School psychologists must become better acquainted with basic principles of applying and communicating psychological interventions if they are to be accepted in the school setting. Psychological interventions are often ignored or improperly applied by school staff and parents, who perceive them as difficult, of little value, or inappropriate for a…

Making psychologists in schools indispensable is essential if psychology in education is going to survive and prosper during the 21st century. This book presents the reflections of 27 leaders in the field of school psychology on the issue of what can make psychologists in schools indispensable. Chapters are: Becoming Indispensable Through Mental…

In the past 20 years, counselors have become increasingly aware of the legal and ethical issues related to counseling. This paper addresses the various legal and ethical topics relevant to school counselors. Since counselors need to make informed decisions based on statutes, codes of ethics, professional standards, community expectations, and…

The literature on stereotyping from a social-cognitive perspective has important implications for the mental health treatment of minority-group members since it suggests that the unavoidable cognitive process of categorization is implicated in intergroup biases and discriminatory behaviors. This study tested for ethnic bias against Hispanic…

These six guides on identifying and assisting the gifted school-age child are specifically addressed to either clinical social workers, school social workers, school counselors, nurses, physicians, and psychologists. Each leaflet examines the role of the target professional in providing assistance to gifted children. For example, the social…

Staff who bring a mental health perspective to the schools can deal with problems of staff burnout. This packet is designed to help in beginning the process of minimizing burnout, a process that requires reducing environmental stressors, increasing personal capabilities, and enhancing job supports. The packet opens with brief discussions of "What…

This book is a companion volume to "Best Practices in School Psychology," and contains both revisions of earlier chapters and chapters on new topics. Materials are organized around the idea that there are some best practices that the school psychologist should know about and be able to implement. The 69 chapters in this book were written by…

Cooperative learning has received a substantial amount of empirical support to indicate it is a viable classroom reward structure. It has been recommended that school psychologists might add this strategy to their repertoire of interventions to be used in consulting with teachers, particularly integrating handicapped students. A structured…

Increased concern about school violence in recent years has been associated with proposed changes in educational public policy. This paper presents the results of a national study that asked NASP members about their personal and professional experiences with school violence. The questionnaire was modeled after instruments created in California for…

Researchers have recently attempted to identify the characteristic behaviors of effective problem solvers. To assist those psychologists who work with teachers to improve student levels of persistence on academic tasks, this paper reviews the current literature on persistence. Persistence, or the amount of effort and time a student is willing to…

School psychologists can play a central role in ensuring that handicapped students are treated fairly in minimum competency testing (MCT). Advocacy concerns include protection in the evaluation process as well as access to graduation and/or a high school diploma. In addition to these rights guaranteed by P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All…

This training module includes a trainer's manual and a participant's manual designed for school psychologists and concerned with the appraisal process for students with suspected handicapping conditions. The instructor's guide presents a script for covering seven major steps in the appraisal process (sample subtopics in parentheses): (1) pre…

An example of how a practitioner can use his research skills to help a school district evaluate one of its projects is described. The practitioner is advised to become involved in "action" research expanding the psychologist's role to that of a consultant to administrators, teachers and parents.

This paper presents an approach to in-service training for teachers, as change agents, which attempts to be relevant to their needs in their environment. (Author)

The most common questions asked by the psychologist who is faced for the first time with assessing a visually handicapped child are answered. (Author)