Bilingual school psychologists\u27 practices with students with limited English proficiency

The present study investigated bilingual school psychologists\u27 practices with students with limited English proficiency (LEP). Two hundred and forty-five psychologists from the 2000 National Association of School Psychologists (HASP) directory of bilingual school psychologists were asked to complete a survey reporting demographic information, levels and kinds of professional experiences, current assessment and other professional practices, levels of perceived accuracy, and levels and types of training. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic information and assessment instruments used. Point-biserial correlations were used to evaluate the degree of relationship between selected pairs of variables. A series of principle component analysis was also conducted to help identify the meaning and quality of potential latent variables underlying the summative scales. Finally, a series of backward elimination, multiple-regression analyses was conducted to correlate summative scales with demographic variables. Results showed that these bilingual school psychologists had large caseloads, had high levels of training, had been practicing for eleven or more years, used a variety of assessment instruments/procedures in their practices, worked at least half time with children, preferred direct clinical experience as a means of acquiring training, and generally perceived their decisions as highly accurate. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of policy issues, training, practices, and future research