A Practical Guide to Building Professional Competencies in School Psychology

by Lionetti, Timothy M.; Snyder, Edward P.; Christner, Ray W.

• ISBN13: 9781441962553
• ISBN10: 1441962557
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-05
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

The field of school psychology has been noted to be one the fastest-growing professions (Curtis, Grier, & Hunley, 2004), in part, because of the increasing demands placed on school psychologists, and education, in general, to help meet the academic and mental health needs of children, adolescents, and families. Moreover, some researchers have demonstrated that even if no "need growth" occurs in the field of school psychology, a shortage of practicing school psychologists is likely because of retirements within the field (Curtis et al.). Curtis and colleagues further noted that between now and the year 2020, nearly 67% of the current field will retire.Because of the need growth and growth resulting from attrition (e.g., retirements, those leaving the field), many graduate students will be entering training programs and numerous new professionals will be entering the field. To date, however, many of the introductory texts intended to attract young professionals to the field focus instead on theoretical and historical aspects of school psychology, which may not be seen as relevant to budding school psychologists. Although we recognize the importance of both theory and history, we also realize this information is well documented in other volumes (see Fagan & Wise, 2002), and we see history and theory as an integral component to practice, not as a subject requiring the memorization of names and facts. In addition, several texts describe the roles and functions of school psychologists and include chapters discussing school district structure and the fit of school psychologists within the system. Our experience, however, has found those entering the field of school psychology do so because of a passion to help children, adolescents, families, and to aid schools in providing the services needed for students to be successful, not because of the historical references or the discrete role of the school psychologist. For these reasons, it is imperative for the field to have an introductory text that excites and attracts young professionals to the field as well as goes beyond the necessary history by discussing the role diversification and demonstrates an understanding of the special role school psychologists have in the lives of students, families, and schools.Current practice is for trainers to use the aforementioned historical texts or those that discuss only empirically derived information to train graduate students. Practitioners also use these volumes to enhance their practice. Unfortunately, our experience has been that texts like these often fall short in encouraging individuals to pursue the profession or in aiding both students and practitioners to transfer knowledge into practice. The idea of making a connection between research and practice within the field has been discussed for several years (Weisz, Donenberg, Han, & Weis, 1995). Dr. Susan Sheridan (2001) during her tenure as editor of School Psychology Review highlighted that "science and practice are linked" (p. 3). Although most, if not all, professionals in school psychology would agree with this, many of the mediums for which students and young professional receive this information are at a level that is intimidating (e.g., written technically) or that is "less than exciting." As we grow professionally, our interest in and understanding of research does so as well; however, this is not the case for young professionals. Without current resources for students and new professionals that provide them with current trends and practices within the field, they are less likely to choose or maintain a career path in school psychology.As a result of the renewed focus on improving the use of evidence-based interventions in schools, coupled with an opportunity to educate students and young professionals about ongoing developments in the field of school psychology, the need for a new kind of text became apparent. It is the editors’ intent to assemble an introductory textbo