A school psychological perspective on the consulting psychology education and training principles.

States that the "Principles for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Level in Consulting Psychology/Organizational" (R. L. Lowman et al, Education and Training Committee, see record 2003-04049-003) are a welcome contribution to psychology. They will be useful to faculties in school psychology programs and will assist in the conceptualization and implementation of doctoral and postdoctoral programs. The Principles are complemented for anticipating the future evolution of the field. Formative suggestions are offered to have the competencies more fully address diversity issues. The author observes that information technology has brought powerful tools to all organizations, businesses, educational institutions, and governmental agencies. The consulting psychologist should understand the potential of these tools and their liabilities. The future consulting psychologist's capacity to address complex ethical situations is also addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of school psychology program directors and program production.

Conducted a survey to determine how directors of school psychology programs receive their preparation and what kinds of programs they direct. 157 returned questionnaires revealed that directors came from a wide variety of preparatory departments; were predominantly men; were mostly in departments of education, where they prepared specialists for the schools; and had served as director for less than 4 yrs. A majority had had field practice. Their duties were comparable to those of directors of clinical programs. School psychologist programs currently produce nearly 10 times as many subdoctoral as doctoral graduates. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MA Psychologists Speak.

Comments on the recent joint report of the APA and CSPA committees on legislation. The committees recommend, among other things, that the title "psychologist" be reserved for the PhD alone. The author does not believe that the PhD training is either so relevant or so crucial that the non-PhD should be excluded from the opportunity to compete on an equal level (i.e., in a position as a "psychologist"). PhD training is too varied and inconsistent from institution to institution to consider it to be the "key" to the understanding of human behavior. It is argued that the proposed legislation is based on the unwarranted assumption that a "good psychologist" is a person with a PhD degree in psychology. The author makes his own suggestions for inclusion of MA level psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A field work experience in mental retardation

A graduate student specializing in mental retardation found few pertinent electives as well as little opportunity for field work experience. A special arrangement was made for appropriate field work experiences in three types of settings--a large residential institution, school programs, and nursing care facilities. There was little time to view client changes, and rapport with patients and staff was difficult to develop. The advantages included more time with her supervisor, more exposure to organizational and administrative duties, and more exposure to a variety of settings and to the professional roles of numerous therapists. More such field work experiences should be developed to encourage new therapists to choose mental retardation as a specialty.     

Homework: A natural means of home-school collaboration.

Discusses the value of homework in terms of the emerging interest in the development of effective home–school partnerships. Specifically, a review of the homework literature is provided with attention to parent-, teacher-, and child-mediated programs. Several homework programs that have received empirical support are described. It is concluded that the school psychologist can adopt various roles in developing, supporting, and monitoring homework programs. Specifically, the school psychologist can assess homework difficulties, train teachers and parents, and serve as a liaison between home and school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personnel Psychology and Small Business.

The psychologist acting as consultant to a small concern operates under serious restrictions on his usual personnel methods. Often the selection of employees is only a small part of his general services. The number of new men being hired is small, the turnover rate may be infinitesimal, and even a survey of the men on the job may yield paltry information in comparison with usual employment studies. Ideally this sort of operation should be carried on at a national level with many or all of the local concerns of the same sort participating in the project. This would probably only be feasible through arrangements between an association of these concerns and some psychological consultants similar in scope to the Psychological Corporation. Lacking these connections, the psychologist locally still faces these persistent difficulties. In the opinion of the writer, there are three lines of evidence which can lend support to the consultant in making his judgments and recommendations. The author describes this evidence in detail. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job satisfaction among school psychologists: A meta-analysis.

Meta-analytic techniques were used to analyze data from a collection of school psychologist job satisfaction studies that were conducted between 1982 and 1999. Eight studies, all of which used the Modified Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (m-MSQ) to measure job satisfaction among school psychologists, were included in the analysis. Two national studies and six state studies totaling 2,116 participants were analyzed. Results indicated that nearly 85% of school psychologists were satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. School psychologists were most satisfied with their relationships with coworkers, the opportunity to stay busy on the job, the opportunity to work independently, and the opportunity to be of service to others. School psychologists were least satisfied with compensation, school policies and practices, and advancement. Findings were generally consistent between state and national studies, and between 1980s and 1990s studies. Results offered some evidence that overall job satisfaction may be related to state school psychology organization membership and to the opportunity to expand and influence the role of the school psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Where women win: Supervisors of school psychologists prefer female job candidates.

152 supervisors of school psychologists participated in a study of the effects of sex, race, and physical attractiveness on judgments of likelihood that several different hypothetical job candidates with master's degrees would be invited for an interview or nominated for a job as a school psychologist. Sex and race were between-Ss factors so as not to cue Ss that these factors were of interest in the study. Ss given female job applications rated them significantly higher than those given male job applications. This was true for both the decision to interview and the decision to hire. Ss also preferred more attractive over less attractive candidates, though this effect interacted with the race of the applicant. Race by itself did not affect Ss' judgments. Findings suggest that school psychology is a sex-typed occupational role. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classification of the spoilage flora of raw and pasteurized bovine milk, with special reference to Pseudomonas and Bacillus

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of job satisfaction to job difficulty and worthiness, reported by the clinical psychologists who worked at medical institutions. A mail survey of 748 clinical psychologists working at hospital and clinics revealed the following results. First, job satisfaction was related more to job situation than job content. Also, job satisfaction was low among those who worked at non-university psychiatric or geriatric hospitals, who did not practice psychotherapy, and who were not in education, research, or management. In addition, compared to the high job satisfaction group, the low group perceived more incongruity between institutional climate and their psychological work, felt being less valued by other professionals, were less able to function fully as a practicing psychologist, and experienced more role ambiguity as a clinical psychologist in a hospital setting.     

School psychologists' participation in organization development: Prerequisite considerations.

Argues that organization development is increasingly recognized as an appropriate function for the school psychology specialty as a whole. It is suggested, however, that prior to introducing organization development in a particular school district, several considerations are appropriate. These prerequisite considerations include (a) resources needed for organization-development programs, (b) school readiness criteria for organization-development programs, (c) interventions available for schools lacking readiness, and (d) factors unique to the individual school psychologist. Particular attention is given to a continuum of school practice ranging from provision of specific organization-development interventions through sustained organization-development programs. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applied psychology in action: Psychological research in personnel administration.

Industrial management has undoubtedly been skeptical about the value of the personnel psychologist as a direct part of its operations payrolled as its job evaluation, training, organization and methods and other functions are. Yet a large number and variety of management problems can be attacked by the application of the specialized skills of the research psychologist. And in most cases not only can they provide the most valid solutions and recommendations but can do this in a manner which will please even the most practical administrator. To do this, it seems important for the research psychologist to be close enough to the management and operations of the organization so that he can sense needs for research in day-to-day problems. And he can make acceptable recommendations for application of research results in the same setting. The possibilities for success are greater, of course, where the relationship between administrator and psychologist is a close and continuing one. The Civilian Personnel Research Branch (CPRB) of the U. S. Air Force Headquarters is in the fortunate position of approximating this ideal. This Branch conducts psychological research originating from everyday problems of the civilian personnel program of the Air Force. The author concludes that staffing with personnel specifically trained for such work pays dividends, if in no other way than in making such research sufficiently sound to assure management that the conclusions may be applied with confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School psychology practice: Organizational barriers to professional attainment.

Examined the organizational constraints to practitioner functioning that confront school psychologists. The results of a survey of 130 school psychologists show that Ss (a) spent more time testing than consulting; (b) spent their time performing many activities, such as consultation and counseling, for small amounts of time; and (c) wanted to do more consulting work, in-service training, and research. However, Ss reported significant support from other school staff members to perform duties other than testing. Ways of building on such support to enable the school psychologist to engage in these new roles are discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Curiosity, compassion, and doubt: The dilemma of the psychologist.

Persons "tend to gravitate to those occupations which fit in with their preferred ways of seeking gratification and minimizing anxiety." Certain elements are common to all psychologists: curiosity, compassion, and doubt. Psychology training programs "should have maximum flexibility so as to facilitate each student's following the program which represents his optimal mix of research and application… . The research psychologist must be more accepting of the practicing psychologist's more direct expression of compassion, perhaps by being less conflicted about his own need to doubt; and, similarly, the practicing psychologist must relinquish the attitude that doubting represents being unfeeling, or even pathological." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of human behavior: The clinical psychologist.

The psychologist "has derived some benefit by the mixture of being a doctor but not being identified with the mentally ill person." By reviewing personal and cultural forces the attempt was made to establish the variety of emphases current in clinical psychology. "Nearly every adjustment pattern observed among clinicians has occurred as a result of training and experience in some university, school or clinic. As yet, no completely satisfying or dominant component of needs has been discovered for the training and role of the clinical psychologist… . But it is a backward step to discard special curricular requirements for clinical psychologists." A prime requirement for a profession is "a disciplined and recognizable training program." The public that supports us will demand "a real and inexorable service contribution that we have implicitly promised… . We evolved on the impetus of service need." A number of current conflicts of the clinical psychologist are indicated. "The only way professional psychologists can hold to a responsible place is by partial separation from the academic, basic science psychologists." Leaders in clinical psychology should "be more than 80% in real clinical work with ill patients." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Why Teacher Certification for School Psychologists?": Comment.

Comments on Piers' article (American Psychologist, 1959, 14, 656-657). Powell agrees with Piers' comments but notes that Piers did not mention another area of confusion: the college training programs for school psychologists. Powell asserts that there is often conflict between education and psychology departments concerning whose function it should be to train the school psychologist. It is suggested that there is a need for both departments to upgrade the courses required for school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of the duties and functions of the school psychologist.

Obtained the opinions of 100 school psychologists and 296 experienced teachers concerning the role of the school psychologist as he sees it and as it is perceived by the teacher. The psychologist's perception of the necessity for communication with the child's position was also explored. It was found that the psychologist is not completely sure of his role and, consequently, has difficulty in communicating with other disciplines. The procedure involving psychological evaluations of school children is therefore often surrounded by confusion and antagonism. Findings have significance for training programs of school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling psychologists in Veterans Administration regional offices.

Surveyed 223 27–70 yr old counseling psychologists employed in VA regional offices to obtain data on their professional memberships, licenses and certificates, job duties, and theoretical orientation (primarily client centered). Most of the Ss held master's degrees in rehabilitation counseling or counseling and guidance and appeared to be more strongly identified with rehabilitation counseling than with traditional counseling psychology. Their major professional activity was vocational educational counseling. Results are discussed in relation to the role of counseling psychologists and the definition of "psychologist." (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Tests and assessment.

Reviews the book Tests and Assessment (1985) by Jacqueline Schakel. From its broad title, this book might be classified as a general textbook on assessment for anyone who is learning about testing procedures. Indeed, in the preface, the authors present their book as a text for undergraduate courses on testing in general psychology, and for graduate courses in counseling, vocational, educational, and industrial psychology as well as for "students in counselor education, guidance and counseling, educational administration and other disciplines." Although the book does have some useful general sections on tests and assessment, it is clear that the real audience for this book is less extensive than the authors state. The examples used, tests reviewed, and issues discussed are chiefly for students in personnel and guidance or vocational psychology. If you are such a student or teach assessment courses to students in these programs, read on. Parts of this book may interest you. If you are a school psychologist or teacher of school psychology, you will find this text limited. The overall organization of the book could have been improved by reviewing the theories of person-environment interaction (upon which the authors claim to base their treatment of assessment) before their discussion of specific assessment tools and integrating a discussion of this theoretical basis throughout the book. In summary, this book does not offer the broad treatment of assessment issues and the focus on the kinds of assessment required in schools which are necessary to school psychologists. It provides some useful reviews of tests for guidance and vocational decision making, some concise explanations of assessment concepts, and a well-written section on some specific testing controversies that may be useful to students in the counseling field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)