\u3ci\u3ePsychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eJournal of Educational and Psychological Consultation\u3c/i\u3e Editors Collaborate to Chart School Psychology’s Past, Present, and “Futures”

For the first time in the history of school psychology, four editors of journals with a school psychology readership are collaborating to offer our field extensive coverage of the recently held School Psychology Futures conference and to continue discussion on a variety of topics relevant to the professional practice of school psychology. This introduction briefly describes the special journal issues that will be or have been offered in Psychology in the Schools (PITS), School Psychology Review (SPR), School Psychology Quarterly (SPQ), and Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation (JEPC)on topics related to the conference. This information is provided in an effort to offer our readers a Futures link across a variety of journals and organizations, including both the Division of School Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). This introduction, which will be reprinted at the beginning of all of our special issues, establishes a context for the Futures conference by discussing the promise (and practice) of school psychology in our ever changing, vibrant, but problem-saturated society. We hope you will join us in using these vital resources to help chart new Futures for school psychology

Conference on the Future of School Psychology

The University of Dayton School Psychology Program recently participated in the 2012 Conference on the Future of School Psychology. This conference provided students and faculty at The University of Dayton the opportunity to participate in a national dialogue on the future of our field. This multi-site conference was jointly sponsored by the National Association of School Psychologists, Division 16 of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Study of School Psychology, the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs, Trainers of School Psychologists, the American Academy of School Psychology, the American Board of School Psychology, and the International School Psychology Association. This conference was a continuation of the work initiated in the 2002 Futures Conference, and the mission of the conference was to better the lives of children. The Futures Conference was designed to facilitate local, state, national, and international connections, to encourage worldwide groups to examine opportunities within their local contexts, and to support development of sustainable action plans

Dynamic School Psychology: Perceptions Between School Psychologists, Teachers, and Administrators on School Psychology and Paradigm Shift Theory

The purpose of this research paper is to gain current perceptions of school psychology services and paradigm shift theory in school psychology by school psychologists, teachers and administrators within public school systems. The paper will focus on the history of school psychology, federal legislation, and IDEA. Surveys were collected from school psychologists, teachers and administrators regarding perceptions of school psychology and paradigm shift theory in school psychology services. Although the results were non-significant, results of the surveys indicate similar results to previous perceptual surveys. While teachers and administrators would like more services in general from school psychologists, school psychologists remained split on actual versus preferred roles or duties

Examining the Relationship Between Racial/Ethnic Minority Students\u27 Learning Experiences and Their Choice of Psychology Specialty: Implications for Minority Recruitment in School Psychology

Racial/ethnic minorities have historically been underrepresented within the profession of school psychology. An increase in minorities within the field of school psychology has been forwarded as a way to improve the service provision to the nation\u27s racial/ethnic minority student population. Unfortunately, trainers within school psychology have struggled to recruit minority graduate students, with the most recent demographic survey of the field suggesting that racial/ethnic minorities comprise 9.3% of school-based practitioners (Curtis, Castillo, & Gelley, 2012). Furthermore, research has indicated that school psychology training programs have also lagged behind counseling and clinical psychology training programs in the recruitment of minority students (Fiegener, 2009). In this current study, a Social Cognitive Career Theory framework was used to identify alterable variables that may impact undergraduate psychology students\u27 choice intention for entering a school psychology training program. Junior and senior undergraduate psychology students were selected for this study due to being a common pool of potential applicants for school, counseling, and clinical psychology training programs. This dissertation was divided into two studies. In the first study, advanced undergraduate psychology students\u27 knowledge, exposure, and perception of field\u27s commitment to diversity (i.e., learning experiences) were compared across choice intention for three professional psychology types (i.e., school, counseling, and clinical psychology). Difference between minority and non-minority students\u27 endorsement of these learning experiences were also assessed. Within the second study, a mediation analysis was conducted in order to examine whether self-efficacy and outcomes expectations mediated the relationship between advanced undergraduate psychology students\u27 learning experiences and choice intentions for school psychology. Results suggest that advanced undergraduate psychology students have less knowledge and exposure to school psychology compared to counseling or clinical psychology. However, no significant difference between school psychology and the two other fields was found for perception of commitment to diversity nor was there a significant difference between minority and non-minority participants\u27 for any of the learning experiences. Furthermore, the relationship between each learning experience (i.e., knowledge, exposure, and commitment to diversity) and choice intention for school psychology was mediated by outcome expectations for attaining a degree in school psychology and self-efficacy for meeting school psychology academic milestones. Implications for diversity recruitment within school psychology are discussed

The Development of School Psychology Assessment Centers as Training, Service Delivery, and Research Sites

School Psychologists have an ongoing responsibility to promote and support healthy schools, families, and communities, while contributing to knowledge, research, teaching, and supervision. Consequently, School Psychology programs should seek to meet these goals by providing their students with opportunities to engage in research and effective service delivery, participate in outreach services, and continued professional development. During Fall of 2013, faculty, students, and personnel of the School Psychology Program at Stephen F. Austin State University successfully developed a School Psychology Assessment Center, which is maintained on the university’s campus. The primary objective of this university-approved Center is the enhancement of service delivery to the on-campus student population and surrounding community and positive impact on training and professional development of masters and doctoral-level School Psychology trainees. This article describes the steps involved in the development and maintenance of School Psychology Assessment Centers

Graduate Preparation of School Psychologists in Serving English Language Learners

The purpose of this study was to examine the training practices of NASP accredited graduate programs in school psychology with regard to best practices in working with English Language Learners (ELLs). Training directors of school psychology programs were surveyed regarding the amount of time and the extent of instruction they provided their school psychology graduate students on the topic of ELLs. School psychology interns were also surveyed regarding both their current knowledge about serving ELLs and their perceived preparedness to serve ELLs. Results indicated that school psychology programs are not adequately preparing graduate students to serve the growing population of ELLs. Faculty members cited time as the largest barrier to increasing their instruction about ELLs, particularly the amount of time that must be devoted to other requirements per state and national standards. Interns rated themselves as feeling less than adequately prepared to serve ELLs effectively, both during their internship and for their future practice. This article also presents implications for school psychology graduate training

The initial development of a measure of cultural competence in school psychology: The Madison Assessment of Cultural Competence in School Psychology (MACCS)

School psychology training programs are under increased pressure to train students in a way that emphasizes cultural competence. However, there is not currently an accepted instrument that can measure the cultural competence of students specific to the discipline of school psychology. The current study proposes and explores several adaptions of a proposed instrument to measure cultural competence in school psychology. Adaptions were selected to address problems observed in collecting similar data in a school psychology program. A first study was unsuccessful due to sampling issues; however, a second study was more successful. A sample was selected to exaggerate training differences that included undergraduate students, school psychology graduate students, and practicing school psychologists. Results suggested that a new set of questions combined with a scenario procedure was very successful at measuring different levels of training in cultural competence. It is recommended that these results be used to develop an instrument that can be used in all school psychology training programs

The Perception and Knowledge of Undergraduate Students about School Psychology

The profession of school psychology has changed significantly over the course of its existence. With more positions available than can be filled and the growing need for colleges and universities to produce new generations of school psychologists, it is important to understand what people know about the field. The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between the current level of knowledge that undergraduate students in West Virginia have about the field and the decision to select school psychology as a profession. Participants completed a true/false questionnaire. Results indicated a significant difference in school psychology knowledge between those students who choose school psychology as a career and those who do not. Results also indicated a significant difference in school psychology knowledge due to the student’s year in school. No significant differences were found for race or gender

ASPECTS OF THE SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIPS

Although extensive research has investigated the role of the supervisory relationship during internship within different fields of psychology, little is known about the nature of the supervisory relationship during the yearlong school psychology internship. The current study investigated the nature of the supervisory relationship in a group of 295 school psychologists, including ratings of working alliance, satisfaction with supervision, and quality of the supervisory relationship, and determined if these constructs could predict of the outcome of willingness to serve as a school psychology supervisor in the future. This study also developed two new measures of satisfaction with supervision that are specific to the field of school psychology. Large positive correlations were found amongst all aspects of the supervisory relationship, and between the two newly developed, school psychology specific measures of supervisory satisfaction with a widely used measure of supervisory satisfaction initially developed for use in the field of clinical psychology. Supervisory satisfaction was higher when all ten domains of school psychology practice were addressed in supervision. Results also suggested a small negative relationship between aspects of the supervisory relationship and future willingness to supervise an intern. Strengths, limitations, and implications for the practice of school psychology are discussed

Undergraduate Knowledge of School Psychology and the Effects of Presentation on Graduate and Career Pursuit

With the increasing national demand for credentialed school psychologists, it is essential that every effort be made to recruit qualified individuals into the field of school psychology. This paper describes the important role and function of the school psychologist. Research demonstrating the present and future need for school psychological services is presented. Literature investigating several factors that contribute to the gap between supply and demand is reviewed. An intervention is presented based on the recommendations of the reviewed research. A brief informational presentation on school psychology, in conjunction with distributed materials about the profession, was assessed with a retrospective pretest-posttest design. The intervention was shown to increase undergraduates\u27 knowledge of school psychological service, the amount of information they had on school psychology as a potential career choice, and the amount of information they had on graduate training in school psychology. The intervention also significantly increased the number of students considering graduate training in school psychology. The majority of the students indicated that they planned on seeking more information about school psychology. The intervention was deemed relevant, interesting, and informative by the participants