School Psychology Crossroads in America: Discrepancies between Actual and Preferred Discrete Practices and Barriers to Preferred Practice

A nationally representative sample of American school psychology practitioners were surveyed to analyze discrepancies that they experience between their actual discrete practices and their preferred discrete practices relative to several domains of practice including assessment, intervention, meetings, and continuing education. Discrepancies were also analyzed relative to service delivery in three levels of prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary). Results indicate that practicing school psychologists experience significant discrepancies between actual and preferred practices in all discrete practices, with the largest discrepancies by hours noted in the discrete practices of report writing, prevention screening, CBA/CBM administration, IQ testing, and conducting research. Respondents also indicated a clear preference for participating in significantly more primary-level and secondary-level prevention efforts. Barriers to preferred practices were analyzed with the most commonly reported barriers being time and administrative expectations. Findings are discussed in terms of emerging models of school psychology, including problem-solving and response-to-intervention, and implications for the international practice of school psychology