| Abstract: | In 1984, the National School Psychology Inservice Training Network (NSPITN) published School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice (Blueprint I), which recognized that America's public schools were troubled and focused on how school psychology could help with a transformation; the role of school psychologists was divided into 16 practice domains. In 1997, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) published a successor, School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice II (Blueprint II), which credits the first edition with having “driven much of the progress in school psychology.” To better understand the impact of the Blueprint I, this study analyzes responses from Nebraska and Iowa school psychologists about it, finding that doctoral-level respondents believed that they were more competently trained than subdoctoral school psychologists in the research domain; quality of training was rated higher by respondents receiving degrees after 1984 in class management, classroom organization and social structures, interpersonal communication and consultation, legal/ethical and professional issues, multicultural concerns, parental involvement, research, and systems development and planning. Analyses revealed numerous areas of congruence and dissonance between training and practice. Respondents reported a preference to decrease the amount of time spent in assessment and increase the time spent in all other domains (except basic academic skills). The relevance to the Blueprint II and the implications for school psychology training and practices are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
