Factor analysis of WISC-R scores for children identified as learning disabled,educable mentally impaired,and emotionally impaired

The WISC-R scores for groups of children identified by school personnel as needing special education services were factor analyzed according to type of classification. WISC-R factor loadings were obtained for the scores of children labeled Learning Disabled, Educable Mentally Impaired, and Emotionally Impaired, as well as groups labeled Other and None. Overall, results show the WISC-R to be factorially similar for all groups, with two principal factors emerging which correspond to the Verbal-Performance structure of the test. Significance tests among mean scale scores and IQ scores yielded few meaningful differences across groups.     

Behavior ratings of emotionally disturbed children by teachers,parents, and school psychologists

Emotional disturbance was rated by teachers, parents, and the school psychologist for a group of 104 children diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed. Teachers were found significantly more severe in their judgments than the school psychologist on the Behavior and Socialization scales of the Referral Checklist, but not on Communication. The teacher rating profile was also found to deviate from parallelness from the other raters with increased severity in the Behavior scale. None of the nine correlations between judges on the same scales was significant. Interpretations and possible implications are offered.     

Examiner scoring of ambiguous WISC-R responses

Fabricated test protocols were used to study how effectively examiners agree in scoring ambiguous WISC-R responses. Clinical and school psychologists (N = 62) and graduate students (N = 48) scored WISC-R Similarities, Comprehension, and Vocabulary responses obtained in a group administration procedure. From over 15,000 responses obtained, only unusual, atypical, or ambiguous responses were selected; 726 responses were scored, with 11 groups of 10 raters each scoring 66 responses. Considerable scoring disagreement occurred. Unanimous agreement (within each group of 10 raters) was found on only 13% of the responses, while 80% of the raters agreed on 44% of the responses. Rates of scoring agreement were not related to level of rater experience, but were related to specific subtests. Higher rates of agreement were found on the Similarities and Comprehension subtests than on the Vocabulary subtest for both experienced and inexperienced raters. The results suggest that even with the improved WISC-R manual, scoring remains a difficult and challenging task.     

The odd couple: Effective public schools/mental health joint programming to provide educational/therapeutic services to emotionally disturbed students and their families

“The Odd Couple…” is a narrative presentation of the successful joint programming efforts of a public school system and community centers for mental health in providing comprehensive educational services to emotionally disturbed students. Problems and resolutions in regard to control, coordination, and philosophy issues are discussed. This article describes a simple yet effective model for cost effective and successful joint programs between non-administratively related agencies.     

A new role for the school psychologists— who needs it?

Educators are expressing concern over the wide and growing gap which they perceive to exist between research and practice in our nation's schools. A review of the literature reveals that this important, long-standing concern is well founded. It is proposed that the school psychologist with his/her specialized training in research theory and methodology and unique role as a practitioner in the school setting is the ideal professional to effect a linking of formal knowledge to educational practice. Presumably, the provision of such a vitally needed function will serve to enhance school psychologists' often less than favorable image with their educator colleagues. A paradigm is offered for effecting research into practice utilizing the school psychologist in the role of knowledge-linker.