The inclusion of students with learning disabilities in the general education setting has resulted in a dramatic shift in the roles of educators, school psychologists, and administrators alike. Although many changes were anticipated, some were not. The primary purpose of this study was to engage school psychologists in a focus group to explore…

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…

More children and adolescents who have chronic illnesses are being included in regular education classrooms today than ever before. However, teachers may not feel confident about being able to meet these children's educational, social, or emotional needs in the classroom. School psychologists are able to assess children's functioning in these…

Three papers describe the three stages of developing the National Teacher Examination (NTE) School Psychologist Specialty Area Test. The first stage is described in the paper entitled "Knowledge Areas Important to School Psychology." A survey of the membership of the National Association of School Psychologists helped determine knowledge…

The evaluation of professional support personnel in the schools has been a neglected area in educational evaluation. The Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evaluation (CREATE) has worked to develop a conceptually sound evaluation model and then to translate the model into practical evaluation procedures that facilitate…

Standard setting on licensure and certification tests is difficult both to execute and to defend. There may, however, be certain minimum standards for standard setting on which most will be able to agree. One such standard is logical consistency. M. T. Kane (1984, 1986) has suggested an approach to evaluating the logical consistency of one widely…

School psychologists typically spend about 80% of their time engaged in consultation. By applying empirical findings and/or straightforward logic to assumptions commonly held by many school-based consultants, questions are raised as to the appropriateness of assumptions for the effective practice of school consultation. These assumptions include…

In response to the increasing rate of adolescent suicide, many school and mental health professionals have implemented school-based suicide prevention programs to address the issue of adolescent suicide. Most suicide prevention programs cover similar topics. However, the perspectives from which they approach suicide may vary. The majority of…

This document contains three related papers addressing the issue of youth suicide. "Youth Suicide: An Investigation of Ideation, Prevalence, Depression and Student Awareness" (R. Ladson Berry) presents results from a survey of 283 junior high and high school students in South Carolina public schools. Findings are reported that revealed a…

The manual is intended to help school psychologists determine strengths and weaknesses, establish goals, and prescribe interventions for students with difficulties in mathematics, spelling, and written language. Research on sources of mathematical difficulties, theoretical bases, and hierarchies in mathematics is reviewed, procedures for formal…

This book emphasizes the importance of research to the school psychologist. Written in a conversational style, it looks at research as a tool for problem solving and a basis for action rather than as an academic exercise. Research is described as an interaction, a point of contact to get things moving, a different way of seeing a problem. The…

This article takes a look into the future regarding counselor recertification. The authors discuss some of the complications of the recertification process and propose some techniques for evaluating pupil personnel workers. (HMV)

Presents three alternative roles for school psychologists: 1) psychoeducational specialist in the school; 2) school specialist in community-based psychological services; and 3) psychologist focusing on the social structure of the school. (Author/PC)

Presents a set of training experiences to develop school-based consultation skills in preservice school psychologists and discusses problems in implementing this model of service. Also discussed are methods for mobilizing teachers to plan more precisely to meet the needs of individual pupils in the classroom. (Author)

Organizational development (OD) within school systems is productive work for the school psychologist. Basic to all OD is the principle of maximizing a system's resources. Following organizational change in the business world, schools can profit greatly from system changes which address today's "people problems." Outside consultants often provide…