Men in academic school psychology: A national survey

There is a paucity of research examining the experiences and perceptions of men employed as school psychology academicians. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain male school psychology academicians' perceptions of their respective academic climates, levels of support, incidences of harassment, and levels of stress, and to compare these results with a previous survey conducted with women in similar positions. A total of 146 male school psychology academicians (41% response rate) completed the 48‐item survey entitled, “Men in School Psychology: Academia Questionnaire.'' The findings suggested that men were more likely than women to indicate that climate and opportunities within their department were equal, whereas women indicated that the climate and opportunities tend to favor men. When men indicated that inequalities exist, they reported believing that women were favored. Results are discussed in terms of implications for faculty in school psychology. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Contemporary practices in school psychology: A national survey of roles and referral problems

Eight hundred school psychologists who were members of the National Association of School Psychologists were mailed a survey designed to assess their roles, types of referrals, consultation practices, and crisis team involvement. Three hundred seventy (49%) completed surveys were analyzed. Assessment was the most common role followed distantly by consultation. Academic problems were the most frequent type of referral with reading being the most common concern. Of the behavioral referrals, externalizing problems were more frequent than internalizing concerns. Behavioral consultation was the most common model used but less than half of respondents follow all of the stages. Only forty percent use an evaluative component in consultation. A majority of the informants had some involvement with their schools' crisis team. Implications of these findings for training, professional development, and future roles are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A national survey investigating consultation training occurring in school psychology programs

The 203 school psychology training programs in the United States were surveyed regarding their approaches to consultation training, and responses were obtained from 60% of these programs. Forty percent of the programs offer at least one course devoted solely to consultation, while 60% do not offer such a course; more of the doctoral programs responding offer consultation training than do the nondoctoral programs; and practicum experience is considered an important aspect of consultation training. It is concluded that a greater emphasis on consultation training may help to promote implementation of this role.     

The impact of PL 94-142 on the practice of school psychology: A national survey

This paper presents the results of a national survey of school psychologists to determine the impact of PL 94-142 on the role of the school psychologist. Data were based on responses to 856 surveys by practicing school psychologists who were selected randomly from the NASP membership list during 1979-80. The results suggested that this legislation has had remarkably little impact on the evaluation procedures used or on the school psychologist's role. The two clear changes that have occurred may have negative implications for psychological services (e.g., an increased focus on handicapped children and increased paperwork). It was found that many school psychologists are involved in evaluation, but do not have time to be involved in the IEP process, or to provide follow-up consultation, or direct intervention for prevention and/or therapeutic purposes. This problem was exacerbated in districts that had ratios of greater than 1,000 to 1. Despite these problems, many respondents view the legislation in positive terms, and feel it has helped to enlarge the scope of practice.     

Daily activities of school psychologists: A national survey

A national survey of 335 school psychologists, asking them to record their activities on a specific school day, found that assessment activities comprised nearly 40% of the work time, and consultative activities another one-third of the day. Data were collected on a number of other work activities, as well as characteristics of the respondents: age, ethnic status, graduate degrees held, languages spoken, and characteristics of district served.     

Serving the gifted: A national survey of school psychologists

Gifted students are among the most underserved population in American schools and are some of the most underperforming in the world, ranking last in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra, and Geometry among 13 other developed countries. To improve services for the gifted, possible gaps in training and service delivery must be identified. There is a lack of research addressing many of the practical aspects of the delivery of services to the gifted. There is also a lack of research examining how well school psychologists are prepared to provide services to gifted and talented students. We conducted a national survey of school psychologists to evaluate the amount of time school psychologists allocate for gifted assessment and consultation. We also collected information about graduate school and professional development on gifted topics, familiarity with prominent figures in the gifted field, and gifted assessment methods. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A national survey of burnout among school psychologists

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlates of burnout in a national sample of school psychologists. A stress questionnaire, demographic information sheet, and Maslach Burnout Inventory were mailed to 600 randomly selected members of the National Association of School Psychologists. A total of 234 practitioners comprised the final sample. The results indicated that burnout was related to demographic (e.g., age), environmental (e.g., role definitions), and professional activity (e.g., role diversity) variables. Implications for the field of school psychology and future research are discussed.     

西藏地区中学教师职业满意度调查

为了考察西藏中学教师职业满意度的基本情况及发展特点,本研究以"教师工作满意量表"为研究工具对西藏地区209名中学教师进行调查。研究结果表明:西藏中学教师职业满意度水平并不高;西藏地区中学教师职业满意度存在性别差异显著;教师职业满意度随着他们年龄的增长表现出先增长,后下降,然后再增长的发展趋势,即"U"型曲线的趋势;工作年龄为7-9年的教师职业满意度总体较低;性别、年龄、教龄等因素影响西藏中学教师的职业满意度。     

Assistant principals in high-stakes accountability environments: The effects of job attributes and school characteristics

This study addressed the topic of job specifications and school characteristics since there is a shortage of quality AP applicants in high-stakes accountability environments. It is important to learn about allocation of duties from educational administrators with on-the-job experience as well as to learn why current APs would consider applying for other AP positions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of job attributes (instruction, discipline), school level (elementary, middle, high), and school achievement (in-need-of-assistance, progressing, meets goal) on applicant’s rating of an AP position. This research study used an experimental design. A main effect for job attributes indicated that instruction was significantly higher than discipline when attracting assistant principals. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

A national survey of current supervision and evaluation practices of school psychologists

This paper presents findings from a national survey of school psychologists regarding current supervision and evaluation practices. Thirty‐seven percent of usable surveys were returned. Overall results suggested that the sample of school psychologists were somewhat to moderately satisfied with current supervision and evaluation practices. However, wide variation in how supervision, evaluation, and professional development are obtained was indicated. The evaluation process is most often conducted by an administrator who may not be familiar with school psychology; and it is not viewed as an opportunity for professional development. In addition, evaluation criteria often are not tailored specifically to the roles of the school psychologist. Most alarming, and consistent with previous research, is that many school psychologists do not have enough supervision available to meet either their wishes or standards for the profession. Higher satisfaction with supervision was found when participants were provided with more regular and formal supervision contacts. Participants also indicated a person knowledgeable about school psychology could best provide supervision. Implications of the results and future directions are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Including fathers in school psychology literature: A review of four school psychology journals

It is well documented that fathers have a significant influence on their children's success in school. To examine the ways in which fathers have been represented in school psychology literature, the authors searched over 1,000 recent articles published in four leading U.S. school psychology journals (Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, and the Journal of School Psychology) for content on fathers. Fathers were included substantially in nine articles and were the primary focus of only one other article. Reasons for the lack of information on fathers and suggestions for increasing the focus on fathers in school psychology literature are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 575–580, 2004.     

Teaching writing to middle school students: a national survey

A random sample of language arts, social studies, and science middle school teachers from the United States were surveyed about their preparation to teach writing, beliefs about responsibilities for teaching writing, use of evidence-based writing practices, assessment of writing, use of technology, and adaptations for struggling writers. The findings from this survey raised concerns about the quality of middle school writing instruction. Many teachers believed their preservice and inservice preparation to teach writing was inadequate. Middle school students spend little time writing or being taught how to write. While most teachers used a variety of evidenced-based writing practices and made adaptations for struggling writers, such methods were applied infrequently. Most teachers did not appear to use assessment data to shape how they taught writing, and computers played a relatively minor role in middle school writing instruction. Even though teachers generally agreed that writing was a collective responsibility, language arts teachers placed a greater emphasis on writing instruction than social studies and science teachers.     

Directing an APA-approved school psychology program: Reasons,responsibilities, benefits

Directors of American Psychological Association (APA)-approved school psychology programs were surveyed to determine what responsibilities and benefits attend their role as training director; they also were asked to identify what they liked about serving in the training director role. Of 42 possible respondents, 33 (79%) returned usable questionnaires. Several responsibilities that all or virtually all of the training directors engaged in were identified (e.g., end-of-year APA report preparation); many respondents (61%) received release time from a class, but otherwise any benefits they received were few; and several important, motivating reasons (e.g., contributing to the future of school psychology) for functioning as a training director were identified. The implications of these findings for school psychology programs are briefly discussed.     

A USA national survey of program services provided by child advocacy centers

OBJECTIVE: Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) are designed to improve the community collaborative response to child sexual abuse and the criminal justice processing of child sexual abuse cases. CACs, in existence for 16 years, now have standards for membership developed by the National Children's Alliance (NCA) that include nine core components. And yet no systematic examination of the CAC model exists. The purpose of this paper was to assess the variations within these core components as they exist in the field. METHOD: Using a stratified random sampling design, 117 CAC directors were interviewed using a semi-structured interview that was based on the NCA's standards for membership. The eight core components of the CAC model examined in this study include: a child-friendly facility, a multidisciplinary team, an investigative child interview, a medical examination of the child, provision of mental health services, victim advocacy, case review, and case tracking. RESULTS: Results reveal the CAC model has been widely adopted by both member and nonmember centers, although variations in implementation exist. CONCLUSIONS: Future developments in the CAC model must include evaluation of the model.     

A profile of applicants to a leading engineering school

This study, the third in a series centred on engineering and science students in Israel, deals with applicants to the Technion engineering school. In an attempt to discover the differences between those admitted and rejected, the matriculation and entrance examination grades of over 3,500 students were analysed together with biographical and socio-economic data collected by means of questionnaires and verified by chi-square analysis. Selected results are presented and discussed in terms of overall differences, subject differences and academic variables (place of birth, ethnic profile, socio-economic profile, educational background and the time when the decision to study at the Technion was first made). Three tables are given.     

地方院校心理学专业学生职业选择倾向调查分析

心理学专业毕业生可从业的领域比较广,而且职业的差异性大。对学生的职业选择倾向进行调查,加强学生专业素质和专业技能的培养,有利于提高学生的职业胜任力,增强学生的社会适应性。