1. David Shriberg Loyola University Chicago NASP 2008- New Orleans, @2008
Defining Leadership in School Psychology: NASP Member and Leader Perspectives
David Shriberg
Loyola University Chicago
NASP New

2. Acknowledgements
Jeff Charvat, Director, Research and Information Services; Susan Gorin, Executive Director; National Association of School Psychologists
Ashley Marks Walker, Ray Witte: Miami University
Mary Satchwell: Loyola University Chicago

3. Leadership: My Take
Believe leadership important in all realms of society, have a personal interest in this topic.
As a practitioner, tried to assume leadership roles, as professor want to help students to see themselves as leaders and to see their leadership potential
And it’s not just me….

4. Call to Action for Leadership in School Psychology
Quotes from School Psychology: A Blueprint for Training and Practice III (Ysseldyke, Burns, Dawson, Kelly, Morrison, Ortiz, et al., 2006):
“There has never been a greater need for school psychologists to take leadership in ensuring quality mental health services for children.” (p. 9)
“School psychologists need to provide leadership in identifying those instructional environments and cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral factors that have a significant impact on school achievement and the development of personal competence.” (p.18)

5. More Blueprint Calls
“Schools must attend to general health, mental health, and welfare in order to ensure effective academic development, and school psychologists should provide leadership in these areas.” (p.20)
“They [school psychologists] should provide leadership in creating instructional environments that reduce alienation and foster the expression of appropriate behavior as well as environments in which all members of the school community—both students and adults—treat one another with respect and dignity.” (p.20)

6. And More Blueprint Calls
“School psychologist should provide leadership in developing schools as safe, civil, caring, inviting places where there is a sense of community, in which contributions of all persons are valued, in which there are high expectations of excellence for all students, and where home-school-agency partnerships are valued.” (p.31)
School psychologists should provide

7. Other Calls for School Psychology Leadership
School safety initiatives (Furlong, Morrison, & Pavelski, 2000)
Improving the social-emotional climate of schools (Ross, Powell, & Elias, 2002)
Developing research-based, effective, and acceptable system-level change initiatives (Ho, 2002, Shapiro, 2006)
Leading responses to high-stakes testing and accountability imperatives (Shriberg, 2007)

8. Research Question
Disconnect between message and research- We likely all agree that leadership is important, but what does effective leadership look like in school psychology?
This is the first known study to examine this question.

9. Participants Two groups- “NASP members” and “NASP leaders”
Return rate= 23.6%
Participant demographics- see Table 1

10. School Psychology Leadership Survey
Instrument
School Psychology Leadership Survey
Demographics
Construct of Leadership for School Psychologists
Importance
Clarity
Opportunity
Perception
Self-Rating of Leadership Effectiveness as School Psychologist
Possible Leadership Competencies
Five Most Important Competencies
Four Qualitative Questions Related to Defining and Applying Leadership in School Psychology

11. Procedure NASP Member Sample (1,000)- Fall 2005
NASP Leader Sample (156)- Spring 2006

12. Results- Construct of Leadership in School Psychology
Support provided for idea that school psychologists have opportunities to exhibit leadership
Support provided for idea that leadership is important to successful practice
Support provided for giving greater emphasis to leadership training in graduate education and professional development opportunities
School psychologists not jumping at chance for greater leadership role
Support for idea that leadership is not well-defined in school psychology

13. Self-Rating of Leadership Effectiveness
1-7 scale: 1=completely ineffective, 7=completely effective
Leaders- 5.78
Members- 5.65
No significant difference between groups

14. Characteristics of Effective Leadership in School Psychology
List generated by surveying small sample (n=12) of school psychologists
47 items generated
Factor analysis yielded items that fit together statistically but not conceptually (initial hypotheses related to expert, informational, and referent power not supported, initial hypotheses related to respondent gender not supported
Minimal significant differences between groups (no more than chance)
Generally, high ratings for everything (see Table 3)

15. Characteristics (continued)
Top 5 Characteristics Based on Overall Mean Ratings
Treats others with respect
Widely regarded as ethical
Widely regarded as competent
Strong working relationship with teachers
Works well in teams

16. Characteristics Picked in “Top 5” from List- NASP Leaders (see Table 4)
Involvement of school psychologist leads to positive outcomes for students/families
Works well in teams
Widely regarded as ethical
Widely regarded as competent
Creative thinker and problem-solver
Strong verbal communicator
Advocate for children and families
Up to date with current research in school psychology
Treats others with respect
Strong in educational/ psychological assessment

17. Characteristics Picked in “Top 5” from List: NASP Members (see Table 4)
Treats others with respect
Strong working relationship with teachers
Widely regarded as competent
Able to work successfully with a wide range of personalities
Widely regarded as ethical
Creative thinker and problem-solver
Follows up on commitments/balances multiple tasks
Knowledge of special education laws
Strong verbal communicator
Works well in teams

18. Characteristics Picked in “Top 5” from List: Total Sample (see Table 5)
Widely regarded as competent.
Treats others with respect.
Widely regarded as ethical.
Strong working relationship with teachers.
Works well in teams.
Same Top 5 as Top 5 mean ratings
Creative thinker and problem-solver.
Able to work successfully with a wide range of personalities.
Strong verbal communicator.
Involvement of school psychologist leads to positive outcomes for students/families.
Knowledge of special education laws.
Advocate for children and families.

19. What Might All This Data Suggest?
Groups much more similar than they are different
School psychologists appear to feel that leadership is important, that is not well defined, that they have opportunities to lead and they give themselves pretty high marks as leaders
No one trait or dimension that describes effective leadership in school psychology. “Top 5” in combined sample were competence, respectful, ethical, works well with teachers, works well with teams
General agreement between groups on ethics and competence
Leaders more likely to prioritize outcomes and effective team functioning
Members more likely to prioritize being respectful and working well with teachers

20. Limitations of Study
Relatively small response rate, especially for NASP members. This may have skewed sample.
Ceiling effect for list of possible characteristics/behaviors of school psychology leaders.
Survey was too long—fatigue effect.

21. Next Steps
Based on data— further clarification of construct is needed, “top 5” choices give us a start
Based on personal agenda— seek to connect emerging definitions and applications of leadership and systems change in school psychology to emerging discourage and action related to social justice. Why lead unless doing so for socially just ends?

22. For Discussion
What is your vision of effective leadership in school psychology?
How can a leadership agenda best be promoted within school psychology?
Where would you suggest I go next with this research?

23. References
Furlong, M., Morrison, G., & Pavelski, R. (2000). Trends in school
psychology for the 21st century: Influences of school violence on professional change. Psychology in the Schools, 37,
Ho, B. (2002). Application of participatory action research to family-school intervention. School Psychology Review, 31,
Ross, M.R., Powell, S.R., & Elias, M. (2002). New roles for school psychologists: Addressing the social and emotional learning needs of students. School Psychology Review, 31,
Shapiro, E.S. (2006). Are we solving the big problems? School Psychology Review, 35,
Shriberg, D. (2007). The school psychologist as leader and change agent. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 23,
Ysseldyke, J., Burns, M., Dawson, P., Kelley, B., Morrison, D., Ortiz, S., Rosenfield, S., & Telzrow, K. (2006). School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice III. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.