
programs, allied with health care and health education at all levels of the system. It should emphasize our
role as educational consultants on the highest level. Our professional organizations should continue to
press nationally for legislative and regulatory changes that would bring practice more into line with
accepted best practices of the profession. More support and direction needs to be focused on state level
efforts, including efforts to recruit other stakeholders (e.g., boards of education associations) in our cause.
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We need state regulations that reduce the demand for unnecessary assessment activities. We need to
force school administrators to reassign the low-level administrative work - managerial at best, clerical at
worst - that has slowly devolved to too many school psychologists. We need to conceptualize and
legislate positive school psychology programs throughout the school, not just school psychology services
which can be marginalized and defined by others. We need to clarify who we are and what we do. If we
do not define ourselves, others will; if we do not clearly delineate our role and our purpose, we will end up
doing whatever services others give us to perform. The job description has to be changed both from the
top down through our national organizations and from the bottom up starting with efforts in individual
schools, districts, and states.
This new job description would allow school psychologists to spend their time actually solving problems
using what have long been known as best practices in our field! My preference is for school psychologists
to operate out of a systemic orientation and learn to assess and intervene on multiple levels of the childfamily-school-community system. They would design programs of school psychology infused throughout
the school, stressing such concepts as social and emotional learning, positive psychology, healthcare,
and prevention. School psychologists would be psychologists for all children, not just for those labeled as
needing special education. Training will have to emphasize systemic thinking, collaboration with other
professionals, programmatic approaches to mental health, and educational consultation on a broader
scale than the individual student.
School psychology has always struggled to define its identity within the broader worlds of psychology and
education. The current shortage has once again brought these issues into sharp relief. I am concerned for
the integrity, and ultimately for the survival, of our profession. I hope this Futures Conference finds the
wisdom to guide us through these difficult times and the courage to re-envision school psychology's role
and mission for the new era ahead
Doll, Beth
I believe that we ought to conduct our work with an eye to the rest of the world ...We are an international
profession, and we can learn from and contribute to our counterparts in other nations. I'm very pleased
that the Future's Conference is occurring, and am also pleased that you have chosen to focus on the
shortage of school psychologists that threatens the effectiveness of our profession. I will first address my
essay to my immediate recommendations related to the shortage, but will then broaden my discussion to
include the ways that we practice school psychology and, finally, the international repercussions of the
work that we do in the United States.
Recommendation 1
We are a hidden profession. We have not done well at the very essential task of recruiting new
colleagues into the profession of school psychology. High school and undergraduate students, caught up
in imagining the possibilities of their future careers, have no sense that there is a professional called
'school psychologist.' In my many conversations with brand new school psychology graduate students, I
have heard too many stories about how they 'discovered' that school psychologists exist through
accidental conversations at a party, or by stepping into the wrong office by mistake. Thus, one of my
recommendations to the conference will be that we forge a comprehensive action plan to make school
psychology visible to young people before they commit to a career. I attempted to do this two years ago
when a grant project placed me in a middle school for two days each week. I sponsored a booth to talk
about being a school psychologist in the middle school's career day. However, I found that recruiting at
this early level cannot be accomplished by university faculty alone. Faculty don't have easy access to the
right audiences, we're not recognized as familiar faces by the students and, more importantly, we often
cannot talk vividly about recent experiences with children and their families.
Recommendation 2
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We also need to make clearer commitments to recruit career-changing adults into the profession and to
accommodate career-changing adults in our training programs. Some of these adults are coming from
very different professions (real estate, military service, banking), while others are coming from professions
whose skills overlap with our own (teaching, social work, or licensed psychologists.) I have worked with all
of these nontraditional students in my role as a program director, and have come to recognize the
unexpected roadblocks to their training. There are time-limits embedded into our training and
accreditation requirements that make it difficult for an older adult to meet. For example, my older students
often had to do their internship part time, and so were among the few students whose internship was
unpaid. When persons attempt to enter our profession from related fields such as social work or
counseling, their prior coursework an experience can make some training requirements redundant. At one
point, I built a special program for respecialization of school social workers that allowed them to request
waivers of program requirements when they could document that it duplicated their prior graduate
coursework. As a result of my work in this project, one complaint was brought against me by the state
social worker organization, because I had implied that school social workers were not already well
trained, and a second by a practicing school psychologist, who believed that I had made it too easy for
the social workers to join the profession. Several of the social workers, too, were criticized by their
colleagues for pursuing additional certification. Discussions between Division 16 and NASP to discuss
respecialization of psychologists from other specialty areas have also been emotionally charged. On the
face of it, recruiting career-changing adults into school psychology ought to be a simple proposition. In
fact, it is fraught with political land mines. The profession will need to be clear-thinking about our training
requirements, logical in defining our professional credentials and protective of our standards for practice
while still making it reasonable for dedicated adult professionals to join our ranks.
Recommendation 3
The growing shortage has placed training programs under intense pressures, and it will be important for
the Future's Conference to recognize these. Many states are coping with the shortage by issuing
provisional or temporary certifications to people if they agree to go back to school and complete their
training. The Colorado Board of Education stopped this practice once they realized that the state had over
60 people practicing school psychology without full training. Many holders of temporary certificates
believe that they are entitled to unquestioned admission into the nearest graduate program in school
psychology, and exert great political pressure on training directors if they are denied entry. I have
received letters and phone calls from U. S. Senators and Congressmen, urging me to admit a temporarily
certified student. Protests against my program were lodged with the state department of education, and
the local newspaper printed letters to the editor protesting our admission policies. An easy way for
universities to accommodate more and more students is to hire adjunct or course-by-course faculty, and
there are programs in the country that have more courses taught by temporary faculty than by permanent
ones. It is ironic that an increase in temporary certificates in school psychology can result in those
'temporaries' being trained by temporary faculty. We could quickly lose control over the quality of our
program and of our profession, unless we find ways to protect the integrity of training programs under
these pressures.
Recommendation 4
The most convenient way for school districts to address the immediate shortage is to hire fewer school
psychologists, and increase the load on each one of them. This is a common strategy in rural Nebraska
and, as a result, our ratios have risen very quickly. School psychologists who are, even now, working
under the pressures of rising ratios are having to make critical decisions about which tasks to keep and
which to let go. In my conversations with these colleagues, I am a strong advocate for population-based
services, which recognize and prioritize the school mental health needs of the population of students
enrolled in a district. Identifying those needs requires that we step back from referral-based identification
procedures and substitute whole group screening strategies instead. Serving the population requires that
we focus first on the social and emotional environments that our schools create for the students that they
educate, and second on meeting the special needs of children whose emotional disturbances persist
even in effective environments. School Psychology is one of the few psychological specialties that can
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Page 13
practice population-based services, because our practice is not constrained by the diagnosis and
treatment and income limitations imposed by 3rd party payers (insurance, courts, social services,
Medicaid or other programs that pay for mental heath services.) Traditional, referral-based services lock
us into a mental health service delivery system that provides the most services to the 'squeakiest wheels,'
fixing one wheel at a time. As staffing ratios increase, it is increasingly apparent that we will never be
staffed at a level that will allow us to fix all the wheels that need to be fixed. Alternatively, populationbased services could be structured to recognize the totality of mental health needs within the population,
embed prevention and early intervention strategies into the everyday routines of schools, and focus
specialized services on the most serious needs.
Recommendation 5
Finally, while I understand that the focus of the Futures Conference will be domestic, I believe that we
ought to conduct our work with an eye to the rest of the world. Increasingly, the children that we serve
have come to our schools from other schools in other countries, and the practices that we advocate have
become models for practice for other countries. We are an international profession, and we can learn
from and contribute to our counterparts in other nations. I spend two weeks each year consulting with
special education teachers in rural Nicaragua, and their questions are remarkably similar to those of
teachers in rural Nebraska. I use examples from Nicaraguan schools in my university courses on
population-based services. I recently had a chance to present at a professional conference at Beijing
Normal University, and the faculty were looking to the United States for leadership in blending psychology
into education. These other countries are working under ratios that are far higher than ours will be, even
under the shortage. If we cannot find ways to maintain effective services under these less than ideal
conditions, how can other countries hope to do so.
Kitson, Jennifer
As children/youth and families are experiencing more complex problems and are having increasing
needs, the shortage of psychologists to meet the needs of children and schools in this country looms
ahead. Recognizing the potential problems evident when shortages occur, school psychologists must
carefully consider the most effective strategies for advance planning. The future of school psychology
could be considered to be in jeopardy - with the anticipated shortages as well as current education and
mental health funding issues. Conversely, appropriate foresight, planning and action could result in
improved training and service delivery, and increased levels of school psychology service provision
relative to service needs. The professional standards of practice and the quality of services should be
maintained.
A number of issues must be addressed to assure a successful planning process for the future of school
psychology. Options should be considered for comprehensive service delivery, recruitment of
professionals to school psychology, training and practice standards, and funding for school psychology
services.
Prioritization of the current educational and mental health needs of children in schools should be
considered when identifying the services that school psychologists will provide. Consideration should be
given to collaboration with other pupil services personnel. Identifying strategies for collaborating with
community mental health, social service, and medical service agencies to close gaps and avoid
duplication of services is critical. Blended or braided funding options should be explored. School
psychologists will need to garner the support of federal, state and local policy makers, parents, and
school administrators and staff to promote full service provision.
The practice of school psychology could be significantly impacted by federal and state legislation as well
as by current initiatives related to such issues as the upcoming reauthorization of IDEA, safe and drug
free schools, the implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and mental health
parity. The current administration's position of "Leave No Child Behind" and the President's New Freedom
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Commission on Mental Health are but two examples of current government positions that could greatly
impact funding mechanisms and practice of school psychology services. From the attention being given
to issues related to discipline, behavior, and social/emotional needs of children that are barriers to
learning, it is evident that there is a need for school based components which promote a full range of
school psychology and mental health services emphasizing prevention, education and early intervention.
It is critical that school psychology is responsive and acts proactively to ensure that school psychology
services in schools are comprehensive, coordinated and accessible to all students and families. Services
should include prevention, consultation, assessment, intervention, mental health care services, and
research and planning. School psychologists should be committed to the provision of an integrated and
coordinated model of service delivery related to meeting the educational and mental health needs of
children.
The future of school psychology must continue to promote educationally and psychologically healthy
environments for all children and youth, and should consider creative ways to meet the challenge. It is
imperative that mental health practices continue to be incorporated into the provision of comprehensive
school psychological services. Such services are critical to the development of effective interventions for
students in need, in order to promote school success.
In an effort to effectively assist school psychologists with continued comprehensive service delivery, we
must promote the need for comprehensive educational and mental health services, provide professional
development opportunities related to consultation, assessment, intervention and mental health, collect
and disseminate information on effective and evidence-based models of school psychology services and
programs, provide information and training related to influencing public policy efforts, and recognize
standards and guidelines for training, credentialing, practice and ethics.
The public policy arena is one avenue that school psychologists should explore, in an effort to influence
the provision of effective, comprehensive school psychology services in the schools, to advocate for
educational and mental health services to meet the needs of students. Because there has been a change
in the political climate of this country, with Congress being committed to returning control over program
design and funding distribution to the state and local levels of government, with educational performance
and testing being tied to funding, and with federal government funds being cut in public sector programs,
it is essential that school psychologists continue to expand public policy efforts in state and local public
policy issues as well as methods for developing advocacy involvement. Training in public policy process
and in strategies to develop state and local advocacy programs is crucial in order to effectively respond to
public policy issues at the state and local levels.
As school psychologists utilize skills and become more active in the political processes that effect their
schools and practice (with such activities as disseminating information related to current legislative
initiatives, and communicating with public policy officials through visits, letters, and phone calls) they can
advocate for effective policy and proactive results. By building a support network to create an effective
program of public policy involvement, and through training and support, school psychologists will be
prepared to participate in public policy efforts. Avenues should be developed for providing school
psychologists with accurate and complete information regarding developments in local, state and federal
educational and health policy through dissemination and information exchanges, such as websites,
listservs, and professional publications. In addition, school psychologists should be encouraged to
continue an emphasis on advocacy and coalition building with allied groups and other stakeholders to
further impact public policy related to the provision of comprehensive educational and mental health
services. Opportunities should be available to collect and distribute relevant research and effective
programs related to best practices in educational and mental health service provision. Efforts should be
planned to strengthen relationships with allied groups through jointly sponsored workshops and training,
collaborative sharing of ideas and resources, and communication exchanges.
Recruitment of new school psychologists is imperative as many of those currently practicing reach
retirement, before the shortage reaches a crisis level. Maintaining the training programs and recruiting
representatives of diverse cultures and minorities should be of high priority. Recruiting students from
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undergraduate programs and development of peer mentoring programs could be beneficial. Training
programs should consider ways to provide training to other related professionals for retooling, while
maintaining the standards. Public awareness of the need for school psychology services, and data that
demonstrate the effectiveness of such services, could bring greater awareness and interest in school
psychology. Publicity such as the article in the Feb. 18, 2002 edition of U.S. News & World Reports,
which identified school psychology as one of the top eight "secure track" professions in the United States
could pique interest and recruitment efforts.
In conclusion, the future of school psychology is in flux. Appropriate planning and action should result in
positive outcomes for children/youth in meeting their educational and mental health needs. Many
opportunities are available for advocating the inclusion of effective, comprehensive school psychology
services in the schools. The training and practice standards and the quality of services need not be
compromised. Through the efforts discussed above, school psychologists should have the avenues
available for providing a wide range of services, which appropriately match the needs of students in
schools.
Sheridan, Sue
To meet the increasing demands for service, it is evident that school psychologists must operate from
systems-ecological perspectives, conceptualizing roles and responsibilities as permeating the multiple
contexts and systems within which children and families function. School psychologists should be
substantially less concerned with identifying what is wrong with a child, measuring problems, and
delivering remedial services and substantially more concerned with prevention and promoting wellness -that is, engaging in and conducting research on services that allow students to succeed in life. Changing
the ecological systems that pervade the lives of children (e.g., schools, families, communities) provides us
with the only meaningful route to prevention and thus must be among our very highest priorities as a field.
Based on both clinical experience and meta-analyses, there is every reason to believe that school
psychologists can be at the forefront in establishing primary and secondary prevention programs.
Services attempting to address the complex educational, societal and familial issues that we currently
face cannot be conceptualized, designed, or delivered while ignoring the interacting ecological systems in
which they are embedded and maintained. To realize its full professional potential, school psychology
services must be tied very closely to the broad-based environmental systems that surround the children
we serve. If we hope to be successful at either remediation or prevention, services will have to be linked
directly to the various ecosystems within which we and our clients function. Specifically, school
psychologists must develop strong working linkages with schools, families, and communities. School
psychologists cannot bring about substantive and positive improvements in the lives of children unless we
find ways to work successfully with educators, parents, and other community-based professionals at
every systemic level. Fortunately, school psychologists are situated strategically in positions that provide
almost unlimited opportunities to forge such connections. This should be the cornerstone of our work for
and with children.
The importance of school-based connections with other professionals at both individual and systems
levels is going to accelerate. The roles of school psychologists will likely include increasing emphases on
system support, prereferral intervention, the implementation of empirically supported interventions and
methods of effective teaching, health and mental health services, school-based prevention, program
evaluation, organizational change and education reform, and service delivery for all children.
School psychologists can serve important functions as a liaison between education, health, and mental
health; a coordinator of systems and services; and an agent for promoting healthy social and educational
contexts for children and youth. The breadth and scope of the field of school psychology will be supported
and enhanced to the extent that leaders in the field recognize and embrace the influence of psychology,
education, health, mental health, and other essential systems in the lives of children and families.
Dialogue and meaningful, collaborative interaction must occur within the field and with other related
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professions (e.g., social work, pediatrics, justice, community psychology) to best meet the overarching
goals of school psychology: optimal and effective services for children, youth, and families.
To accomplish these various linkages, effective collaboration and problem solving skills must be present.
Consultation and collaboration beyond that which occurs with individual teachers or parents are also
necessary. Within the context of collaboration, school psychologists are in a position to bring
psychoeducational, developmental, and educational knowledge bases to the table. Furthermore, we are
in a strong position to take a leadership role in conceptualizing and conducting research to determine
what works for which families and schools under what conditions. Thus, school psychologists in the future
may be instrumental in (a) developing collaborative, problem solving processes, (b) providing structure to
the strategies to be implemented within coordinated programs, and (c) framing a research agenda around
the needs, strategies, and outcomes for children and families for who integrated services are developed.
This will require school psychologists to go beyond the walls of a school building and the immediate
micro- and meso-systems within which children function. It requires us also to consider ways by which we
can interface openly and constructively with a multitude of individuals, agencies, and systems that bear
some level of responsibility for the children and families we serve.
Why hasn't school psychology as a field moved beyond traditional, reactive approaches? What about
schools and school psychology have thwarted the efforts of previous visionaries? School psychologists
must change the "ecology of school psychology" and begin redirecting our energies toward the multiple
conditions that influence both children's lives, and our own professional lives as school psychologists.
Internally, school psychologists have often embraced self-concepts that are antithetical to new and
different paradigms. School psychologists' role conceptions have been limited to services provided to
children and staff in individual buildings, and have failed to include macro-systemic issues as within the
purview of practice. That is, we have role constructions that look inward to individual children and school
buildings as our primary clientele. This micro-level perception will always yield micro-level results.
School psychologists must become effective advocates with those who work at macro-systemic levels,
such as legislators, policy makers, administrators, parent groups, and others who define current practices.
We must broaden our client base. Likewise, we must advocate for services that are congruent with
ecological perspectives. We must change the structure of traditional school psychological services. Each
of these has significant training issues that must be addressed in any and all "futures" work upon which
we embark. As we refine our field, we must always be reconsidering the manner in which preprofessionals are prepared, and the nature and direction of our research efforts. Importantly, but not
easily, we must be proactive in revisiting the defining characteristics of the field and identifying those that
are essential in shaping our identity and in directing our practice, training, and research. Concomitantly,
we must both have a sound conceptual vision for our future and be willing as a profession to advocate for
forfeiting practices that are unnecessary for, if not impeding, our continued growth and viability.
Stoner, Gary
School psychology is a professional area within the broader academic discipline of psychology. The
profession has experienced tremendous growth over the past several decades, and in that time, also has
gained broader recognition of and for its contributions to the education and development of children in our
public schools. As a profession the field of school psychology is, and should be, continuously changing as
a function of contemporary perspectives on: (a) what is known about the foundations and practices of
psychology and education, (b) the demographics and other characteristics of those we serve, and (c) the
cultural imperatives that accompany formal schooling in the United States.
To meet the demands for service in the 21st century, school psychology will need to continue to adapt
itself in new ways. Chief among these adaptations will need to be a major commitment to prevention as a
primary mode of orientation and practice. I have come to this belief in recent years, as I have observed
ongoing changes in emphasis and practice. My observations have suggested that a primary shift in the
field over the past two decades has been a shift from an assessment focus to a focus on interventionoriented practice and training. I have contributed to this shift, and believe it is/was timely and important. I
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also have come to view intervention oriented practice as insufficient to meet the needs and demands for
school psychology services in our schools. That is, intervention oriented practices grew out of
dissatisfaction with and inadequacy of assessment oriented practices that rendered school psychologists
unable to meet the tremendous demand for services (too many children, too little time), and that were
primarily designed for classification, not intervention development purposes. While intervention oriented
practices have reaped the benefits of recently developed improved assessment-intervention linkages, this
improvement is simply not sufficient to improve the effectiveness of our profession to the extent
necessary. This is primarily due to the fact that intervention oriented practices, like assessment practices
oriented to address referrals, are reactive practices that tend to respond to problems at a point in time
when the problems are intractable. As a result, no matter how well we develop and use empirically
validated interventions, and intervention linked assessment practices, we still will be rendered either
insufficient or ineffective or both, because reactive practices always will be faced with too many problems
of too great a magnitude.
To effectively meet the demands for service delivery in the 21st century, then, school psychology and
school psychologists, must discover and adopt in training and practice, an effective blend of proactive
practices that integrate prevention, intervention, and assessment activities. The professional orientation
will need to be one of prevention, and incorporate all levels of prevention (primary, secondary, and
tertiary), with an emphasis on primary and secondary level preventive practices. And, the orientation will
need to be one of school psychology and school psychologists truly serving all children in their buildings,
districts, and beyond. In addition, school psychology will need to take somewhat of a public health
approach to thinking about outcomes, where the focus is on incidence and prevalence rates of problems,
and their reduction, or on improving quality of life indicators. In school psychology we should take as our
goal to increase the prevalence of children experiencing school success, again, in our buildings, districts,
and beyond.
Accomplishing this goal will be a significant challenge to our profession. The challenge can be met
however, through training and practices that pay careful and significant attention to the following areas of
professional preparation:
Prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary)
Linking assessment to intervention
Intervention practices, and consultation practices
Working with parents on child rearing, school readiness, and school success Linking schools and the
people in them, with homes, businesses, and communities
In large part the challenge for our profession is to effectively provide professional training, at both
inservice and preservice levels, that will prepare school psychologists to contribute to the promotion of
school success for as many American school children as is possible. Prevention oriented practices, along
with specific skills in those areas noted, will be the keys to our success.
Finally, there is the issue of shortages of school psychologists. Again, I take the position that significant
improvement will depend on the degree to which we can, as a profession, become more proactive in our
approach to recruitment and retention of professionals in our field. That is, for the most part, as a
profession we take a passive and reactive approach to persons interested pursuing professional training
in school psychology. We prepare materials, websites, brochures, and so on, to have them available to
persons who happen to become interested in school psychology. Instead, we need a major investment in
proactive recruitment and public relations regarding our field. Accompanying activities might include
development of funding sources to support graduate education, mechanisms to insure that the public
(including high school and undergraduate students) is aware of and has an accurate understanding of the
profession and its career opportunities, and improved options for professional training in school
psychology for those individuals already holding graduate degrees in education and/or psychology.
In summary, I believe that to meet the needs of children and schools in the 21st century, school
psychology, yet again, is in need of a tune up. What is needed most now is a proactive, prevention
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emphasis in professional orientation to training and practice, and to recruitment and retention of
professionals within the field.
Warner, Steve
It is my belief that school districts that value the role and expertise of School Psychologists have minimal
difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified professionals. It is the school districts who limit the duties of
their School Psychologists and allow minimal involvement in activities outside of testing and placing
students who will find it difficult to maintain qualified staff.
Having said that, there are still many things that our profession can do to better recruit and retain School
Psychologists. Our recruiting efforts must begin early. It is essential to educate high school students
about the profession of school psychology. Speaking to high school students in their general psychology
classes and working with the High School Counselors with career exploration activities are important. In
addition, we cannot neglect the under-graduate college students. Promoting the profession by speaking
to general psychology classes and to Psychology Clubs is another way to spread the word. Offering these
students the opportunity to "shadow" a practicing School Psychologist is another way to excite them
about this profession. Often times, under-graduates in psychology who are in their junior and senior years
in college are looking for career ideas. I have had several university students perform internships with me
for a semester. In every case, these students went on to graduate school for School Psychology.
In addition, state School Psychology organizations can support graduate students by offering
scholarships to traditional graduate students, older returning students, and minority students.
With regard to retaining school psychologists, our state School Psychology associations need to provide
better support to those who are new to the field. Including student seminars and presentations geared for
the student populations at state conferences is essential. In addition, developing mentoring programs for
newer School Psychologists is urged. Those with less than three years in the field are often overwhelmed by the demands of the job. Having another person who has been through the fires to bounce
ideas off is helpful.
Attracting new professionals to the state school psychology organizations is essential. Again, beginning
early is essential. Leaders in state School Psychology associations need to form relationships with
professors in training programs to promote student membership in the state associations. Once the newer
professionals are involved in the associations, the next step is to provide opportunities for them to have a
voice on the governing Boards.
Meeting the demand for service in the face of diminishing numbers is a difficult task - and made even
more difficult when the School Psychologist: Student ratio is more than 1:1000. When the ratio grows, the
amount of time spent with pre-referral intervention efforts is limited and this leads to increased numbers of
special education referrals. Obtaining support for our unique and diverse role from the leaders of the
School Board and district administrators is essential.
School Psychologists typically have a unique perspective of a school district since we work directly in
individual buildings, but also can see a larger perspective. School Psychologists should be involved more
in district-level initiatives and systems-level intervention. For example, in the past years NASP has
encouraged School Psychologists to become involved in the establishment of Crisis Response Teams
and Pre-referral Intervention Teams. In addition, School Psychologists can share their expertise in other
areas as well. Some might include: creation and evaluation of reading intervention programs, involvement
in asset-building, at-risk services, and helping create district policies for important issues like retention,
Zero-tolerance for weapons, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and high-stakes testing.
I am fortunate that the School Psychologist: Student ratio in my district is 1:1000. This allows
opportunities for involvement in meaningful intervention efforts. I have been involved in the establishment
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of a mentoring program at my elementary school. We have targeted between 30 - 35 students and assign
them to a caring adult. Many of these are teachers, but I have worked hard to secure support staff
including custodians, clerical staff, kitchen staff, and playground supervisors. They are asked to spend
time with their "Special Friend" each week throughout the year. As the relationship grows, the children
feel more comfortable and bonded to school. This keeps many "at-risk" students from giving up on school
and out of the referral process for special education.
Another way to meet the demands for service is to utilize others within the school district. The last several
years, we have worked with the teachers at the High School and have asked for National Honor Society
students and other interested students to exchange their study hall times for tutoring elementary students.
Since our buildings are in close proximity, this has worked extremely well. This serves another purpose by
exposing these talented students to the field of School Psychology.
Perhaps involving staff from the state departments of public instruction in helping to educate school
districts about the varied skills of a School Psychologist would be beneficial. I know that in Wisconsin, the
Wisconsin School Psychologists Association joined forces with the Wisconsin Department of Public
Instruction and produced a series of newsletters entitled, Changing Times, Changing Lives. The purpose
of this publication was to help educate district administrators about the diverse skills and talents of School
Psychologists and to encourage School Psychologists themselves to become involved in innovative and
effective intervention practices within their districts.
Since I'm not a trainer, I don't have a great deal of ideas with regard to how the nature of School
Psychology training should change to deal with shortages of School Psychologists. However, I feel that
with increased emphasis across the country on accountability, School Psychologists need to have
knowledge of program evaluation and applied research. It is likely that increased federal funding will be
available to hire those who can assist with these efforts.
In addition, I believe that professors should encourage their students to give more presentations so they
can improve their public speaking skills and feel more comfortable speaking in front of others. Once in the
field, School Psychologists are frequently sought after to give presentations about any number of topics
including parenting, ADHD, behavior management techniques, and even how to respond in the event of a
crisis. This increased awareness can, in turn, lead more people to the field of School Psychology.
In summary, the projected shortage of School Psychologists across the country will primarily affect school
districts that don't value the diversified role and unique training of their School Psychologists. Even so,
there are many ways to address these shortages including informing high school students about our
profession, reaching out to under-graduate college and university students, and offering scholarships to
graduate students. Once in the profession, retention efforts must increase so that professionals don't
prematurely leave the field. To address the demands for service, School Psychologists need to reach out
and involve others with early intervention efforts in order to free up time from testing and placing.
Changes in training programs should be made so School Psychologists are knowledgeable with program
evaluation and applied research.
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Appendix B: Selected Comments and Categories in Essays
Written for Applications for Onsite Participation in the 2002
School Psychology Futures Conference
How can school psychology attract more professionals to the field?
Response
Category:
Comments from Essays
Public Relations
and Promotion
School psychologists need to continue to regard and market themselves as professionals who offer a
necessary and essential function to the schools and the students they serve.
A strong public relations campaign sponsored by each association as well as having numerous
products and materials ready before they are demanded by situations allow us to show the value to
the general public who we are and what we do.
More visibility of school psychologists in school settings will also help to develop interest in the field.
I think that our profession needs to engage in an active social marketing campaign to students –
particularly during the latter years of their high school education and the beginning of their postsecondary education.
Including school psychologists in high school career days, publishing articles about school
psychology in high school newspapers, educating school counselors about school psychology as a
profession, and making NASP materials, e.g., What is a School Psychologist, available to high
school students.
Additional lobbying and public awareness campaigns at State and National levels to provide
systematic information regarding the important work of school psychologists (hopefully influencing
advantageous legislation and both national and state policies).
I believe more effort can be made to encourage publishers of psychology and education textbook
companies to include contributions made by school psychologists.
In order to attract people to the field, they need current and accurate information about the field.
Some of the things that people need to know about school psychology are as follows: salaries are
usually good with health benefits and vacation time; opportunities are there for continued learning,
leadership, and systems change; and the field provides a unique opportunity to work with
children/adolescents and schools outside of being a teacher or administrator.
One strategy is marketing. The University school psychology program attracts students through
Internet advertising, direct solicitation in mainstream and minority undergraduate psychology
newsletters and by reputation.
Ask any administrative assistant where there is more than one type of training program – they always
like us best! School psychologists are well-adjusted, compassionate scientists. Use of students
currently in programs and recent graduates to describe the supportive atmosphere in which we train
and work is the best marketing tool that we have.
By highlighting and strengthening the ways that school psychologists can serve all students through
consultation, program planning, program evaluation, mental health services, and assessment
activities, the expected shortage of school psychologists can be offset by maximizing the
effectiveness of the contacts that school psychologists have with students.
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Not only can we post information about the profession, but we also can conduct interactive sessions
(e.g., chats, web casts, etc.) for interested students to learn more from professionals in the field.
When a counseling or clinical person asks what school psychologists do, we have a really good
answer and should use this as a PR opportunity.
Strategies for informing the general public about what school psychology is and what school
psychologists do could be explored. This will not only help to inform the public (and thereby increase
the expectations for school psychological services), but may also facilitate the development of
students new to the field of school psychology.
We also need to counter negative PR put out by undergraduate psychology professors and advisors
who either don’t tell students about school psychology or actively advise against it!
Bringing students in to contact with an exciting work environment in which the result of good
intervention is clear and will motivate students to choose the setting.
Publicizing school psychology as a profession, but also encouraging universities to fund this
expansion.
To survive and flourish as a resource for children and families, education of the public and expanded
training programs must be developed and supported.
Modeling/
Mentoring
Certainly the opportunity is there for psychologists in school districts to mentor students in
accelerated programs like "Running Start" which allows high school students to take college level
courses and shadow professionals on their jobs.
I would also like to see local school systems working with undergraduate institutions, perhaps with
the support of school psychology associations, to create undergraduate internship and practica
opportunities.
Recruitment efforts alone are not going to solve the personnel shortage in school psychology. We
also need to attend to the issue of retaining people in the profession. This may well necessitate
greater attention to mentoring and supporting early professionals.
Structured shadowing and externship experiences with qualified school psychologists operating in
intervention roles need to be arranged for undergraduates, as well as frequent presentations by
graduate faculty.
Practicing school psychologists may consider supervising interns or students from similar types of
graduate programs such as counseling or international programs.
With regard to retaining school psychologists, our state School Psychology associations need to
provide better support to those who are new to the field….In addition, developing mentoring
programs for newer School Psychologists is urged.
Attracting more school psychologists will require the current school psychologists serving as
examples for a model that is concerned with the success of all children, not just being content with
the “test and place” model.
Recruitment
The final recommendation I have for addressing the expected shortage in school psychology is for
NASP, Division 16 of APA, and the state associations to do a better job of educating college
students, especially psychology majors, about the field of school psychology.
Our first step should be educating undergraduate students about school psychology and the
employment opportunities available in the field. This may occur though in-class lectures,
presentations at Psi Chi, career days, etc
Of course, we must recruit linguistically and culturally diverse individuals in school psychology. One
way to do that is to be proactive.....in partnering with school districts in need by identifying promising
school employees who are interested and motivated to become school psychologists.
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Attracting students to training programs, especially students of color, is another challenge. The
ratios for NASP accreditation limit the numbers of students a training program can admit. One
solution to this problem could be for the training programs to develop relationships with school
districts and state associations who could provide additional mentoring and supervision without
adding to the university payroll.
The women in school psychology mentoring program was a good step in addressing the need for
more women in the field. However, there are still so few minority trainers.
Bringing students in to contact with an exciting work environment in which the result of good
intervention is clear will motivate students to choose the setting.
The first step would require school psychology training programs to enhance their recruitment efforts,
with an emphasis on attracting larger numbers of minority students. The current school psychology
workforce, both university- and school-based, is not representative of our nation’s citizens.
I take the position that significant improvement will depend on the degree to which we can, as a
profession, become more proactive in our approach to recruitment and retention of professionals in
our field.
School psychologists working in high schools have critical opportunities to introduce the field to
students contemplating career options. School psychologists living and working in university
communities similarly have golden opportunities to introduce the profession to students in
psychology, child development and education programs.
Ways of conveying to young adults the excitement of the field through media and career orientation
programs need to be created.
Our recruitment plans must include increased efforts to significantly increase the number of culturally
and linguistically diverse school psychologists, with particular emphases on recruiting bilingual
school psychologists.
The annual jobs forecast issue of US New and World Report has already helped us in this regard by
listing school psychology as one of the top growth fields for the near future.
We need to recruit and train the right kind of person. In my opinion, this person needs to be or have
the capacity to be committed, assertive, and ethical, a flexible thinker, a team player, and a leader.
The person also has to have good oral and written communication skills and be able to set personal
and professional boundaries.
Continuing emphasis on the importance of high quality training programs in the field of school
psychology, and recruiting additional talented early career scholars who will train the next generation
of school psychologists.
Offering these students the opportunity to "shadow" a practicing School Psychologist is another way
to excite them about this profession.
Offering school psychology classes at the undergraduate level may also help to attract more people
to the field in another way.
Recruitment. We should look toward finding prospective professionals through an active campaign
of recruitment. This should include students from both educational and psychological undergraduate
training programs as well as professionals from special education, counseling, and related fields.
Visibility of the profession will be a key, and especially, visibility of the need (e.g., there are jobs to be
obtained) is essential
Recruitment to the profession of school psychology has to take place on many levels, not just the
traditional “college fairs” and presentations to Psi Chi clubs and psychology classes.
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Speaking to high school students in their general psychology classes and working with the High
School Counselors with career exploration activities are important.
School psychologists can attend school career days to discuss our role and function. We can also
contact local community colleges/universities and offer to make presentations to their students about
the profession of school psychology.
Recruitment for school psychology probably should be starting at the high school level.
Another need from the field is to actively recruit undergraduates.
Promotional materials could be made available to undergraduate advisors and others who work
directly with college students. Importantly, I believe that school psychologists need to make
themselves available for "career" day events, job shadowing, and other programs which will allow
prospective students to learn more about the field of school psychology
Can be addressed by working with undergraduate education and psychology instructors (and text
book authors) to increase the emphasis of school psychology as a profession within their
undergraduate course offerings.
Additional thoughts on how the profession might further attempt to achieve the opportunity presented
by the shortage of school psychologists would involve working with undergraduate education and
psychology instructors (and text book authors) to increase the emphasis of school psychology as a
profession within their undergraduate course offerings.
Recruiting More
University
Trainers
Perhaps we need to advocate for reconsidering traditional higher education values, which place such
a high premium on research that otherwise highly qualified professionals are discouraged from
pursuing training positions as “late career” choices.
Attracting others into the profession, especially those from underrepresented groups, must continue
to be a priority. This must include attention to the growing shortage of trainers in school psychology.
If we are to have any hope of increasing the number of practitioners that are produced each year, we
need to increase, and not just maintain, the number of trainers or we face the risk of producing poorly
supervised professionals.
How we recruit and maintain women faculty is an important issue that the conference should also
address as it is a moderating variable in the discussion on the current shortage of school
psychologists.
Adjusting
Services &
Roles to Make
Profession More
Attractive
The training in traditional educational assessment might be reduced. This might attract some more
people to the field.
I believe that an emphasis on providing mental health services to children, families and schools will
be vital to our survival. Being providers of these services will also, in my opinion, increase the
attractiveness of becoming a school psychologist.
I believe the field’s narrow emphasis on behaviorism deters students from considering school
psychology as a profession. School psychologist need to embrace a broader role of psychological
service delivery. This will increase the likelihood that those interested in clinical, counseling,
developmental, and neuropsychology will also be interested school psychology
Rigorous and realistic training standards, a stimulated demand for psychologists, a competitive
salary for new hires, and a satisfying job role will not only meet the needs of students and families, it
will attract more individuals to the field of school psychology.
The training in both mental health assessment and how to do mental health counseling and
consultation might be strengthened. The training in traditional educational assessment might be
reduced. This might attract some more people to the field.
A prevention focus also has implications for recruitment and retention of people to the profession of
Go to Table of Contents
Module 1: Introduction
Page 24
school psychology as we move away from testing and writing reports to serving the wider school
community; I believe it will attract more people!
It seems that offering psychological practitioners expanded roles that allow for greater employment
satisfaction is another way to recruit and then to keep more school practitioners.
Respecialization
of Related
Professionals
[Clear obstacles] to psychologists trained in related areas from working in the schools. We need to
develop realistic standards regarding respecialization of these individuals. They do possess the core
competencies and may bring additional perspectives on best practices.
A combination of Internet programs, summer course work, and local mentoring should help those
who want to switch to school psychology. The same sort of flexible program would allow those who
already have Masters or Doctoral Degrees in Counseling or Clinical Psychology to pick up the
courses they need to be certified as a school psychology.
Many training programs are making provisions for professionals who wish to enter our field, having
served as a psychologist, teacher, or counselor. Many also continue to maintain a flexible enough
program to enable preservice students and change-of-career professionals to work while they are
attending a school psychology training program.
Evaluating prior training and experience is largely approached by programs on an individual basis
and some excellent candidates for respecialization are discouraged by perceived overly restrictive
expectations. Professional organizations need to formulate and promote standards for
respecialization that inform and attract qualified candidates and also insure that the transition from a
clinical/hospital/educational setting prepares candidates for the unique aspects of school based
practice
In addition, supporting, designing, and monitoring the respecialization of psychologists whose
training is in areas other than school psychology can also be an effective way to increase our
numbers while insuring appropriate training.
The field of school psychology must develop a formal respecialization program for related fields, i.e.,
clinical, as well as other school-based mental health providers, i.e., school social workers.
Organizations like APA and NASP need to approach the topic of respecialization a bit more seriously
than in the past. There are few guidelines or formal routes available for practitioners in other
specialty areas and training programs to apply to the respecialization issue.
We may be at the time that we need to contact other related training programs, i.e. child clinical, and
devise a method for them to fulfill the requirements in the area of school psychology as well as their
intended major.
With increased role expansion and visibility, the profession may begin to attract more individuals
simply through exposure.
Partnering between districts and universities to recruit and support school psychology training of
currently working professionals in related fields
Students have suggested that collaboration be established between a school district and a training
program, allowing for teachers to train in becoming school psychologists. The program could utilize
distance education opportunities throughout the year for classes that do not require direct instruction,
and move direct instruction courses to the summer so that teachers and other educators can pursue
study in school psychology in a convenient fashion.
Our profession needs to create an initiative to recruit people who are talented in working in the
mental health field and assist them in ways to become properly qualified to practice school
psychology.
Providing school-based training to individuals who are already qualified psychologists (generally
counseling or clinical) may be another fruitful area. Training programs that can offer the schoolpsychology specific skills needed by these professionals to respecialize will be providing a great
service to the profession.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 25
We need to look at other potential “recruits”—individuals who are already in related professions,
individuals seeking second (and often very different) careers.
How can school psychologists meet service demands with
diminishing numbers of professionals?
Response Category:
Collaboration &
Relationships With
other Professionals
Comments from Essays
A model in which the entire faculty comes together, prioritizes student needs collectively,
and commits resources to addressing these needs without competing for scare resources.
In this model the school psychologist has greater opportunities to engage in the systems
approach adopted to address the mental health needs of the entire district.
Dialogue and meaningful, collaborative interaction must occur within the field and with other
related professions (e.g., social work, pediatrics, justice, community psychology) to best
meet the overarching goals of school psychology: optimal and effective services for
children, youth, and families.
We must have close relationships with other professions and organizations that face similar
issues related to personnel shortages. In the overall scheme of education and health
services provision, school psychology and psychology are relatively “small players.” Our
ability to influence policy, and to shape the future of service provision, is tied largely to our
ability to “co-op” power through our relationships with allied professions and organizations.
School psychologists should be seen as support services personnel. As a core support
person, they can be a part of the school team that includes guidance counselors, principals,
assistant principals, and curriculum specialists....This method allows for school
psychologists to be in a more preventative role, which will reduce the total number of
problems.
Recognize that we must have an array and a hierarchy of service providers--from
paraprofessionals, to people with bachelor degrees, to people with masters degrees, to
people with specialist degrees, to people with doctoral degrees, to people with post-doctoral
specialties. These people need to work together under a model of service delivery that
utilizes each person's knowledge and skill level to set up an effective, supervised, well lead
effort. Supervision and professional growth needs to be embraced.
School psychology may need to align more directly and collaboratively with other
psychology specialty areas such as clinical, pediatric, and counseling - and other fields
such as social work, law enforcement, and medicine so as to serve the country’s children.
It has become clear that for school psychologists to move toward solution-focused service
delivery, extensive interdisciplinary staff development is required across other related
school professionals, including speech/language specialists, diagnostic teachers, regular
and special education teachers, school counselors, and school administrators.
Collaboration with all of the stakeholders within the schoolhouse will continue to provide
students with what they need in this time of shortage in our field.
We must have close relationships with other professions and organizations that face similar
issues related to personnel shortages. In the overall scheme of education and health
services provision, school psychology and psychology are relatively “small players.”
organizations that represent our profession must collaborate closely with each other.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 26
Collaborate with other service providers (in school and outside in the community) to forge a
more comprehensive system of mental health services to children.
Involve counseling and clinically trained psychologists in school-to-community forums.
Such forums would allow for the participation of counseling and clinically licensed
psychologists without placing them directly in the schools where they would not be aptly
trained for the diverse responsibilities of the school psychologist.
Consideration should be given to collaboration with other pupil services personnel.
Identifying strategies for collaborating with community mental health, social service, and
medical service agencies to close gaps and avoid duplication of services is critical.
At a university level, it is imperative that there be greater collaboration and interdisciplinary
training among the professionals (e.g., administrators, special and general education
teachers, school counselors, community counselors, school psychologist) who ultimately
provide service. Through this collaboration, it would be my hope that an improved model of
systems delivery for meeting the needs of all children would occur.
It is true that collaboration with other multidisciplinary team members will be essential to our
survival during times of budget cuts and personnel shortages, we must continue to
emphasize and utilize the tools and skills that make us unique from the other members of
our multidisciplinary teams.
Consultation With
Teachers and Parent
(problems &
interventions)
By consulting with administrators, teachers, and system level staff to plan, implement, and
evaluate multi class, whole school, or system level interventions, one psychologist can
create positive outcomes for even more students.
We don’t write a behavior plan without enlisting the help of the child’s caregiver; we
approach change within the student’s life as a team project, thus impacting change in the
life of the family.
Making a commitment to working with other educational professionals, especially teachers,
to implement prevention programs is one way I see school psychology as a profession
being able to make a larger impact on the lives of children and families, as well as raising
the job satisfaction of education professionals.
Consultation models have been in existence for years and may provide temporary relief for
shortages through intervention assistance teams.
A single school psychology practitioner can collaborate effectively with parents, teachers,
children, and the community at large in an effort to achieve outstanding outcomes for all
individuals involved.
Within the profession, I am concerned about diluting our practices through over-emphasis
on the consultative role. I think that if we ignore specific skills and direct service delivery, we
can consult ourselves right out of business.
Consultation and collaboration beyond that which occurs with individual teachers or parents
are also necessary.
In the light of projected shortages, school psychologists in the future must also develop
greater competency in indirect service provision, i.e., consultation and prevention.
An emphasis on effective consultation and collaboration will help future school
psychologists interact with teachers in a more favorable light as they share appropriate
interventions and model positive problem solving skills.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 27
Training school personnel in both assessment and intervention strategies; strongly
emphasizing consultation over direct services, particularly consultation directed at systemic
and prevention issues in order to impact more students; getting “more bang for the buck”
through program evaluation and grant writing services that ultimately impact entire systems.
I feel an emphasis on consultation methods and effective behavioral interventions will give
school psychologists the tools they need to move from assessment to interventions and
ultimately successful interactions in the schools.
Consultation serves a dual purpose in presumably solving the presenting problem as well
as strengthening the capacity of other individuals to address similar issues in the future. As
a model of service delivery within school psychology, consultation affords a cost-effective
means of meeting a wide variety of student problems with less contact time given to
individual students.
By consulting with administrators, teachers, and system level staff to plan, implement, and
evaluate multi-class, whole school, or system level interventions, one psychologist can
create positive outcomes for even more students.
The role of consultant needs to be emphasized with greater emphasis on a Child Study
Team process. It is imperative that students only be evaluated when necessary.
Overall Expansion
(Beyond Testing)
New practitioners need to approach evaluation with a new vigor, making strong connections
to interventions (learning and mental health), assessing the program as well as the student,
using the most up-to-date and appropriate measures, with the focus on function not
eligibility.
School psychologists also need to promote their role in program development,
implementation, and evaluation to school administration.
To address the demands for service, School Psychologists need to reach out and involve
others with early intervention efforts in order to free up time from testing and placing.
If we take a narrow view of ourselves as professionals whose primary role is to administer
IQ tests, or other similar instruments, we will continue to face shortages because this is a
direct service role. We can only do more with less when we move towards indirect services
such as training teachers in the use of CBM and FBA, and believing that they are quite
capable of using these techniques.
Educational diagnosticians/school psychometrists would provide the most basic
(assessment) services.
Another way of expanding the services of school psychologists is through increasing the
use of groups in place of individual interventions.
We might want to downplay assessment -- too many referrals, too little time -- and
emphasize interventions, working with teams of professionals, etc.
The future school psychologist should focus on a more broadly defined concept of
assessment, which may include various types of testing, but it should, for example, focus
on procedures that are relevant to interventions. An excellent illustration comes from one of
the Blueprint domains “Effective Instruction and Development of Cognitive/Academic Skills”.
This Blueprint domain offers an important way in which school psychologists can expand
their role, not as a tester and number generator, but as an active participant in a process of
assessment for the purpose of generating effective interventions.
The role of consultant needs to be emphasized with greater emphasis on a Child Study
Team process. It is imperative that students only be evaluated when necessary.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 28
Actions must go beyond the traditional paradigms that school psychologists have
embraced; we must think in fresh, creative ways about impacting America’s schools. It is
the only way school psychology can survive, and thrive.
In the end we may also solve the problem of expanding vision in the light of personnel
shortages by giving some of our responsibilities away, after determining what is essential to
our identity.
School psychologists have to play a key role in development and implementation of
effective interventions for emotional, academic, behavioral, and mental health needs of
children.
School Psychologists should be involved more in district-level initiatives and systems-level
intervention.
We should consider expanding our practice to include more mental health functions. Most
people in the school and in the community tend to see us as mental health professionals
and we should take advantage of that.
Prevention Focus
While it is clear in the research that school psychologists generally have time for such
activities only in districts with low ratios, consultation and prevention activities may be the
only ways to reach the larger numbers of children in districts where the ratio is high.
One hour a week for prevention will reach more children in one year than ten years of
evaluation. It is the most cost effective service we provide.
A much needed change to the implementation of programs focused on prevention.
An emphasis on systematic change is critical: To place greater emphasis on preventive
approaches in classrooms, schools, families, and communities.
Relying on the traditional assessment-intervention model rather than the developing
preventative programs is inefficient.
I think that school psychologists could help prepare individuals before they become parents
about the demands of parenthood and how to meet the needs of their developing children.
This would be a more proactive, than a reactive approach to helping children.
Substitute systems-focused preventive activities for these ineffective and labor-intensive
traditional practices to place greater emphasis on preventive approaches in classrooms,
schools, families, and communities.
It is critical that school psychology is responsive and acts proactively to ensure that school
psychology services in schools are comprehensive, coordinated and accessible to all
students and families.
The focus of our services must be perceived as prevention and early intervention if we are
to meet the emotional and instructional needs of students. Testing for special education
eligibility must be recognized as a poor use of school psychologists’ time and expertise.
Emphasizing and encouraging early intervention through instructional consultation and data
based decision-making.
Advocating that school psychologists be involved in the pre-referral intervention process
may eliminate excessive testing loads by decreasing the number of invalid referrals.
If we hope to be successful at either remediation or prevention, services will have to be
linked directly to the various ecosystems within which we and our clients function.
Another strategy would be to move towards a more effective model of pupil services, i.e., a
preventative, collaborative model.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 29
There are two key areas that I view as critical for the profession to continue to meet the
needs of children and families. These areas focus primarily on the promotion of (a)
Evidence-Based Interventions that are both scientifically-driven and practitioner-oriented;
and (b) Collaborative Teaming Processes aimed at prevention and solutions for high-risk
students.
Providing services to young children and their families represents a first line of defense in
improving educational and social outcomes for children.
We cannot continue to meet the growing needs of students in the K-12 system without
devoting efforts to prevention of social and academic problems before children enter that
system.
Approaches to evaluation of psychological services must be developed that emphasize the
importance of preventive interventions rather than counting the number of assessments
completed.
If school psychologists can use their training in child development and learning together
with their consultation and research skills to forge alliances with like minded professionals,
parents and community members to implement prevention programs then I believe we
would make great strides in serving our students, their parents and educators, as well as
ourselves.
A primary use of assessment in this model is to foster prevention and early intervention
activities.
How should the nature of training in school psychology
change to respond to the shortage?
Response Category:
Training for Expanded
Roles (Beyond Testing)
Comments from Essays
Additional courses in counseling, crisis intervention and addressing school safety issues
should be emphasized. Training in designing and implementing academic as well as
behavioral interventions for students referred for services should also be emphasized.
A paradigm shift in the way school psychologists are trained. Training too needs to be
redefined to accommodate the information already available, which clearly shows the
qualifications of the school psychologist must be diverse (i.e., psychological evaluations,
counseling, behavior interventions, crisis intervention) and applicable. As such, training
must become purely pragmatic.
Training programs need to direct course work towards leadership and systems
involvement, and move away from assessment as the first course taken, and giving
assessment the most emphasis.....counseling, academic interventions, program evaluation,
affective education and consultation are important areas of concentration, with the focus
being on multiple ways to support successful development, not assessment for placement.
It is up to the leaders in our field and participants of the conference to create multiple
opportunities for training programs emphasizing ecological, prevention based practice to
flourish.
When school psychologists are trained in comprehensive, effective practices, they
significantly change their roles and, more importantly, change practices in improving child
outcomes.
Go to Table of Contents
Module 1: Introduction
Page 30
Enhancing the multicultural training of school psychologists in university graduate
programs....This would provide school psychologists with the knowledge, skills and
attitudes necessary to better meet the needs of the diverse children, families and schools
of the 21st century.
I would argue that we are over-training individuals to be school psychologists, which only
frustrates individuals in the field and leads to burnout, which contributes to the shortage of
school psychologists.... We need to train technicians. In other words, we need to have
programs that train educational diagnosticians or school psychometrists.
School psychologists should be among the most appropriately trained professional
consultants to aid in the development, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of
integrated, school-wide academic/health promotion curricula for all students.
We require our students to be involved in active inquiry and
action research as part of their professional training and as a way to
inform and change practice.
The increased expectations for school psychologists’ performance in the schools have
exacerbated the shortages because of the increased cost of training in
time and money.
We must address the reluctance of some in the field to retrain to be able to do more than
test. We must insist that training programs include courses and practica in direct
intervention work with children and not just consultation.
Training needs to be redefined to accommodate the information already available, which
clearly shows the qualifications of the school psychologist must be diverse (i.e.,
psychological evaluations, counseling, behavior interventions, crisis intervention) and
applicable.
Training for Specialized
Roles
Too many of our current school psychologists do not receive quality supervision designed
to build and strengthen skills and produce well trained clinicians, proficient in clinical skills
and skilled in self assessment of professional training needs.
Placing more training emphasis on organizational development/systems intervention for
school psychologists as healthy schools with preventative models and caring school
climates in place have significantly fewer referrals.
Offer specializations in early childhood, family systems, neuropsychology, and biological
bases of behavior, adolescence and bilingual school psychology.
Providing school psychologists with a wide range of skills to meet the challenges of working
with the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in our nation.
In such a context, training in advanced assessment techniques is essential. For school
psychologists, advanced individual assessment techniques include neuropsychological
assessment, dynamic assessment, and objective and projective personality assessment.
We use advanced assessment techniques to provide a thorough understanding of a child’s
strengths and weaknesses so that effective interventions can be identified.
Training programs will have to change to respond to the shortage and skill deficits by
including more coursework in the use of technology, public relations, legal testimony,
consultation, and promote the specialization in low incidence disabilities as well as with
bilingual individuals.
Go to Table of Contents
Module 1: Introduction
Page 31
Developing service coordination models with other disciplines to reduce fragmentation of
school mental health services, more emphasis on preventive activities, more in depth
training on instructional issues, consultative skills, program planning/evaluation,
educational leadership skills, and system level intervention competencies must all be
infused into our training programs to support school psychologists as effective mental
health consultants
Preparing school psychologists to be instructional/learner specialists and teaching school
psychologists how to implement effective strategies for preventing learning and behavior
problems.
Creating an early childhood specialization that includes focused course work, field
experience, and multi-disciplinary training through involvement with early childhood special
education training programs will serve to increase the number of school psychologists
prepared and dedicated to working with young children and their families. Additionally, it
may draw individuals with a desire to work with young children into the field.
Provide training in creating effective schools so that psychologists can use advanced
assessment to provide effective interventions for those who really need it.
Having a comprehensively designed training program for those trained in the ontogenic
methods of treatment can assist with this shortage of personnel while also bringing to the
educational systems a more thorough understanding of psychopathology and treatment.
Training for Actual
Practice (Ivory Tower
vs. Real Practice)
Much of school psychology training takes place “in the field,” not in the university
classroom.
The biggest need for training programs is within the practicum/internship setting. At most
universities, training programs teach about creative problem solving and when the school
psychology student arrives at the school for internship they are handed a cookbook of how
every case will be treated.
Make training more applicable to real-world practices in School Psychology. I think many
students (in all disciplines, not just education) become disillusioned with the training they
receive because it is disconnected from the real world. As such, we need to think
progressively about how we can further integrate application with coursework.
While psychologists increasingly need broad competencies, the profession needs to
carefully consider if it is realistic for university training programs to ensure students’
mastery of all competencies prior to completion.
Are school psychology students being set up for burnout through the training they receive?
We talk about “best practices” which represent the ideal, but perhaps not the real. As a
result, entry into the “real world” is often a rude awakening.
It appears overall that most programs still have not made significant growth in truly
preparing highly competent school psychologists to provide the broad range of services
needed.
School psychologists new to the field need training in becoming direct service providers.
Additional courses in counseling, crisis intervention and addressing school safety issues
should be emphasized.
We know that ¼ to 1/3 of all children in the GENERAL population have been victims of
abuse....that means that a significant portion of the referred children we see have been
abused. However, what percentage of our literature represents research and treatment in
this area? Why aren’t training programs specifically required to address this important
issue? Why isn’t it routinely included in our standard multifactored assessment
recommendations? We must become greater advocates for children.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 32
There are three areas where training might be changed. These are in the areas of mental
health, consultation, and assessment.
Improved alignment between training programs and actual practice. Too often, course
offerings emphasize narrow competencies rather than the broad competencies needed by
today’s practitioners.
Mentoring Issues in
Training
Training programs should develop relationships with school districts and state associations
who could provide additional mentoring and supervision without adding to the university
payroll.
Too many of our current school psychologists do not receive quality supervision designed
to build and strengthen skills and produce well trained clinicians, proficient in clinical skills
and skilled in self assessment of professional training needs. Revitalizing the proposed
supervision credential would be a start in this endeavor.
We need to attend to the issue of retaining people in the profession. This may well
necessitate greater attention to mentoring and supporting early professionals.
Alternative Routes to
Training
A combination of Internet course, weekends, and summer courses combined with local
supervision would make for an excellent program and not skimp on content.
Entry level for school psychologists in most states is currently at the specialist level (60+
hours). Many people see this as a daunting challenge and prefer to obtain a masters
degree in a related area (e.g., school counseling) so they will be able to begin their
professional life sooner. I propose that a uniform standard be adopted that would allow
individuals to begin limited practice as a school psychologist at a 35 graduate hour level
with the stipulation that they receive additional training to upgrade their education to the
specialist level in 5 years. This would create an apprentice level that would allow some
individuals to begin practice in the field who may otherwise never be given the opportunity.
If I had my druthers, universities would cross-train across graduate programs. Students
from different programs who are potentially going to work in the field together need to train
together (i.e., education/teaching, administration, counseling, school psychology, speech
pathology). This helps build understanding of roles and competencies when working
together in the “real world.”
Diagnosticians trained at an undergraduate level with a specialty certification could likely
complete the greater part of these tasks. The diagnostician could graduate in four years
with an applicable skill, and the school psychologist would be freed from time-consuming
hours of testing to accommodate a larger number of students, teachers, and administrators
throughout the school to address the true obstacles to a student’s learning.
If we could eliminate the redundancy in the foundations courses this may attract more
people to enter graduate programs. A suggestion for doing this might be a combined
bachelors and master’s degree in school psychology. A person could attend a five year
program and get a master’s or an educational specialist degree to practice in the schools.
Developing school psychology “technicians” who have college degrees in a related field
and would be required to complete a training program in assessment....This model is a
controlled, supervised one with standards of practice, which frees up school psychologists
to perform other responsibilities and also lessens the paperwork.
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Module 1: Introduction
Page 33
While I’m not necessarily advocating alternative professional “tracts” for school psychology,
I think we need to have the option, and perhaps the confidence, to consider alternatives. If
we refuse to offer solutions, then those outside the profession likely will. One only need
look at the increasing frequency of poorly conceived alternative routes to teacher
certification, some of which require only weeks of training or no training whatsoever in
pedagogy to see what happens when policy makers and consumers become desperate.
In our state, there is discussion of development of approaches that rely more on distancelearning (to meet needs in rural areas) and web-based instruction.
We should seriously consider subspecialty credentialing and supervision of non-doctoral
people for areas that need advanced training. The problems of our clients are getting more
complicated and severe. We need more training and supervised experience, not less.
Those who are advocating for easier, faster access to training need to consider that there
should be limits to this.
Training school psychologists must have much greater flexibility. Particularly if our best
potential pools of professionals include individuals already employed in related fields,
training must be geared toward experienced adults who have families and financial
obligations that may prevent them from following the traditional “approved” training
models....evening-only classes over a four-five year period rather than the traditional three
years of day classes.
I believe we need to provide programs with flexible training for the coursework part of
training (e.g., part-time, evening/weekend, and summer programs for working adults).
Classroom-based instruction can be made available on nights and weekends, video
conferencing technology can be used to include geographically isolated students in the
classroom, and we can explore the utility of web-based instruction and fieldwork
supervision.
Many school psychology university training programs are making provisions for
professionals who wish to enter our field, having served as a psychologist, teacher, or
counselor. Many also continue to maintain a flexible enough program to enable preservice
students and change-of-career professionals to work while they are attending a school
psychology training program.
One way to begin addressing the first part of this equation is to explore ways to shorten the
time to degree for practitioners. Training programs and NASP should work together to
identify a core curriculum for a joint 5-year BA/MS degree (+ 1 year internship).
Using technology could potentially support program expansion through online courses and
training experiences. This is already being done at the University of _____ where school
psychology students training in the Instructional Consultation model of collaborative
consultation receive coaching and feedback on line while they conduct their initial cases.
Training programs could allow professionals an option of passing a test about a core
knowledge area rather than requiring them to take a class about information they have
already acquired.
The use of intensive summer institutes, or full weekend training days may be other
alternatives. Training in school psychology needs to be recognized as an achievable goal
for more persons, including identification or re-training standards for persons who may
have other psychology degrees.
The training standards also should not compound the shortage – particularly if the
competencies can be mastered with continuing professional development and coaching
during the initial period of employment and practice.
Go to Table of Contents
Module 1: Introduction
Page 34
Training for
Consultation &
Collaboration
A focus on consultation and behavioral interventions from a training and practice vantage
point should allow the future school psychologist to move beyond boundary/turf issues and
still be valued by a school district.
I believe that consultation methods and behavioral interventions should be the cornerstone
as we transform the graduate educational experience and the professional role to meet the
increasing demands of the 21st century.
The core of School Psychology training should two fold. First, we use our knowledge about
child development, cognitive psychology and therapy-to focus on meaningful socialemotional learning curriculum, as we also work with larger systems, serving as consultants
both within the school and the wider community.
Training programs will need to restructure their focus away from one-on-one service
delivery to a broader team delivery system in which the school psychologist serves a
consultative role.
Training will have to emphasize systemic thinking, collaboration with other professionals,
programmatic approaches to mental health, and educational consultation on a broader
scale than the individual student.
In training, practice, and measurement tool development, we need to give away
assessment and instead focus on consultation and collaboration in the interpretation of
assessments which lead to the development and evaluation of interventions.
We need to finally accept the indirect nature of our field and embrace consultation as the
primary means by which we deliver service and have all other training, including
assessment be applied in the context of consultation.
We also must recognize that students will need to learn how to positively impact
collaboration processes, improve individuals' engagement, and enhance active
participation in collaborative relationships.
Training programs will need to restructure their focus away from one-on-one service
delivery to a broader team delivery system in which the school psychologist serves a
consultative role.
Go to Table of Contents
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Appendix C: Brief Summary of Focus Groups Held Prior to
the 2002 School Psychology Future’s Conference
In preparation for the Futures Conference, a series of focus groups were held at the
2002 NASP convention in Chicago. School psychology practitioners, students, and
trainers were asked to provide information in response to a series of targeted focus
group questions. Over 100 school psychologists provided responses to the focus group
questionnaire. Additionally, we have collected responses from the focus group
questionnaire on the Futures Conference website. Below is a summarized version of the
responses. The complete compilation of all data from the focus groups will be presented
in Modules II-IV.
NOTE: Julia Rutely of The University of Alabama compiled and categorized the focus
group data).
Question: I think the most pressing issue in educating children is _____?
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promote quality instruction
accommodate diverse learner and meet variable needs
misplaced emphasis on teaching to the test (high stakes testing)
academic performance monitoring
increase evidence-based teaching practices (especially reading)
equal access to education (equity)
achieve balance of academic and social-emotional instruction
modify rigid age of entry point to recognize differences in readiness
prevention/early intervention
Question: I think the most pressing issue with children’s mental health in schools
is _____?
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public recognition of mental health as an area of need
availability of services (access)
early intervention/prevention
coordinated services/programs
school psychologist recognition as mental health provider
childhood depression
respond to crises
violence prevention
substance abuse
promote social skills
Question: I think the most pressing issue in schools or education is _____?
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funding
personnel shortages (teachers, principals, support personnel)
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quality personnel
unfunded legislative mandates
create meaningful benchmarks (meaningful accountability)
high stakes testing
safety
developmentally appropriate practices
Question: I think the most pressing issue with families is _____?
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bring families to schools
build partnerships with families and schools
build trust/confidence in schools
community support of families
parenting skills
poverty
supports for working poor
adapt to new family configurations
supervision of children during non-school hours
help families access services
balance work and family; spending time with children
Question: I think the most pressing issue in school psychology is _____?
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role expansion
change from eligibility to intervention focus
help others understand what we do
shortage - practitioners
shortage - trainers
shortage of available university graduate programs
increase pool of students interested in school psychology
skill deficits for expanded roles (trainers and practitioners)
practitioner shortages leads to overemphasis on assessment
use of evidence-based practices
better integration of research/practice (research on real needs)
adequate funding for graduate students
access to programs for less affluent students
QUESTION: According to current and projected demographics, school
psychology in the United States is approaching a significant shortage of
psychologists to meet the needs of children and schools in the 21st century.
Briefly describe the nature and impact of the shortage in your work setting.
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high student/practitioner ratios
unfilled openings
use of less qualified personnel
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shift to clinical psychologists
role change to an emphasis on assessment without intervention
length of day has increased
increases stress levels for school psychologists
strains family/school collaboration
(about 25% of respondents said there was no shortage in their district)
Question: Please describe how you believe the profession should respond to
school psychology shortage
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increase number of school psychology graduate programs
shift away from traditional assessment services to prevention/intervention models
expand existing training programs to accommodate more students
aggressively recruit prospective students (especially diverse students)
create awareness of school psychology among high school students
recruit international students
universities should return to "school" emphasis rather than pediatric/mental
health
develop part-time/alternative programs for non-traditional students
use distance education technologies to expand training opportunities
promote respecialization opportunities
encourage state/federal funding of training programs and students
explore junior or senior year entry to graduate programs
improve retention of current school psychologists
work to understand factors associated with retention
increase salaries/incentives
promote loan forgiveness programs for service to schools
lower entry level to school psychology
encourage development of assessment specialists
develop public relations campaign
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Appendix D: Guiding Principles and Critical
Issues/Outcomes Identified by Onsite and Remote Site
Participants in the 2002
School Psychology Futures Conference
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
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Currently, and for the foreseeable future, we are faced with a shortage of school
psychologists that threatens our capacity to meet the needs of children in
schools. While the profession must increase efforts to recruit and retain
professionals in our field, such strategies alone will be insufficient and
inadequate to increase our capacity to meet the imminent needs of children,
families, and schools.
As a result, changes in school psychology practices and service delivery will be
required to use the resources we have to maximize the benefits to the children
and schools that we serve.
Prevention and early intervention will be necessary to achieve positive outcomes
for children, families, and schools.
Evidence-based practices will be necessary to achieve positive outcomes for
children, families, and schools.
In order to be effective, school psychological services must demonstrate respect
for, and understanding of, diversity factors for children, families and schools,
including factors related to cultural, individual, and role differences (e.g., age,
gender or gender identity, cognitive capabilities, developmental level, race,
ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language,
and socioeconomic status).
Change will be facilitated by using electronic tools for communication. High
quality resources may be collaboratively developed and disseminated.
CRITICAL ISSUES/OUTCOMES
Outcome 1: Improved academic competence and school success for all children.
 Academic outcomes include, for example, improved academic achievement,
readiness for learning, literacy and reading skills, attendance rates, test scores,
graduation rates, occupational success after school, etc.
 Academic outcomes also include, for example, decreased drop-out rates, referral for
special education, referral for early intervention, school failure, grade retention, etc.
Outcome 2: Improved social-emotional functioning for all children.
 Social, emotional, and behavior outcomes include, for example, improved social
competence, problem solving skills, coping skills, social skills and other positive
behaviors, resilience, psychological well being and safety, use of social-emotional
learning strategies, response to tragedy or crisis, etc.
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
Social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes also include decreased disciplinary
referrals, school violence incidents, bullying incidents, mental health problems, drug
use, delinquency, etc.
Outcome 3: Enhanced family-school partnerships and parental involvement in
schools.
 Home-school outcomes include, for example, increased home-school collaboration
activities, rates of parental involvement in children's education, parental confidence
and satisfaction in schools, numbers of parents participating as partners with
schools, quality of home-school partnerships, numbers of parent training programs,
etc.
 Parenting outcomes include, for example, improved parenting skills to promote healthy
development of children, availability of educational and psychological resources for
development of healthy families, parent knowledge of children's abilities and
disabilities, etc.
Outcome 4: More effective education and instruction for all learners.
 Outcome 4 emphasizes systemic, instructional outcomes related to the many
diverse school practices that impact learning and development of children, including
those of all backgrounds and capabilities, in general or special education, or
experiencing risk factors. The outcomes are important for all schools, regardless of
their demographic characteristics and resources.
 Instructional outcomes include, for example, increased quality in all instructional
practices, use of early identification and prevention programs, availability of
programs and resources to meet the needs of all students including those with
learning difficulties or unique needs, knowledge and use of proven teaching
strategies, continuous monitoring and evaluation of services, use of objective
achievement measures with direct links to effective instruction, diagnostic and
instructional validity in general and special education decision-making, practices by
all school personnel that address the range of backgrounds and capabilities children
and families, etc.
Outcome 5: Increased child and family services in schools that promote health
and mental health and are integrated with community services
 Outcome 5 emphasizes systemic, health and mental health outcomes related to the
many diverse practices that impact children and families, including those of all
backgrounds and capabilities, in general or special education, or experiencing risk
factors. The outcomes are important for all schools and communities, regardless of
their demographic characteristics and resources.
 Outcomes related to health and mental heath services in schools include, for
example, greater child and family access to quality comprehensive health and
mental health services through the public schools, availability of services beyond the
school day, interagency collaboration in family-centered health and mental health
services across school and community agencies, increased number and quality of
prevention and intervention services, increased services to support needs of children
and families of diverse backgrounds, preventive and proactive interventions that
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promote healthy development of children and families, expanded programs that
integrate health/mental health with school safety, increased focus on safe and caring
climates in schools and communities, increased use of proven practices, etc.
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Module 1: Introduction
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MODULE I INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY DOCUMENTATION FORM
NOTE: This form may be modified as needed.
The form below may be used by coordinators of group activities (e.g., workshops,
inservices, courses, etc.) or those engaging in independent self-study to document
professional development activity for participants. Record the dates and number of
hours spent in each individual activity in which you engaged.
Participant Name: _________________________________________________________________
Dates of Professional Development Activity: ____________________________________________
Title of Workshop/Inservice/Course if applicable: _________________________________________
Signature of Coordinator of Workshop/Inservice/Course if applicable _________________________
ACTIVITY
RESOURCES FOR READING AND REVIEW
a.
Selected essays written by futures conference
participants (Appendix A)
b.
Selected comments and categories essays written
by futures conference participants (Appendix B )
c.
Brief summary of focus groups held prior to the
conference (Appendix C)
d.
Key issues/outcomes identified by futures
conference participants (Appendix D)
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Date(s) of
Activity
Select one
Workshop
Selfor group
study
contact
hours
hours
Module 1: Introduction
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e.
Sheridan, S. M., & D’Amato, R. C., (2004).
Partnering to chart our futures: School Psychology
Review and School Psychology Quarterly Combined
Issue on the Multisite Conference on the Future of
School Psychology. School Psychology Review, 33, 711. OR published concurrently in: School Psychology
Quarterly, 2003, 18, 347-351.
f.
Harrison, P. L., Cummings, J. A., Dawson, M.,
Short, R., Gorin, S., Palomares, R., (2004). Responding
to the needs of children, families and schools: The 2002
multi-site conference on the future of school psychology.
School Psychology Review, 33, 12-33. OR School
Psychology Quarterly, 2003, 18, 358-388.
g.
Personal reflections from conference participants
http://www.nasponline.org/publications/futuresCQ.html
h. Additional readings: list optional readings as
applicable:
QUESTIONS FOR GROUP DISCUSSION OR
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION
I participated in a total of _____ clock hours of independent self-study activity.
I participated in a total of _____ clock hours of workshop/inservice/course or other group
learning activity.
Important note about use of this form for continuing education requirements for
Credential Renewal (state certificate, state license, NCSP renewal): Users of this form
should apply the above professional development hours only as specified by the credentialing
agency.
I affirm that the activities and hours documented above are those in which I actually participated.
Participant’s Signature
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Date
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