NASP Home > About NASP > NASP Position Papers > Position Statement on
Pupil Services: Essential to Education
Position Statement on
Pupil Services:
Essential to Education
Students bring complex intellectual, cultural, economic, and
social backgrounds to our nation's schools. School psychologists work
in union with other specialists and the nation's teachers to assure that
all students, no matter what their background, achieve academic success. (These
professions are variously called pupil service professions, related service
professions or student support service professions.) With
the No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110, U.S. Congress, 2002), schools
are increasingly being challenged to develop strategies to identify and
remove barriers to achievement for all students. By providing a wide range
of direct and indirect services to school administrators, educators, families,
and students, pupil services specialists support academic achievement by
working to meet the psychological and educational needs of students. Along
with these tasks, pupil services specialists are faced with the challenges
of designing programs to insure equal access and service delivery to all
children in our society, and responding to a broad societal concern about
the overall quality of life. The National Association of School Psychologists
(NASP) recognizes that school psychologists play a key role in the delivery
of these services.
Definition of Pupil Services
The professional education team has long included specialists
from various helping professions. Historically, pupil services and school
populations have been shaped by community, state, and federal mandates,
including the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, U.S.
Congress, 1965), the amended Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA, U.S. Congress, 1997), initiatives in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (PL 93-112; U.S. Congress, 1973), components infused into the
American with Disabilities Act (ADA; U.S. Congress, 1990), and
the No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110, U.S. Congress, 2002). These
changes have resulted in an increased diversity in the services that students
receive, the way in which services are accessed, and the professional fields
responsible for the delivery of these services. Such progress has provided
fertile ground for the emergence of a variety of pupil services specializations
with a corresponding mandate for effective collaboration
among specialists from related disciplines.
The pupil services team is typically
defined to include school psychologists, school counselors, school social
workers, school health professionals, and other qualified professional
personnel involved in providing assessment, therapy (e.g., counseling,
speech/language), educational remediation, instruction in strategies and
general curriculum support, program coordination and accountability, in-service
training, and other necessary services as part of a comprehensive
program to meet student needs. The organization of these specialists results
in highly functional transdisciplinary teams working with special and regular
education teachers, families, students and community agency personnel to
provide the most successful educational opportunities for all students.
Objectives for Pupil Services
The following are critical elements
in design and delivery of pupil services programs:
1. Programs should be developed from
identified needs of students, recognizing potential contributions from
all stakeholders, including parents, special service providers, teachers,
administrators, and other support personnel.
2. Effective programs necessitate a comprehensive approach,
including a focus on developmental, preventative, and remedial activities
which facilitate the educational process for students.
3. Effective programs recognize that learning takes place within
environmental and social contexts and take steps to assist schools in maintaining
safe environments supportive of teaching and learning.
4. Effective programs recognize that not all services can
be provided in the school and include effective linkages with various community
resources.
5. Accountability through consistent, continuing, and effective
program evaluation is crucial in both development of effective programs
and insuring continuing community support.
Role of the School Psychologist
The role of the school psychologist in the delivery of pupil
services is unique in the provision of psychological evaluations. School
psychologists are also prepared, along with other pupil service specialists,
to deliver direct intervention services, case consultation, data interpretation
for program planning, program service development and monitoring, and system
wide preventative activities. It is essential that a coordinated team
approach to the delivery of these overlapping services be instituted in
all of our schools. While federal and state regulations have shaped what
professional services must be provided, the boundaries between the specialty
areas have often been blurred. The school psychologist in collaborative
effort with other specialists is proactive in advocacy for support of programs
to meet special needs of students and for coordinated delivery of such
programs.
Summary
NASP supports the concept that effective delivery of pupil
services is essential to education and recognizes that meeting the diversity
of student needs requires a transdisciplinary team approach utilizing trust,
open communication, mutual respect, and ongoing collaboration of professionals
from each specialty area. Because all pupil services are related, the sometimes
overlapping areas of expertise can serve to strengthen the overall program
and be an ongoing resource for consultation and support. Regardless of the
administrative structure employed, it is the coordination of pupil services
that becomes most essential when meeting the commitment to serve this country's
school-aged youth, and enhance the communication of the critical importance
of the services to the constituencies which provide financial support.
References
U.S. Congress. (1965).
PL 89-10 - Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
U.S. Congress. (1973).
PL 93-112 - Rehabilitation Act.
U.S. Congress. (1990).
PL 101-336 - American with Disabilities Act.
U.S. Congress. (1997).
PL 105 - Individuals with Disabilities Act Amendments.
U.S. Congress. (2002). PL 107-110 - No Child Left Behind Act
- Original version adopted by NASP Delegate Assembly, 1989
- Revision adopted
by NASP Delegate Assembly April 2004
© 2004
National Association of School Psychologists, 4340
East West Highway, Suite 402, Bethesda MD 20814 - 301-657-0270.