Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

1995

Thesis Director

Linda Leal

Abstract

The relationship between school psychologist internship training and perceived preparedness to practice was investigated. Ninety-two school psychologists who completed their internship in Illinois completed a survey asking them to rate their internship experience and indicate how well these experiences prepared them to be a school psychologist. Overall, participants reported they were moderately to well prepared to be school psychologists, although variability was noted among individual items. Intellectual assessment, report writing, academic achievement assessment and psychoeducational diagnosis received the highest mean ratings for exposure and adequacy. Psychologists felt most prepared for working with the kindergarten through high school age population, those with learning disabilities, and those with mild mental impairments. Chi square analysis revealed that overall women felt better prepared (p=.03), and reported greater emphasis on contact with community resources during their internship (p=.02) than did men. Possible reasons for this and implications for future studies are presented.

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