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The roles and functions of a school psychologist are multifaceted. School psychologists are traditionally trained in areas of assessment, intervention, consultation, and program evaluation, though they often participate in prevention and crisis intervention efforts and program evaluation (Harvey & Struzziero, 2008). School psychologists work at district, building, and individual student levels to provide comprehensive and effective services to children and families. Despite a wide range of responsibilities, the school psychologist works in conjunction with other school professionals (e.g., general and special education teachers, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, social workers, principals) and parents to foster individual student success. This chapter presents the general roles and responsibilities of the school psychologist, as well as the school psychologist’s role within an interdisciplinary team when making appropriate educational decisions.

School counselors and school psychologists are charged with supporting the holistic development of students with disabilities. They often collaborate with educational enterprise to improve educational outcomes and implementation of special education services to support student success and postsecondary transitions. However, historically underserved students, particularly Black girls with disabilities, have unique challenges that impact their overall success and preparedness for postsecondary educational opportunities. As such, the purpose of this chapter is to examine these challenges and provide strategies for school counselors and school psychologists to promote college and career readiness among Black girls with disabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of both the school counselor and the school psychologist in preparing students in urban school settings for college and/or the workforce. Throughout this paper, the authors discuss how collaboration is critical to ensuring students are successful at every school level (e.g., elementary, middle and high) to avail themselves of various postsecondary opportunities upon graduation. The authors give recommendations for practice and future research to implement and increase knowledge around collaboration between school counselors and school psychologists in preparing students in urban school settings to be college- and career-ready.

This is a conceptual paper on school counselors and school psychologists using the Eight Components of College and Career Readiness Framework to collaborate on preparing students for postsecondary options.

With support from key stakeholders like administrators, teachers and parents, school counselors and school psychologists can work collaboratively to increase students’ college and career readiness. For example, school counselors and school psychologists may start by creating and implementing a needs assessment, as it relates to the developmental tasks of students (i.e. self-regulation, self-efficacy, self-competence) that must be negotiated to ensure college and career readiness. School counselors and school psychologists should also examine out-of-school suspension, expulsion, school arrest and disciplinary referral data (Carter et al., 2014).

Collaboration around college and career readiness is important to the academic success and future of students in urban school settings. School counselors and school psychologists complement each other in preparing students for college and the workforce because their training has prepared both for addressing academic needs, assessment, mental health issues, career development, behavioral concerns and social–emotional needs of students (American School Counselor Association, 2012; National Association of School Psychologists, 2014). Further, school counselors and school psychologists are in a pivotal position to create a college-going culture by using evidence-based activities, curricula and practices.

The purpose of this paper is to examine ideas and notions in the founding and development of the area of mental health services in school in Sweden, with special focus on school psychology and school social work.

From a history of thought perspective, this paper investigates public Swedish school-related documents from the early 1900s up until the 1980s in order to reveal the influential ideas about school health care, children’s needs, and professionals’ responsibilities. These ideas are linked to the twentieth century development of the behavioural sciences, the school system, and the welfare state in Sweden.

Two main turning points are identified. The first occurred in the 1940s when psychologists and social workers were invited to become part of schools as experts on children’s mental health care, implying that mental health issues had become included in the school’s responsibility. The second turning point came in the 1970s when the tasks and the ideational context for the mental health experts changed dramatically. The first turning point challenged the dominant explanation model, a model that relied on scientific references to medicine, and eventually led to an acceptance of psychology instead as dominant provider of explanatory models. The second turning point affected the tension between child and system, and implied a subordination of the needs of the system for the benefit of the needs of the child.

This paper highlights how views on children’s needs and on the responsibilities of school and its professionals have been constructed and conceptualised differently over time and how those views are connected to changes in science, school, and society.

School Psychologists (SPs) have usually been associated with supporting educators in meeting the needs of students with socio-emotional and learning difficulties and disabilities. This chapter suggests that they can support teacher assistants and other educators within inclusive settings in many other ways too. It highlights that SPs are generally trained in holistic student development and group dynamics, in learning, teaching and assessment processes, and in bringing about individual and social change. The whole chapter is based on the idea that inclusion is a concern for all students and therefore also for all school staff. Teacher assistants in inclusive schools are regarded as part of a commitment of the whole school to adapt its curriculum, the organisation of learning and teaching, and the grouping of students so that each one can be actively engaged in the regular learning and social activities of the school.

Thus SPs can be called to support not only the engagement of an individual student but also to help make the class and school welcoming learning communities for all.

This part of the report (Part 1 is published in the International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 5 No. 3, 1991) is a description of each day of the study visit with appropriate comments and impressions. From this, practices used in Denmark which could be of potential benefit in the UK are discussed; and also issues worthy of further study. The study visit raised pertinent questions on UK philosophy on teaching in general and teaching of the disabled; the rights of the disabled; and the responsibility for the provision of education.

Across the nation, African-American and Latino males have experienced limited access to placement in gifted education programs. This paper aims to pinpoint and describe the factors that frequently influence access to gifted education programming among African-American and Latino males.

African-American and Latino males are persistently underrepresented in gifted education for reasons such as teachers’ narrow conceptions of giftedness, teachers’ bias in the nomination process and teachers’ inappropriate usage and interpretation of intelligence measures. When these students qualify for such services, they often experience feelings of isolation and loneliness due to scarce representation of other African-American and Latino male students. A review of extant literature was conducted to identify factors that influence access to gifted education programming among African-American and Latino males.

African-American and Latino males encounter roadblocks in being identified for gifted placement and many also experience implicit biases and stereotypical beliefs about their ability. The need for culturally competent professionals is critical to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of gifted African-American and Latino males.

Recommendations for school psychologists and school counselors are offered to support the needs of gifted African-American and Latino males, assist in increasing their identification and participation in gifted education, and promote academic success.

There is an urgent need for research on access and placement in gifted programming among African-American and Latino males. Moreover, the role of school psychologists and school counselors should be considered in facilitation of gifted identification and placement.

In response to a critical need for uniform school crisis preparedness and response efforts across districts, the National Association of School Psychologists developed PREPaRE, a model and training curriculum aimed to equip school-based professionals to engage in comprehensive school crisis prevention and intervention practices. The PREPaRE acronym stands for: Prevent/Prepare for psychological trauma; Reaffirm physical health, security, and safety; Evaluate psychological trauma; Provide interventions (and) Respond to psychological needs; and Examine the effectiveness of prevention and intervention efforts. The model spans four crisis preparedness phases: Prevention, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery. This chapter provides a detailed overview of the development and structure of the PREPaRE model's core components and the organizational framework of the Incident Command System. It delineates elements of the basic school crisis response plan, assessment of mental health risk following a crisis event, and the provision of crisis interventions within a multitiered system of support framework. Additionally, it summarizes ongoing effectiveness and implementation research used to evaluate and improve the model based on immediate training outcomes assessed through pre and postmeasures and training transfer to applied school contexts. Implications for research and public policy regarding school safety and crisis prevention and intervention, as well as the future of PREPaRE curriculum development, are discussed.

Assessment and identification of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is complex and involves multiple techniques, levels, and participants. While federal law sets the general parameters for identification in school settings, these criteria are vague and may lead to inconsistencies in selection and interpretation of assessment measures. Assessment practice across school settings is greatly influenced by clinical guidelines such as the DSM-IV, which more specifically defines emotional and behavioral disorders and highlights the issue of co-morbidity. Before a student is assessed for special education eligibility under the IDEIA category of emotional disturbance, screening techniques and pre-referral interventions are needed. Positive Behavioral Supports and Response to Intervention models provide empirically supported frameworks for establishing the need for formal psychological assessment. Collaboration among members of the multidisciplinary team, including parents, helps to ensure that identification and intervention efforts have ecological validity. Tests and techniques vary considerably, but developmental histories, interviews, observations across settings, and behavioral checklists and rating scales are recommended, along with cognitive and achievement testing. While problems exist in the reliability and validity of projective techniques, they continue to be used in school-based assessment for EBD. Multitrait, multisetting, and multimethod approaches are essential for culturally fair assessment and reduction of bias in identification and placement.

This study aims to explore perceptions of discrimination among ten African American youths as part of a larger qualitative investigation.

The qualitative methodology utilized the “Prove them Wrong Syndrome” as a theoretical framework. Individual interviews and biographical questionnaires were the primary sources of data collection.

Four major themes emerged from data analysis: perceived discrimination from others, perceived discrimination from members of one’s own racial group, responses to perceived discrimination and buffers against perceived discrimination.

Implications for educators including teachers, school psychologists and school counselors are discussed.

This paper attempted to fill the void in the literature, as it explored the perceptions of discrimination among African American youth, their responses to perceived discrimination and the identification of buffers to compensate for negative experiences with discrimination. Prove them Wrong Syndrome emerged as a major finding in this study as a response to perceived discrimination; nonetheless, it should be further evaluated, as limited research has been conducted in this area. Teachers must be aware of issues students of color may experience at school such as discrimination and how this can harm them emotionally and academically. Moreover, school psychologists and school counselors should be utilized as mental health service providers to combat the potentially negative outcomes of discrimination.