From traditional to reform: Exploring the involvement of school psychologists in the provision of educator professional learning.

摘要

School Psychologists may be well-suited to provide Professional Learning (PL) to assist schools in meeting legislative demands to increase student standards, to respond to demands for teacher accountability, and to meet the needs of a diversifying student population. School psychologists possess a depth and breadth of valuable knowledge and skills; and, certain aspects of the school psychologist role (e.g., flexibility in service delivery and scheduling) may enable them to invest time into PL and reap the potential benefits of a broader scope of impact and a focus on prevention. Little is known about the current PL practices of school psychologists due to a lack of research in this area. This research study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the perceptions and practices of school psychologists as they relate to the provision PL as an indirect service approach to capacity building within schools. In addition, the research identifies situational and personal variables that might contribute to the likelihood of engaging in PL as a service. Finally, motivations for providing PL and levels of satisfaction derived from the provision of PL are explored. These factors were investigated through survey research methodology. The survey method for this study consisted of a three stage recursive process in which earlier stages informed necessary modifications to later stages based on participant feedback. First, exploratory interviews informed the construction of an initial survey measure. The measure was piloted with two consecutive groups and amended each time in order to assist with clarification. The final survey measure was sent to a stratified, random, national sample of practicing school psychologists. Descriptive statistics were used to describe PL practices, the personal and situational variables under investigation, motivations for providing PL and satisfaction derived from PL delivery. Inferential statistics were used to investigate relationships between selected personal and situational variables and PL delivery.