This is a commentary on the article, "Childhood Leukemia Survivors and Their Return to School: A Literature Review, Case Study, and Recommendations" by D. Scott Hermann, Jill R. Thurber, Kenneth Miles, and Gloria Gilbert in this issue (2011). This article addresses issues related to the compatibility of the suggested practices with contemporary…

This commentary pertains to the article, "Childhood Leukemia Survivors and Their Return to School: A Literature Review, Case Study, and Recommendations" by D. Scott Hermann, Jill R. Thurber, Kenneth Miles, and Gloria Gilbert in this issue (2011) regarding pediatric leukemia. The authors present a literature review regarding leukemia in…

Speakers voice their opinions on: Schools: Surviving or Encountering; Special Children--Special Needs; The Way Things Are--Who's to Blame; and Crime, Violence and Vandalism in the Public Schools. Presented at the 64th Annual Conference of the International Association of Pupil Personnel Workers, St. Louis, Missouri, 1978. (Author/LPG)

Consultation services have been considered an essential and important role for school psychologists throughout the history of the field. Traditionally consultation has been cast as a problem-solving process, nevertheless, it can be thought of as a knowledge-linking process in which psychologists advance knowledge in schools to various mediators…

School psychologists have considerable measurement expertise when compared to physicians, social workers, and other professionals delivering psychological services to schools and children. However, psychologists are far from qualified to portray themselves as measurement experts. It is important to know psychologists' boundaries of measurement…

Powerful economic, social, and political forces are reshaping schools as well as the perceptions of legislators, government officials, school boards, administrators, teachers, businesses, and parents regarding the kinds of pupil services that are needed in schools. At the national level the trend toward shifting decision-making power away from the…

This paper describes the interface between mental health and education and highlights the training needs of the mental health consultant in learning to work with schools and those of teachers in accepting and using mental health input effectively. (Author/JMF)

In this volatile era of economic retrenchment, corporate downsizing, and government budget crises, school psychologists' major defense must be short-term political action and grassroots support, but their long-term strategy must be to build a position of importance for school psychologists in the school. In the long run this will not be…

Psychologists learn early that the first place it is necessary to establish consistency of values is within the self. This foundation is a necessary condition to becoming an indispensable psychologist. Three ingredients to professional indispensability in psychology are excellence, relevance, and passion. Combine these with motive power (the drive…

Despite the field's growth, development, and maturity, in many ways the typical psychologist in the schools in little better off than a quarter century ago. Presently school psychology positions rest primarily on the shaky bedrock of financial and legislative considerations rather than perceived need. Following marketing strategies can enhance the…

One of the first steps psychologists can take toward making themselves indispensable in the schools is to actively participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of crisis intervention teams. Unless effective crisis intervention strategies are instituted, the educational process comes to a standstill. School psychologists need to play…

Profiles the accomplishments of a pioneer in school social work research and education. Tells how she balanced home life with professional life. Highlights her ongoing efforts to subsume school social work as a part of child welfare and the mental health of children. (RJM)

Psychology is changing dramatically as the year 2000 approaches. This is especially true of most practice fields due, in significant part, to the growth of managed care. More importantly, school psychology is now, and will increasingly be, influenced by changes in schooling itself that promise to re-design American education from the bottom-up. In…

Psychology as a profession and the American educational system are in a major period of transition. Transitions influencing the American education system are: (1) an increasingly diverse multicultural society; (2) rapid changes in the work place; (3) changes in American society; (4) civil rights legislation; and (5) rising costs associated…

A school psychologist becomes indispensable to a school by responding to school needs and becoming and instrumental part of the solution. An essential prerequisite to responding to a need is first identifying it. However, the need identification process is fraught with pitfalls. Immersion into the culture of the school is critical to establishing…