Education Commons^™

A Review Of Traumatic Brain Injury In School Psychology Journals, Casey Gillispie

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

TBI is the leading cause of childhood injury, death, and disability. School psychologists play a key role in providing students with TBI services within the school setting; therefore, it is essential for school psychologists to be familiar with TBI research. Previous research indicates a lack of TBI literature within school psychology journals. The current review examined TBI publications in school psychology journals over the past 38 years to provide an update on issues raised by Smith and Canto (2015). Eight school psychology journals were examined to gather data about the frequency of articles related to TBI, types of TBI articles, …

A Survey Of School Psychologists To Promote Support For Developing Self-Advocacy Skills In Students With Disabilities, Kiarra K. Steer

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Self-advocacy is a critical skill for effective communication and for individual assertion of interests, needs, and rights (Hengen & Weaver, 2018). It is especially important for people with disabilities to be able to self-advocate, which includes understanding their own abilities and rights and being able to voice when they need assistance or when their rights are being violated (Hengen & Weaver, 2018).

Even though self-advocacy has been determined to be a necessary skill for students with disabilities to develop, research indicates that self-advocacy instruction is often not provided to students with disabilities. Furthermore, while researchers have shown that teaching students …

An Exploration Of Ethically Challenging Situations Experienced By School Psychologists And Related Outcomes Associated With Those Experiences-A Mixed Methods Study, Janice Pietrowicz

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This mixed-methods study followed an exploratory sequential methodology to study pressures placed upon school psychologists to engage in unethical practices and the outcomes associated with those experiences. The participants, 27 school psychologists from Pennsylvania, completed a questionnaire focused on the pressure to engage in unethical practices and related outcomes. Ten of those participants were selected for an interview that focused on administrative pressure related to the Social Justice Theory. Findings show that pressure to engage in unethical practice continues to be a problem in the field of school psychology and that school psychologists experience repercussions as a result of advocating …

School Psychologists’ Current Practice, Training, And Interest In The Integration Of Substance Abuse Training As Part Of The Mental Health Profession, Margaret Dassira

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Adolescents’ suffering from substance abuse may also be experiencing academic, social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Substance abuse problems are difficult to address in schools due to barriers related to confidentiality, implementation, and resources. School personnel may also lack necessary experience or training to adequately provide these services to students’ suffering from substance abuse. School-based intervention programs have shown to be effective in helping to identify and support students with substance abuse issues (Mitchell et al., 2012; Winters et al., 2012). With both evidence-based intervention practices and competent mental health professionals, students experiencing substance abuse problems may receive needed services and …

School Psychologists' Knowledge Of Adolescent Suicide Myths, Jaime Leigh Savoie

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Suicide is a significant public health problem in the United States and is currently the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10-24. Due to the seriousness and pervasiveness of the problem of youth suicide, schools are being asked to take a prominent role in its prevention. School psychologists are one of the mental health professionals within schools that have an important role in school-based suicide prevention and intervention. However, there are many barriers to school-based suicide prevention, with myths about suicide being one of the most dangerous and significant barrier. The goal of the current study was to …

Current Status Of Rti Implementation : Influences On School Psychologists' Service Delivery And Self-Efficacy, Elizabeth Sabourin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a prevention-oriented approach to helping all students succeed academically. It is a framework that, when applied properly, influences all decision-making within a school building and/or district. Currently, most American school districts report using an RtI framework. Specifics regarding implementation, however, are unknown at this time. Given that RtI is a systems-wide approach which is philosophically disparate from traditional ways of viewing students struggling academically, it has the potential to shift traditional school psychological roles. Our knowledge regarding the degree to which RtI has changed school psychologists’ practices is incomplete at this time. Additionally, there is …

Pre -Service School Psychologists' Racial And Weight-Related Biases And The Relationship That Taking Diversity Courses Has On These Biases, Shaerica Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Past research has shown that racial and weight-related biases are present in school settings and can have a negative impact on students. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of racial and weight-related biases upon judgments that school psychology graduate students make about Black and overweight students who were having problems in school. The problematic behaviors exhibited by the student in the case study were based on symptoms often seen in children with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We also examined the extent to which implicit and/or explicit attitudes moderated the degree of school psychology graduate students' attributions of …

School Psychologists' Early Numeracy Training And Practices, Jia Liu-Trofimovsky

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An emergent area of research pertains to early numeracy, or number sense. Early numeracy plays a significant role in the development of mathematics skills, and researchers have recognized its importance for overall academic achievement. This study surveyed practicing school psychologists to investigate current early numeracy training and practices. A nationwide sample of 279 school psychologists completed a Web-based survey modeled after the available early numeracy research. The majority of individuals reported receiving at least one professional development training for academic concerns per year. A larger number of participants had training for reading and early literacy compared to early numeracy. Related …

School Psychologists' Awareness, Involvement, And Perceptions In Servicing Gifted Learners, Monica Pires

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

School psychologists are comprehensive service providers asked to help with all students in assessing their needs, providing intervention strategies, and consulting with others. However, the role of school psychologists in gifted education is unclear, as more attention is given to students perceived to be disadvantaged. This underserved population experiences a wide-range of challenges that can be assisted by school psychologists (Brown, 1982; E.L. Robinson, 2002). To date, there has been no study to investigate school psychologists' awareness, perceptions, and involvement in gifted education. This study assessed potential service delivery differences in gifted education, examined current practices and awareness of related …

Assessing Intern Impact Factors For Program Evaluation And Improvement, John Brady, Randy T. Busse, Jeanne Anne Carriere, Michael Hass, Kelly S. Kennedy

Education Faculty Articles and Research

We present the results of a program evaluation system for examining school psychology interns' impact on the academic and behavioral functioning of children. Outcome data from a variety of single-case problem-solving interventions conducted from 2008-2012 indicated overall moderate, positive effects. Global supervisor ratings indicated strong perceptions of the interns' positive impact on the children they served.

School Psychologists' Self-Perceptions Of Multicultural Competence: The Relevance Of Experience And Training, Jacquelyn B. Wright, Kevin J. Filter, Julene Douty Nolan, Sarah K. Sifers

Psychology Department Publications

A national survey of 216 school psychologists' perceptions of multicultural competence indicated that multicultural competence significantly increases as a function of hours of training and frequency of experience working with individuals from cultures different from their own. Results are discussed in the context of measurement limitations for multicultural competence and implications for trainers of school psychologists.

Recent School Psychology Graduates : A Preliminary Survey Of Their Internship Experience, Satisfaction, And Support, Colleen Renee Klee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The internship in school psychology acts as a bridge between graduate training and practice. Students spend several semesters engaged in classroom learning and field training experiences prior to beginning the internship. In the United Sates, school psychology training is regulated by agencies such as state departments of education and national professional organizations, with many similar training components across programs. Internships vary widely based on characteristics such as the setting, amount of supervision and support provided, and activities in which the intern engages. At this time, there are no current data which describe individuals' satisfaction with their internship experiences. This study …

Consultation In The School Psychology Literature: Has The Field Moved Beyond The Three Traditional Models?, Michelle L. Seibert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Consultation is a crucial role for school psychology practitioners. Psychologists routinely use consultation within the schools and actually wish they could spend more of their work hours on this activity. However, when authors write about consultation in the school psychology literature, they use numerous terms and phrases, which cause confusion as to what models of consultation are prominent in the field. The focus of the current study is to examine the articles that mention consultation in School Psychology Review (Digest) in order to determine whether the three traditional models (behavioral, mental health, and organizational consultation) are still prominent in consultation …

Utah School Psychologists: Self-Reported Reasons For Retention And Job Satisfaction, Lisa A. Dickison

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the level of job satisfaction reported by Utah school psychologists and their reasons for staying in their profession. An existing survey was modified and distributed to 119 of the 238 licensed school psychologists in Utah to obtain information on this topic. Sixty-nine school psychologists completed and returned the questionnaire (58% return rate). Based on their feedback, the top five reasons Utah school psychologists stay in their profession were (a) feeling the success and joy of helping students, (b) counseling with students, (c) working one-on-one with students, (d) taking vacation time during summers and holidays, and (e) …

Bibliotherapy: School Psychologists' Report Of Use And Efficacy, Marci A. Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the use of bibliotherapy by school psychologists. A survey was created and distributed to 119 registered and licensed school psychologists in Utah to obtain information on this topic. Forty-one percent returned a completed survey. Results indicated that bibliotherapy is used by 82% of the participants in the study, and 31 of 34 (91%) use bibliotherapy with children grades K-6. Topics most used with bibliotherapy included self-esteem, bullying, divorce, anxiety, and grief. Efficacy varied depending on the topic of bibliotherapy. However, school psychologists regarded bibliotherapy across all topics to be very effective to effective.

School Psychologists' Perceived Concerns Regarding Crisis Intervention With Diverse Populations, Ana E. Kemple

Theses and Dissertations

With the ever-increasing diversity among students in the United States, American schools are seeing more of a mismatch between school personnel and students. Service provision has traditionally addressed multicultural competencies in the area of assessment and more recently in counseling procedures. With the increased attention given to school-related crises, the role of school psychologists has expanded to include crisis intervention. The current study will present information on the need for multicultural competencies in crisis intervention and assess the current concerns of nationally certified school psychologists in this area of service provision. Responses from a random sample of school psychologists (n= …