| Abstract: | A randomly selected group of Nationally Certified School Psychologists (NCSPs; n = 817) were mailed the 42‐item School Psychopharmacology Roles and Training Evaluation (SPRTE) which inquired about their caseloads, practice roles as proposed by DuPaul and Carlson ( 2005 ), and prior training in psychopharmacology. A modified Tailored Design Methodology (TDM; Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009 ), involving four mail‐based contacts, was used to yield a 74% survey return rate (n = 607). Of the returned surveys, a 72% (n = 548) usable response rate was obtained and used in the present study. Consistent with prior literature, nearly all (99.6%) school psychologists reported serving at least one student taking psychotropic medication. Primary direct service roles included monitoring behavioral response to psychotropic treatment (28%), monitoring treatment side‐effects (23%), and developing psychotropic treatment goals from direct assessment measures (14%). Primary indirect service roles included providing behavior management consultation to teachers of students taking medication (96%), implementing adjunctive psychosocial supports (87%), and providing assessment data to physicians for diagnostic purposes (84%). Despite differences in established psychopharmacological training standards, actual practice roles and training received did not differ between NCSPs from APA‐accredited programs and those from National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)‐approved programs. Implications for school psychopharmacology practice, training and research are addressed. |
