Defining the Expectations of the Roles and Functions of School Psychologists in the Implementation of the Kansas Quality Performance Accreditation Process

Recent concerns about the significant impact of current educational reforms in Kansas on the nature of school psychology services have surfaced. The present study is intended to provide relevant information to the profession of school psychology concerning the implementation of Kansas educational reform via the Kansas State Board of Education Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA) process. In order to obtain mutually desirable outcomes and to coordinate efforts toward achieving the outcomes, a needs assessment survey was designed to provide data that might be useful for planning and decision making. The needs assessment survey was sent to 46 pilot school districts implementing the QPA process. The survey asked a total of 131 administrators, regular educators, school psychologists, and special services personnel about the perceptions and attitudes surrounding the role of the school psychologist within the QPA process. A rank ordering of all 21 items on the survey questionnaire was examined. Factor analysis determined the presence of two factors in the questionnaire. These factors described constructs relating to a more traditional role of school psychologists and a new school psychology role of preparedness for curriculum based assessment measures. A one-way ANOVA was used to determine if differences in perceived needs existed based on educational role, educational experience, and size of school district. T-tests were used to generate additional information about differences between educational role and curriculum based assessment needs. The data examined from this study suggest that educators continue to perceive more traditional school psychological models as important. Differences existed between regular educators versus school psychologists and special services personnel on perceived curriculum based assessment need. The results of this study provide information concerning the service delivery role of the school psychologist, and the impact of this role