For over 40 years, the special education category "Emotional Disturbance" (ED) has elicited considerable confusion and controversy for educators. Perhaps most notably, the federal ED definition has been assailed for its inclusion of vague, construct-laden terminology, coupled with a general lack of clarity or guidance. In this article,…

The purpose of this article was to historically review the field of school psychology for the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Division of School Psychology (DSP) of the APA. Past and present proactive school psychology was evaluated and recommendations for the future were offered in light of historic APA DSP goals. Since its inception, the…

The very first federal law that affected a student with special needs was the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA: Public Law 94-142) established in 1975 by the United States Congress. PL 94-142 required all schools that received federal funds to accept students with physical and mental disabilities and to educate these children in the…

Since the enactment of Public Law 94-142, school districts have struggled to hire and retain required special education personnel (i.e., special education teachers, school psychologists, and related service providers). Data show that shortages of these qualified personnel are even more magnified in rural school districts. Distance education can…

Richard Simpson is professor of special education at the University of Kansas (KU). Dr. Simpson's duties at KU have included roles of staff psychologist, teaching associate, assistant professor, project director, associate professor, professor, and chairperson for the Department of Special Education. He has directed numerous University of Kansas…

The "Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation" ("JEPC") is beginning its second quarter century of publication. Given the challenges education faced in 1990, when the journal began publishing, and the evolving challenges of 2015, it became important to answer two questions: (1) Has "JEPC" successfully…

Calls for increased collaborative practices in school psychology parallel similar advances in the realm of health care. This article overviews the concepts associated with collaborative practice in school psychology and in health care (e.g., interaction, teamwork, and collaboration) and discusses how the literature emerging from interprofessional…

This article is one in a series developed by NASP's African American Subcommittee for school psychologists and other educators working with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. In this article, part one of two addressing disproportionality, the subcommittee presents an overview of the problem of disproportionate…

Shortcomings of the "Seriously Emotionally Disturbed" (S.E.D.) criteria set forth in Public Law 94-142 are discussed and the possibility of integrating other classification methods, specifically those in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM III), is raised and critiqued. Findings of a study…

Raises the questions of where school psychologists fit into school reform and whether they have the organizational knowledge and skill to contribute to this comprehensive process. Critical to success of programs is the use of a collaborative problem-solving consultative model, which incorporates a four-stage process: problem identification,…

A college professor relates his experiences of being diagnosed with learning disabilities while in high school, which affected his education, eventually making possible doctoral degree attainment. As a special education teacher and school psychologist, he cites the challenge of meeting post-secondary obstacles in transition planning for students…

Results suggested two relatively divergent views expressed by practitioners. The first was the stated belief that school psychology will become much more closely tied to the field of special education, while the alternative opinion was that the field will remain as diverse as the systems it serves. (Author)

The authors were asked to respond to the shortage of school psychologists from the perspective of the Division of School Psychology of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association (APA), and also chose to address the larger issue of the shortage and lack of accessibility of mental health services for children…

Psychologists will become more involved in case conferencing, developing individualized educational plans, and case review as a result of PL 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. They will work on multidisciplinary teams. Four consultation models are described: mental health, organizational process, information giving, and…

State definitions of behavior disorder were analyzed and compared to results of a survey completed several years ago. In many ways the definitions remained constant, but important changes were also noted, including a trend toward similarity to the federal term and definition of "seriously emotionally disturbed." (LMO)