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The educational psychologist: Facing a new era
Author(s) -
Maggs Alex,
White Ronald
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(19820108)19:1<129::aid-pits2310190123>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - accountability , psychology , quality (philosophy) , pedagogy , work (physics) , special education , mathematics education , medical education , political science , medicine , philosophy , epistemology , law , mechanical engineering , engineering
The once firm divisions between regular and special education are now fading. In many regions, the integration into regular classrooms of formerly extruded atypical students has an accepted and sometimes legally determined future. Much greater responsibility has thus fallen upon the shoulders of the classroom teacher, and when the failure of students to learn is attributed to a failure to teach them effectively, the question of professional accountability becomes poignant indeed. So, too, for the educational psychologist. Assessment, tied to placement, is no longer acceptable as a raison d'etre. His/her primary contribution in an era of integration for special education is towards improving the quality of instruction in regular classrooms and the quality of learning. Activities of educational psychologists, including assessment, research dissemination, programs of evaluation, systems analysis, and work with parents are reconstrued in this paper as contributing to better instruction in better classrooms.