Term Paper on School-based Mental Health
Centers
(First
3 Pages)
Abstract
In this report, the rationale, development, implementation, and evaluation of a
school-based mental health services program for high-risk children with serious
emotional and behavioral problems is described. The unmet needs of the objective
population and how a mutual, primary care model of service delivery addresses
the shortcomings of traditional mental health services are detailed. The report
discusses the delivery of psychological and instructional services to students
with special needs and also emerging strategies for providing ancillary
psychological services, teaching students, assessing their learning, and
managing their behavior. Among these emerging approaches to instruction and the
delivery of psychological services are (a) "indirect" delivery of psychological
services via consultation versus more labor-intensive "direct" intervention; (b)
the development of instructional strategies based on new views of learning and
cognition; (c) increased emphasis on cooperative arrangements in classrooms; (d)
the use of authentic assessment procedures; and (e) peer mediation and other
democratic structures that are designed to reduce students' misconduct and
promote civility.
Order Your
Custom Term Papers, College Essays and Research Papers
Introduction
In the face of increasing need for special education services, costs spiraling
out of control, pressures for accountability, and the emergence of new
perspectives about learning and teaching, psychologists have assumed new roles
as providers of direct and indirect services in school settings. Here, we
discuss the delivery of psychological and instructional services to students
with special needs and describe emerging strategies for providing ancillary
psychological services, teaching students, assessing their learning, and
managing their behavior.
With the IDEA Amendments of 1997 and Goals 2000: Educate America Act (1994),
school psychologists find themselves at the brink of a "brave new world" in
terms of role identity. This crisis of identity has evolved from many issues,
including an increased need for school psychologists to respond at multiple
levels of service delivery (Bernard & Erchul, 1987; Reeder, Pryor, & Harsh,
1997). Given that the profession has been in a state of "identity crisis" for at
least three decades, the shift in professional role is long overdue.
Historically, school psychologists have been viewed as direct service providers
¬they have spent the majority of time providing psychological services directly
to clients in the form of assessments to determine special education eligibility
(Gutkin & Conoley, 1990; Short & Talley, 1997). The excessive time required to
perform such assessments, in combination with constrained funding mechanisms,
effectively precluded efforts to intervene on a broad scale (DeMers & Bricklin,
1995; Gutkin, 1995; Talley & Short, 1996). However, the IDEA legislation of 1997
mandates significant changes in the role of school psychologists; it "places a
greater emphasis on the development, implementation, and evaluation of
behavioral interventions for those children needing such interventions" (Dwyer,
1997, p. 4).
With the decreased emphasis on traditional "testing," there is and will continue
to be greater need for observation, curriculum-based assessment, and validation
of interventions (Dwyer, 1997). It is, therefore, imperative that school
psychologists expand the range of services they provide and coordinate their
activities with student support staff and other professionals who deliver health
and social services (Carlson, Paavola, & Talley, 1995; Dwyer, 1996; Tharinger,
1995). Success in these endeavors depends on professional collaboration and the
implementation of a consultative role.
Literature Review
Greatly influencing school psychology's role change is the "crisis" being
experienced within special education. With runaway costs now approaching $32
billion per year, special education is being forced to address questions
regarding its cost-effectiveness (Haynes, Johannesdottir, & Bernard, in press).
Attention is being focused on accountability by all parties, school and
educational psychologists as well as special educators. The push to document
educational outcomes is driven in part by business and community leaders,
prompted by concerns about the relatively poor standings of American students in
international comparisons. Rather than discussing the numbers of students
classified by category and resource allocations, therefore, directors of special
education programs are now shifting their attention to the attainment of
increasingly rigorous academic outcomes (Reschly & Ysseldyke, 1995). School
psychologists have been required to meet this challenge by changing gears and
assuming a different role. Fortunately, this change was anticipated a number of
years ago. Ysseldyke, Reynolds, and Weinberg (1984) offered a number of
important recommendations that appear to have a great deal of relevance in
today's cost-conscious climate, including the following:
....
Order Your
Custom Term Papers, College Essays and Research Papers
