How are Professors Preparing School Psychology Students to Evaluate Research?

This study examines how school psychology professors are preparing graduate students to evaluate research and seeks their views on problematic assessment and intervention practices. School psychology faculty members’ e-mails were identified based on the National Association of School Psychologists’ (NASP) list of Approved Programs (NASP, 2017) and a total of 127 professors responded. Each participant completed a survey that included 22 Likert scale items and three free listing items. Three research questions were proposed: What percentage of school psychology faculty members are using each of the strategies recommended by Lilienfeld et al. (2012)? What school-based assessment practices do school psychology faculty members identify as the most problematic? What school-based intervention practices do school psychology faculty members identify as the most problematic? The researcher found that the majority of programs are using the recommendations suggested by Lilienfeld and colleagues (2012), although there is room for improvement in the amount of usage for multiple recommendations. School psychology faculty members frequently listed cognitive profile analysis (CPA), projective testing, and inappropriate use of assessments as problematic assessment practices, and inappropriate use of interventions and eclectic counseling as problematic intervention practices. Implications for the use of evidence-based practices (EBP) were provided. Limitations of the study were discussed