Handbook of psychology volume 7 educational psychology

448

School Psychology

these new roles (Ikeda et al., 1996; Reschly et al., 1999; Tilly

et al., 1999), but the vast majority of school psychologists are

not well prepared for alternative roles that place less empha-

sis on assessment of intellectual functioning. Acquiring those

skills and embedding them firmly in continuing education

and graduate programs constitutes one of the greatest chal-

lenges to the school psychology profession.

Empirically Supported Treatments-Interventions

The empirically supported treatments-interventions move-

ment has multiple roots. In medicine and professional psy-

chology, it is prompted by the policies of managed care

health insurance companies that restrict reimbursements to

physicians, psychologists, and others to treatments that have

been proven effective with specific kinds of problems and pa-

tients (Benedict & Phelps, 1998; Phelps et al., 1998). In edu-

cation, empirically supported interventions are prompted

more by the accountability movement that can be traced to

the mid-1980s and continues with increasing force today. The

educational accountability standards-based reform proce-

dures are increasingly applied to SWD and special education

programs. Questions are raised regarding the specific contri-

bution of school psychology and special education to im-

proving academic achievement, increasing the safety of

schools, improving dropout and graduation rates, and over-

coming at-risk conditions. It no longer is sufficient to simply

assume that description of problems and careful conformance

to legal guidelines in assessment and placement decisions is

sufficient. The further requirement that positive results are

demonstrated places significant pressure toward a problem-

solving approach and the implementation of empirically sup-

ported interventions.

Many traditional practices in school psychology are not

empirically validated in terms of a direct relationship to posi-

tive outcomes for children and youth. In fairness to traditional

methods, most of these practices were never designed to have

a direct relationship to interventions. For example, the most

widely used measure in school psychology—one of the

Wechsler ability scales—has little relationship to the design

of interventions or the assessment of intervention effects

(Gresham & Witt, 1997; Reschly, 1997). The Wechsler scales

are useful for classification of children and youth using tradi-

tional classification definitions and criteria such as MR and

SLD. The use of these categories likely will change in order

to improve the delivery of effective services to children and

youth.

There are several well-established problem-solving ap-

proaches (e.g., Bergan & Kratochwill, 1990; Fuchs & Fuchs,

1989; Tilly, 2002; Upah & Tilly, 2002). The best of these

approaches involve a systematic, data-based series of stages

that include behavioral definition of the problem(s), collec-

tion of baseline data, establishment of goals, analysis of

conditions (including prior knowledge), selection of an ex-

perimentally validated intervention and development of a be-

havior intervention plan, progress monitoring with formative

evaluation (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986), assessment of treatment

fidelity, and evaluation of outcomes. These problem-solving

approaches require a different set of competencies from those

stressed in many school psychology graduate programs and

continuing education events. Competencies are needed in

direct assessment of skills and social behaviors in natural

settings, knowledge of empirically validated academic and

behavioral interventions, applied behavior analysis, and

consultation methods. Providing those competencies in the

future will challenge school psychology faculty and practi-

tioners for many years into the future.

Personnel Needs

School psychology personnel needs are intense. A sufficient

supply of appropriately trained school psychologists has been

a problem for many years, and it appears that the problem is

increasing due to a number of factors (Lund et al., 1998). In

1998–1999, over 1,000 of the 26,000 school psychologists

employed in U.S. public schools were not fully certified or li-

censed by the state in which they were employed. The num-

ber of unfilled vacancies as well as the employment of

persons on temporary certificates or licenses appears to have

increased in recent years. School psychology employment is

affected by economic conditions, with expansion of employ-

ment in periods of economic growth and stable or slightly de-

clining employment in recession periods (Lund et al., 1998).

When this chapter was written, the United States had been in

a recession for about 6 months. It is likely that school psy-

chology employment will stabilize over the next few years,

decreasing the number of unfilled vacancies and the employ-

ment of persons with temporary certificates or licenses. 

Current and future shortages of school psychologists may

be aggravated by the effects of the retirements of school psy-

chologists who entered the field in the 1960s, 1970s, and

1980s. As noted earlier, the average age of school psychology

practitioners grew significantly during the 1990s. Profes-

sional employees in public schools generally retire at an age

younger than that of other professionals due at least in part to

plans that permit early retirement when a criterion is met that

combines age and years of experience (e.g., 90 years). For

example, a 60-year-old school psychologist who has worked

for 30 years is eligible in many states for full retirement

benefits.

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449

The shortages of appropriately prepared school psycholo-

gists experienced throughout the 1990s are likely to continue

well into the next century barring significant changes in one

or more of the factors that affect the supply and demand for

school psychologists. The supply of new school psycholo-

gists from graduate programs has remained stable for about

20 years. The number of programs in institutions of higher

education has not changed in that same time period, and it is

not likely that a substantial number of new graduate pro-

grams will be established in the future. Personnel from other

fields of professional psychology in which employment

conditions are not as positive—particularly from clinical

psychology—may augment sources of school psychology

personnel. Programs to retrain clinical as school psycholo-

gists have been discussed, and a few are offered by universi-

ties with doctoral programs. 

School psychology supply and demand phenomena are

not understood completely. More information is needed on

school psychology career choices, attrition, and retirement,

as well as demand characteristics such as the impact of state

and federal legal requirements, expansion of services to new

populations, and alternative delivery systems (Fagan, 1995).

The current situation suggests strong demand for school

psychologists through the next decade. Factors that might

change this picture are significant changes in economic con-

ditions that produce more stringent school budgets or sub-

stantial changes in legal requirements reducing the need for

the services of school psychologists.

Demands for Mental Health Services

There is increasing recognition of the strong need for im-

proved comprehensive health services for many children and

youth, particularly those at risk (U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services, 2001). Comprehensive services deliv-

ered at a single site such as a public school have been devel-

oped in a few settings, and many more places need these

services (Adelman & Taylor, 1993, 2000). Discussions of

how comprehensive services might be delivered in schools

have appeared in the literatures of clinical and school psy-

chology (Adelman & Taylor, 1993, 2000; Carlson, Tharinger,

Bricklin, Demers, & Paavola, 1996; Christenson & Conoley,

1992; Cowen & Lorion, 1976; Henggeler, 1995; Nastasi,

2000; Sheridan & Gutkin, 2000).

The principal barriers to expansion of wraparound ser-

vices in schools are funding and reliable evidence that such

services are indeed cost-effective. The funding problems

associated with health and mental health services are well

known and need no further discussion here. Bickman’s

(1997) controversial evaluation of comprehensive mental

health services undermined the usual assumption that more

of whatever service is provided by a professional association

is better. In fact, more services and more comprehensive ser-

vices do not necessarily lead to better outcomes—leading

this discussion back again to the matter of empirically vali-

dated treatments. Questions still remain about the nature of

these services and their costs and benefits. There are, how-

ever, a number of interventions that are effective in prevent-

ing later, more costly problems, and these interventions are

cost-effective (Shinn et al., 2002). A major challenge to

school psychology is developing expertise in these interven-

tions and delivering them in cost-effective ways—perhaps as

a replacement for part of the traditional role of special educa-

tion eligibility evaluations and placements.

SUMMARY

School psychology’s roots are long-standing and deep in

American psychology. Educational psychology remains a

fundamental part of those roots, and the current organization

of school psychology programs usually enhances the inter-

section of school and educational psychology. School psy-

chology has flourished over the last 25 years, in large part due

to the legal guarantees of the educational rights of students

with disabilities. These legal guarantees created the condi-

tions for the rapid expansion of school psychology employ-

ment and the high demand for school psychology graduate

programs. Changes are underway that likely will change

school psychology from a heavy investment in the use of

standardized tests to determine eligibility for special educa-

tion disability classification and placement to greater reliance

on problem solving, direct measures of performance over rel-

evant domains of behavior, and implementation of experi-

mentally validated interventions for problems in academic

achievement, social behavior, and emotional regulation.

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