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PERCEPTIONS OF COMPETENCIES AMONG SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TRAINERS AND PRACTITIONERS: WHAT MATTERS?
Author(s) -
Fenning Pamela,
Diaz Yahaira,
ValleyGray Sarah,
Cash Ralph “Gene”,
Spearman Caroline,
Hazel Cynthia E.,
Grunewald Stephanie,
Riccio Cynthia,
Harris Abigail
Publication year - 2015
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/pits.21877
Subject(s) - accreditation , psychology , school psychology , medical education , intervention (counseling) , perception , association (psychology) , pedagogy , applied psychology , medicine , psychiatry , neuroscience , psychotherapist
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.