Results suggested two relatively divergent views expressed by practitioners. The first was the stated belief that school psychology will become much more closely tied to the field of special education, while the alternative opinion was that the field will remain as diverse as the systems it serves. (Author)

Describes factors that may bias psychoeducational decision making and discusses three heuristic principles that affect decision making. Discusses means by which school psychologists can be made aware of these heuristic principles and encouraged to consider them when making psychoeducational decisions. Also discusses methods by which bias in…

Evaluated the technical aspects of three Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) administrations of five psychology graduate students using the WISC-R Administration Observational Checklist (WAOC) to evaluate interrater agreement. Students performed significantly better on the second than on the first observation, with…

This study was undertaken to investigate the ability of measures of diagnostic data usage to differentiate among groups of successfully trained and experienced school psychologists. (Author)

Surveyed school psychologists (N=856) to determine the impact of PL 94-142. The results suggested that this legislation has had remarkably little impact on the evaluation procedures used or on the school psychologist's role. Two clear changes may have negative implications (e.g., an increased focus on handicapped children and increased paperwork).…

Although federal law has provided guidelines for autism eligibility for special education, school-based autism assessment and eligibility vary widely across states and identification continues to lag behind national prevalence data. The main role of the school psychologist continues to be conducting evaluations for special education eligibility,…

The purpose of this article is to explore the intersectionality of autism and sociocultural factors as well as discuss the complexities associated with appropriate assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. Based on a review of the literature, the authors present a brief history of the emergence of the term autism and highlight factors that have…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often diagnosed by clinical practitioners with criteria from the American Psychiatric Association, but an educational diagnosis is usually based on state special education law and is geared towards addressing concerns within schools. The current study aims to examine the extent to which the clinical diagnosis of…

Difficulty learning to read presents many struggles for children and their families, and evaluation of parental perspectives of the dyslexia assessment process within the United States represents an under-researched area. This study sought to investigate how parental perspectives change during their child's dyslexia assessment. Six hundred one…

While implementation efforts using a Response to Intervention (RtI) model to increase reading instruction are becoming widely used, more administrators and teachers are looking to learn effective RtI practices to support learning in mathematics. This article explores some of the key elements of RtI practices in mathematics, including screening for…

Examined how emerging body of knowledge regarding nature, prevalence, assessment, and treatment of childhood depression compares with perceptions and practices of school psychologists. Identified need for school psychologists to define concept of childhood depression. Advocates use of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third…

Tested preassessment screening procedure to evaluate sensory-motor and perceptual encoding processes of children referred for psychoeducational assessment. Compared assessment procedures and outcomes for 18 children screened for encoding deficits and for 23 children whose psychoeducational evalution did not include screening. Results demonstrated…

Asked 118 teachers of learning disabled (LD) students to describe their school districts' criteria for identifying LD students and indicate their agreement or disagreement with the criteria. Reported criteria were characterized by variability, even within states, as were the teachers' state agreement or disagreement with them. (Author/JAC)

Analyzed WISC-R profiles along a three-factor approach for purposes of differential diagnosis. Profiles of 278 school-verified learning disabled children were compared to those of Educable Mentally Impaired (N=141), Emotionally Impaired (N=67), Otherwise Impaired (N=61), and Nonimpaired (N=294). Resulting data was not useful in differential…

Examines the role of the computer in administering, scoring, and interpreting psychoeducational tests. Both the intelligent computer model and the computer-as-assistant model are analyzed to determine what threat they may pose to the job security of school psychologists. (Author)