School psychology: A specialty of professional psychology with distinct competencies and complexities.

School psychology at the doctoral level is recognized as a specialty of professional psychology by the American Psychological Association, with corresponding licensure as a psychologist granted by state boards of psychology. School psychology also is regulated by state boards of education; they set the credentialing standards for professional practice in public schools. The intent of this article is to enhance the understanding of this distinct and multiply influenced specialty. The need for psychological services in schools is highlighted, followed by a discussion of multiple influences and licensing/credentialing issues. Next, the specialty is delineated, its distinctiveness highlighted, and competencies for practice in the public schools elaborated. Finally, education/training models and mechanisms for program accreditation are described, as are the major professional organizations in school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Formalized psychological services in state education programs.

In recent years "state regulations have played a major part in determining the nature of local school requirements" for psychologists. States having formally legislated provisions for school psychologists, states formally recognizing qualifications of school psychologists, professional training requirements for different levels of persons rendering psychological service in schools, and required supervised practicum or internship experience are discussed. The certification of school psychologists as teachers, the renewal of certification of school psychologists, the kinds of psychological services provided or used, the apparent absence of a sensitivity to a need for school psychological services, and the various titles by which psychologists are designated in school law or official statements are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' attitudes toward seeking help for their children from school and private psychologists.

What inhibits parents from seeking psychological help for their children? This study examined the attitudes of mothers of school-age children toward seeking psychological help from school psychological services and from private psychologists. Mothers express greater and more intense worries in relation to seeking help from school psychological services as compared to private psychologists. Hypothetical vignettes about a problematic child also showed that mothers prefer to refer both their own child and that of a friend to a private psychologist. Reducing the threat aroused by public sector psychologists should increase the utilization of psychological help for children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awakening to a New Dawn: Perspectives of the Future of School Psychology.

The Invitational Conference on the Future of School Psychology held at Indiana University in Fall 2002 included a number of paper presentations and group discussions. Toward the end of the conference, four participants were asked to present their reactions, reflecting input from a practitioner, a graduate student in school psychology, a faculty member at a university program educating school psychologists in the United States, and a school psychologist/faculty member at a university from a different country (Greece). The purpose of this article is to share their combined perspectives of the future of school psychology. This article also includes their suggestions for the future direction of school psychology, and encourages all school psychologists to awaken to a change in the field. The article considers the educational and mental health needs of students, and offers a prospectus for the field including (a) data-supported services; (b) group-focused practices; (c) collaboration and partnerships with professionals, families, and schools; and (d) multicultural considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

David Powell Weikart (1931-2003).

Obituary for David Powell Weikart (1931-2003). Among other things the obituary notes that Dave Weikart worked for the Ypsilanti (Michigan) public schools from 1957 to 1970, first as special services director and school psychologist, then as research and development director. He founded the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in 1970 as an independent, nonprofit research and development organization in Ypsilanti and served as its president and board chairman until he retired in 2000. The High/Scope Foundation is well known for its educational model in which both teachers and students take initiative and responsibility for learning and in which children engage daily in High/Scope's plan-do-review process of intentional learning. Dave first developed this model in his summer camp for adolescents. In the United States and in other countries, he then applied the High/Scope model to preschool programs, home visit programs for infants and toddlers and their mothers, elementary schools, and programs for adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A scientific problem-solving approach to developing accountability procedures for school psychologists.

Discusses the use of evaluations of school psychological services in improving service delivery and professional development. The steps of a scientific problem-solving approach to accountability are outlined in terms of problem definition, generation of alternatives, decision making, implementation and outcome evaluation, dissemination of results, and meta-evaluation. The use of this model is illustrated by its application to the assessment of the evaluation, consultation, and referral services provided by a school psychologist. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prenatal and perinatal factors in child development: A commentary.

School adjustment and achievement are at the heart of a child's development. Both are influenced by a myriad of factors that are complex and interconnected. For children with difficulties, school psychologists are integral to the assessment of those diverse factors and to the implementation of intervention strategies that help those children reach their potential. The traditional role of the school psychologist as an evaluator has often required a focus on the immediate results of psychological and emotional assessment and an interpretation of those results for placement. Nonetheless, environmental factors affect learning and behavior and influence children throughout their lives--even from before birth. Those variables interact during critical developmental periods, thereby affecting the youngster's function in substantial ways. This set of articles addresses some of the varied preconceptional and perinatal influences that may affect a child's performance in school, at home, and in his community--the knowledge of which will assist the school psychologist in helping the child and family. The articles combine concern for individual functioning with a public health model, addressing broader population-based data. The intersection of school psychology and public health has been too little explored, and this volume helps to close that gap. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retarding Effects of Institutionalization upon the Clinical Psychologist.

Reports on a count of the psychological reports--and the average number of words per report--completed by the author, a civil service staff psychologist working within a state school for the mentally retarded, over a period of 4 years. The work of the clinical psychologist in this setting involves primarily testing and evaluation. The neatly descending hierarchy of both number of reports and average quantity per report testifies to the insidious effects of institutional rut, at least upon assessment procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal Effects of In-School and Out-of-School Homework on High School Grades.

Research has shown that time spent on homework is an important influence on school learning. Many students complete their "home" work in school, yet it is unclear whether homework's effectiveness varies depending on whether it is completed in school or at home. The purpose of this research was to determine the relative influence on students' high school grades of time spent doing homework in school as compared to time spent doing homework out-of-school. We used longitudinal data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to develop, cross-validate, and test a series of structural equation models of the effects of in-school and out-of-school homework on students' high school grades. Results suggest that out-of-school homework had a substantial effect on grades, whereas in-school homework had no such effect. This finding held across different definitions of homework, and when using achievement test scores as an alternative measure of school learning. The findings suggest that schools should encourage students to complete homework at home, rather than in school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proposals for state department of education certification of school psychologists.

"School psychologists are dually oriented professionals who need to be well educated in both psychology and education… . The development of competencies needed by a fully qualified school psychologist requires at least the education represented by a doctoral degree or 3 years of graduate training." Suggested standards for full ceritfication and for provisional certification are outlined. The requirements for a certified psychological assistant are also specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A preliminary investigation of high-school counseling resources on the Cape Peninsula

In South Africa, counseling and guidance services remain marginalized. The aim of this study was to determine the structure and function of the counseling facilities in high schools on the Cape Peninsula. The first telephone survey comprising 68 representatively and randomly selected schools revealed that 26% of schools had no guidance department, and the mean full-time guidance teacher-pupil ratio was 1:897. The second survey involving 33 randomly selected full-time and part-time guidance teachers from the first sample showed that they could assign on average 14.4 minutes of counselling per pupil in one school year. Analysis of the full-time guidance teachers (N = 22) time allocation revealed that 23% of time was allocated to counseling, 32% to guidance, and 45% to formal teaching and administration. These results suggest that the allocation of personnel and time to counselling are deficient. An implication is that adolescents with psychological problems go undetected and therefore untreated.     

The school as a psychological laboratory.

"Current training opportunities leading the graduate student of psychology to real understanding of children are… extremely limited… . Perhaps as good an explanation for the profession's neglect of such an important aspect of its field [child psychology] is to be found in the swings of academic fashion." To date, the public schools as settings for practicum experiences and internships have not been much exploited. Large city school systems present exciting possibilities. Courses of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago have used the Chicago public schools since the 1930s. Typical research studies in which the Chicago schools have made facilities and subjects available are enumerated. "On the employment side, the positions for school psychologists in the Chicago schools jumped from 66 in 1957 to 90 in 1958." Psychological work in the schools requires thoughtful preparation. "Psychology must sell its wares to skeptical, if not openly hostile, teachers and administrators." Psychologists "must drop their supercilious attitude toward some of the basic tasks of school psychology… . The tremendous potential of the schools as a laboratory for research and training in almost all phases of psychological study must be more fully realized." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists in secondary schools in the 1990s: Current functions, training, and job satisfaction.

Surveyed 173 school psychologists serving secondary schools concerning their current roles and functions, training needs, and general job satisfaction. Results revealed that many school psychologists in secondary schools are providing a wide variety of services, including direct (e.g., counseling) and indirect (e.g., consultation) services. Approximately three-quarters of the Ss reported being satisfied with their work in secondary schools. Job satisfaction was related to increased time spent in intervention-related activities and decreased time spent in psychological assessment activities. Data reflected encouraging findings regarding the scope of school psychological services in secondary settings but also underscored the need for diversified training of school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victor Anthony Battistich (1952–2008).

Presents an obituary for Victor Anthony Battistich (1952–2008). Victor Anthony Battistich spent his entire career as an applied social psychologist concerned with the impact of school culture on student socio-moral development. He was unique in integrating social-psychological research expertise, sociological school climate theory, developmental psychological research and theory, and statistics. This integration provided the scholarly and practical worlds of education with novel, powerful tools and knowledge to promote healthy schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' perceptions of school psychology: A comparison of regular and special education teacher ratings.

A total of 1533 regular education and special education teachers from eight school districts in four states rated their knowledge of and satisfaction with school psychological services. Perceived helpfulness of psychological services to teachers and children was also assessed. Finally, both groups rated their perceptions of school psychologists' roles versus school counselor roles. Regular education teachers, compared to special education teachers, reported less knowledge of school psychology, perceived school psychologists as less helpful to teachers, and reported lower satisfaction with school psychology services. These reports may have been influenced by the amount of contact each teacher had with school psychologists. Both teacher groups had a limited understanding of the broad roles and functions of school psychologists, and both groups viewed school counselors as delivering more services than school psychologists. Implications of these findings with regard to school psychology reform efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The developmental context of school satisfaction: Schools as psychologically healthy environments.

A positive psychology perspective on school psychology challenges us to think critically about the degree to which schools and schooling processes support children's optimum adjustment. We argue that schools contribute to a student's positive adjustment when they function as psychologically healthy environments for development. In this narrative review, we examine contemporary perspectives on positive adjustment in children and propose a developmental-ecological perspective as one theoretical lens through which to view positive school adjustment. We will critique the empirical literature on contextual factors contributing to school satisfaction, one marker of positive school adjustment. Finally, we will make recommendations for practice and research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discerning direct and mediated effects of ecological structures and processes on adolescents' educational outcomes.

This short-term longitudinal study examined the relations among family and school characteristics, family-level processes (youth perceptions of parent-adolescent interactions), school-level processes (youth perceptions of school belonging, school climate), adolescents' school engagement, and later academic performance. Participants were an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,120 9th-grade students (M age = 14.6 years). The structural characteristics of families and schools influenced the proximal processes that occurred therein, and these proximal processes, in turn, influenced students' proximal (i.e., engagement) and distal educational outcomes (i.e., grades in school). Moreover, the structural characteristics of families and schools influenced proximal and distal outcomes indirectly through their influence on the proximal processes. The multimediated ecological model suggested that intervening at the process level may be a successful means of improving both adolescents' engagement in school and their subsequent school performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The flip side of the coin: Understanding the school's contribution to dropout and completion.

Argues that schools play an important role in fostering student retention and completion. It is suggested that psychological perspectives on the goodness of fit between students and the school environment should be used to guide school reform efforts. Using a structural perspective from organizational theory, the authors review aspects of schooling associated with dropout. They then briefly review selected reform initiatives that restructure the school environment to improve student achievement and retention. It is proposed that efforts to understand and promote school completion will be most effective if they are based on sound psychological theory and science and are embedded in an ecological perspective that accounts for the complex reciprocal interactions of individuals and their environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist as a behavioral scientist in the business school.

There is now a need for entering faculty personnel in business schools "to apply the behavioral science point of view as integrated members of the business faculty, rather than as distinguished visitors from the psychology department." Recent studies critical of business curricula have stressed the importance of the behavioral sciences in the business school curriculum. The "educational and research experiences leading to the doctorate in industrial psychology" gives the industrial psychologist the opportunity to "fill the role of behavioral scientist in the business school." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social reforms and the future of school practice: Implications for American psychology.

Social reforms in American education are setting the stage for a paradigm shift in our nation's schools. The convergence of education and health care reform and the movement in the human services arena toward service integration models provide an unprecedented opportunity to redefine psychological services related to schools for the next century. Whereas school psychological services historically have been linked to changes in special education legislation, social reforms in education and health care that emphasize educational achievement and whole-child development offer promise for expanding and enhancing the roles of psychologists whose practices relate to schools and children. This article explores the foundations for change and highlights critical areas in which psychological practice in the schools may develop in the 1990s and beyond. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)