Perceptions of Competencies among School Psychology Trainers and Practitioners: What matters?

Author(s)

Sarah A. Valley-Gray, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Ralph E. Cash, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
C. Spearman
P. Fenning
C. Hazel
A. Harris
C. Riccio
Y. Diaz
S. Grunewald

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Psychology in the Schools

ISSN

0033-3085

Publication Date

2015

Abstract

Increasingly, professional training programs are dealing with the need for competency-based assessments of student learning outcomes. This is particularly challenging in fields such as school psychology, with competencies identified by multiple accrediting bodies and state requirements. The primary goal of this study was to examine the degree to which competencies espoused by differing accrediting bodies are perceived as important among school psychologists. One hundred nineteen participants responded to questions regarding the importance of competencies and foundational knowledge as delineated by the American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists, Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, state boards/departments of education, and best practices in the field. Findings indicated that respondents endorsed most skills as “Very Important” or “Extremely Important,” with slightly less favorable ratings for competencies addressing advocacy and supervision. Factor analysis of the items revealed a three-factor structure labeled teaching/supervision, intervention, and assessment.

DOI

10.1002/pits.21877

Volume

52

Issue

10

NSUWorks Citation

Valley-Gray, S. A., Cash, R. E., Spearman, C., Fenning, P., Hazel, C., Harris, A., Riccio, C., Diaz, Y., Grunewald, S. (2015). Perceptions of Competencies among School Psychology Trainers and Practitioners: What matters?. Psychology in the Schools, 52(10).
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/998