CELEBRATING THE PRACTITIONER

School psychologists provide a broad spectrum of services to children, teachers, and families. While some may spend much their workday on school climate, early intervention, and prevention, others spend a their time assessing cognitive, social, and/or emotional barriers to learning. Some practitioners focus on direct service provision such as individual and group counseling, others provide indirect services through consultation with teachers, administrators, and parents. Many of us end up doing it all, to one degree or another. Whatever the professional role and function of the individual practitioner, the quality of school psychological services provided in America is higher than at any point in the history of the profession. With NASP approaching its 40th Anniversary, this is a cause for celebration!

THE URBAN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST

Urban school psychologists face significant challenges in providing school psychological services in the great cities of America. Challenges that a suburban practitioner, such as myself, may never fully appreciate. The efforts of these professionals should be recognized and celebrated. Yet many urban practitioners do not see the value of NASP membership. Could it be that the professional self-image that NASP reflects does not always align with the professional identity of an urban school psychologist? Maybe, I don't know. What are the reasons behind limited NASP membership in cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago? Maybe we should ask these practitioners?

STIPENDS FOR NCSP

Another cause for celebration is the recognition of NCSP, not only as an acknowledgement of the quality of professional standards of those so certified, but also as a level of professionalism worthy of added salary stipends! While NASP does a good job of tracking the acceptance of NCSP around the country, perhaps it is time for us to provide more focused support to members in states and/or districts seeking to acquire additional stipends for Nationally Certified School Psychologists.

ONLINE ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS

At the 2006 Summer Executive Council meeting and Delegate Assembly, I introduced a plan to provide web-based databases to NASP members. Through multiple databases (e.g., Medline, SOCindex, Academic Search Premier, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences) we can access thousands of full text journal articles directly from our computers. For those of us who do not have immediate access to a university library, online databases are great resources for researching unfamiliar conditions or disorders, among other things. I used it to find neuropsychological correlates of Lyme Disease for a high school student I evaluated last winter. It is a 21st century tool for the school psychologist.

CW August 2006

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