TEACHERS AND PSYCHOLOGISTS AGREEMENT ABOUT RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate variables related to teachers' preferences of recommendations made by the school psychologist. The variables researched included (a) referral problem, (b) recommendations, (c) sex of the psychologist, and (d) demographics of the teacher, including age, sex, educational background, prior contact with psychologists, teaching experience and grade taught.;Data for this research was collected through a questionnaire given to third-through fifth-grade teachers of four school districts served by both male and female school psychologists. The questionnaire consisted of six referral problems, two behavioral, two familial and two learning problems. Following each referral problem was a summary of the school psychologist's evaluation, and a choice of five recommendations. The recommendations included (a) counseling by the school psychologist, (b) special class placement, (c) remedial program outside the classroom, (d) more structure within the classroom, and (e) more involvement within the family. Each teacher was directed to rank the recommendations in order of preference. The instrument also included a questionnaire concerning teacher demographic data.;The results of this research may be summarized as follows:;No significant relationship was found between agreement with psychologist and any of the specific demographic data. No particular demographic variable elicited any tendency toward a particular recommendation.;Generally, counseling was recommended for both behavior referrals (Vignettes I and IV), and remediation was selected as treatment for the two familial (II and V) and two learning (III and VI) problems. However, when the data was analyzed by each vignette separately, disparate data was found. There were no significant agreements between vignettes of the same type of referral problem.;There is no consistent pattern of teachers agreeing with the psychologist across vignettes or for each specific vignette. Nor was there any particular group of teachers, broken down by demographic data, who consistently recommended remediation or counseling.;Over fifty percent of the teachers felt that counseling was very little or not at all helpful.;Implications and limitations of this study were discussed, and suggestions for further research were given.