An Opportunity to Participate in the
International School Psychology Survey Project
The International School Psychology Survey Project:
Seeking Country Coordinators By
Shane R. Jimerson and the ISPA Research Committee
In
an effort to enhance our understanding of the training, roles, activities,
and responsibilities of school psychologists in countries around the globe,
members of the 2001-2002 ISPA Research Committee developed an International
School Psychology Survey. The International School Psychology Survey (ISPS)
is designed to provide a means of systematically gathering information from
colleagues around the world. The ISPA Research Committee is currently seeking
enthusiastic and responsible colleagues to serve as “country coordinators”
and contribute to the International School Psychology Survey project.
The purpose of this article is to provide an update regarding the ISPS project
and invite colleagues to serve as “country coordinators” to gather this
important information in their country.
An Update on the ISPS Project:As described previously in the ISPA
World-Go-Round, June 2002 (Jimerson and The ISPA Research Committee, 2002),
the International School Psychology Survey includes 46 questions examining
school psychologists’ roles, activities, and responsibilities, as well as
demographic information. During the past year (2002-2003), the ISPS was
translated, distributed, and collected in five countries (Australia -
Jim Phillips; China - Mantak Yuen & Shui-fong Lam; Germany
- Jorg Michael Thurm; Italy - Julia Coyne & Louis Loprete;
and Russia - Nadejda Klueva). In addition, “country
coordinators” have begun efforts to translate, distribute, and gather the
ISPS in four additional countries (Ireland - Catherine Maunsell;
Netherlands - Helen Bakker; Romania - Delia Breban; and
Yugoslavia - Ivana Mihic).During 2001-2002, ISPS data was collected
in five countries (Albania, Eljona Boce & Gladiola Bashi; Cyprus
& Greece - Chryse Hatzichristou; Estonia – Eve Kikas;
and Northern England – Peter Farrell). A presentation describing
data from 2001-2002 was provided in July 2002 in Nyborg, Denmark at the
ISPA colloquium. This past Spring another presentation featured the
ISPS data at a special session at the National Association of School Psychologists
conference in April 2003 in Toronto, Canada. During July, a related presentation
was included at a symposium session at the Italian School Psychology Colloquium
in Lecce, Italy. Also, a manuscript describing the development of
the ISPS and featuring 2001-2002 data will be published in the School
Psychology International journal (Jimerson, Graydon, Farrell, Kikas,
Hatzichristou, Boce, Bashi, & The ISPA Research Committee, in press).
A manuscript including the ISPS data from 2002-2003 is currently under development.An
Invitation to Participate:The ISPA Research Committee invites additional
ISPA members to provide leadership in their country in the translation,
distribution, and collection of the International School Psychology Survey.
Essentially the country coordinator is responsible for
accessing the mailing addresses or direct contact with a great portion of
school psychologists in your country (or in a specific region, depending
on the size of the country);completing the translation of the survey from
English into the appropriate language for school psychologists in your country;orchestrating
the distribution and collection of the surveys; committing to obtaining
as many completed surveys in your country as possible;returning the completed
surveys to UCSB to be processed and included in the International School
Psychology Survey database. UCSB is responsible for coordinating correspondence
among the country representatives, developing the database, processing the
surveys, and completing data analyses (Dr. Jimerson and doctoral student
Kelly Graydon are the collaborators at UCSB).If you are interested
in serving as a country coordinator for the ISPA, please contact Dr. Jimerson
via e-mail at
Jimerson@education.ucsb.edu to obtain additional information.
If you do not have access to e-mail, you may send correspondence to:
Dr. Jimerson, University of California Santa Barbara, Counseling, Clinical,
and School Psychology, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, Santa
Barbara, California 93106-9490, USA.
ISPA members are encouraged to participate in providing leadership in gathering
this important data and furthering our knowledge of the training, roles,
activities, and responsibilities of school psychologists around the world. References Jimerson,
S. R., Graydon, K., Farrell, P., Kikas, E., Hatzichristou, C., Boce, E.,
Bashi, G. & The ISPA Research Committee (in press). The International
School Psychology Survey: Development and Data. School Psychology International.Jimerson,
S. & The ISPA Research Committee (2002). The International School Psychology
Survey: An Update and Invitation to Participate. International School
Psychology Association - World Go Round. 29 (3), 2.
ISPA Research Committee Report -- April 30, 2003
Following is a brief update on ISPA Research Committee activities
during the past few months:1. International School Psychology Survey
session at NASP in Toronto (April, 2003):
This special session on the ISPS was very well received and had very
good participation at the recent NASP conference in Toronto. Sissy
Hatzichristou, Peg Dawson, and Tom Oakland were each present and provided
multiple contributions to the presentation and discussion. The discussion
was lively and thought provoking and I believe such exchanges will continue
to enhance our efforts to gather systematic information using the ISPS.
In particular, having the country coordinators provide a brief description
of the field of school psychology, in addition to the basic questions
that each of the country coordinators respond to on the ISPS.There were
several NASP members who decided to attend the international school psychology
reception and indicated they would like to become ISPA members.
2. Country Coordinators Gathering the ISPS Data:
Currently have Country Coordinators in 6 countries and 3 others who
have been in communication about the possibility (see list of current/possible
country coordinators below.) Each of those who have agreed to serve as
country coordinator been provided with a copy of the ISPS, each is in
the process of translating, distributing, and collecting data in their
country. The enthusiasm and commitment of each of these colleagues is
amazing and because of each of their efforts we will obtain this valuable
information from school psychologists in many countries around the world.
We do hope that colleagues in other countries will step forward and agree
to translate, distribute, and collect the ISPS data in their country.
The note in the ISPA World-Go-Round sharing information about the ISPS
generated favorable responses, thus, we should prepare a note for an upcoming
volume.Germany: Bernhard Meissner (bernhard_meissner@web.de); Jorg
Michael Thurm (dr.thurm@freenet.de) Klaus Kuhlmann (Klaus.Kuhlmann@fh-koeln.de)
Italy: Julia Coyne (jhcoyne@prodigy.net) & Louis J Loprete
(loudeblop@worldnet.att.net)
Russia: Nadejda (Nadejda@uniyar.ac.ru)
China: Mantak Yuen (mtyuen@hkucc.hku.hk)
Australia: Jim Phillips (jimegan@iinet.net.au)
Romania: Delia Breban (dbreban@uoradea.ro)
Netherlands: Helen Bakker (bakkerhe@planet.nl)
Yugoslavia: Ivana Mihic (ivanamihic@yahoo.com)
Ireland: Catherine Maunsell (Catherine.Maunsell@spd.dcu.ie)
3. International School Psychology Survey session
in Italy Summer 2003:
I recently received a note from Julia Coyne (the country coordinator
for gathering the ISPS in Italy) she indicated "I wanted to let you
know that the survey was accepted for an "interactive workshop"
at the 1st Italian School Psychology Colloquium in Lecce, Italy this summer."
She will be presenting on behalf of the ISPA Research Committee. We will
talk about the article that is currently under review in which we summarize
the ISPS development and initial efforts, and she will also distribute.
If there is anyone on the ISPA Research Committee that would like to join
Julia in Italy for their colloquium, please contact her at
jhcoyne@prodigy.net
Goals: 1. Complete
necessary revisions to the International School Psychology Survey;
(completed Fall 2002). 2. Invite
additional country coordinators to translate, distribute, collect, and return
the ISP Survey during the upcoming year;
(ongoing, see recent article describing the ISPS in the ISPA WGR - currently
have Country Coordinators in 6 countries, see list of current country coordinators
below. Each has been provided with a copy of the ISPS, each is in the process
of translating, distributing, and collecting data in their country. The
enthusiasm and commitment of each of these colleagues is amazing and because
of each of your efforts we will obtain this valuable information from school
psychologists in many countries around the world.)
Germany: Bernhard Meissner, Jorg
Michael Thurm
Italy: Julia Coyne
Russia: Nadejda
China:
Mantak Yuen
Australia: Jim
Phillips
Romania: Delia Breban
Netherlands: Helen Bakker 3. Draft
a manuscript to share results of development and preliminary results with
ISPA colleagues and other school psychologists.
As described previously, Kelly Graydon and I generated the first draft of
this manuscript in November, then during the past few months each of the country
coordinators (Peter Farrell, UK; Eve Kikas, Estonia; Chryse Hatzichristou,
Greece & Cyprus; Eljona Boce, Albania; and Gladiola Bashi, Albania) has
provided a review and indicated specific revisions. Having incorporated these
revisions and redistributed for review multiple times, we now have a draft
that will be submitted to the School Psychology International journal
for review. You will note that the contributions of the 2001-2002 ISPA
Research Committee members are acknowledged multiple times in the manuscript.
As Dr. Curtis can attest given his experiences, attempting to summarize the
findings from a survey such vast information can be daunting... we have given
it our best in preparing a reasonable summary of the information obtained. I
am optimistic that the manuscript will be a significant contribution to our
understanding of school psychology services in various countries, and also
advance future efforts to gather data systematically from colleagues in other
countries. This project truly represents an incredible international collaboration,
from the development of the ISPS all the way
through the writing of the manuscript, and I feel especially fortunate to have been a part of this effort... 4. Draft a manuscript to share results of previous Research Committee work regarding teachers perspectives of school psychologists (Dr. Farrell). Dr. Farrell is continuing to work on this manuscript.
Shane Jimerson, Chair
ISPA Research Committee -- 2001-2002 Report
Chair: Shane R. Jimerson, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA. Members: Peter Farrell (University of Manchester, UK) Robert Burden (Exeter University, UK) Beeman Phillips (University of Texas, USA) Robert Clark (National University, USA) Hong Wu (Zhejaing Research Institute, China) Hank Janzen (University of Alberta, Canada) Sissy Hatzichristou (University of Athens, Greece) Eve Kikas (University of Tartu, Estonia) William Masten (Texas, USA) William Strein (University of Maryland, USA) Michael Curtis (University of Southern Florida, USA) Brett Nelson (Colorado, USA) Bernie Stein (Ministry of Education, Israel) Eljona Boce (University of Tirana, Albania) Gladiola Bashi (University of Tirana, Albania) Goal I: To begin to gather international data regarding the activities, training, and demographics of school psychologists around the world. This will be developed using the NASP survey as a template and extending and revising to be appropriate for use around the world. Activities: 1. Initial activities will focus on the development of an appropriate survey. 2. Following completion of the survey, it will need to be translated. 3. Finally, copies of the survey will need to be copied and mailed in pilot countries. During the past ten months the ISPA Research Committee has focused on the development of an appropriate survey to be used to gather important information from school psychologists around the world. I drafted a version and circulated to the committee for review in September and then revised and circulated drafts during October, November, December, and January incorporating feedback from committee members from around the world. We have also considered the questionnaire by Oakland and Cunningham (1992) which gathered information from international colleagues, and adapted a few questions from this previous questionnaire. The feedback from committee members has greatly enhanced the development of this ISPA survey. The process has essentially consisted of ongoing e-mail correspondence and organizing the feedback from all members, then completing necessary revisions. The ISPA Research committee agreed that the survey was ready to be implemented, thus, I provided the ISPA survey to each of the “pilot year” countries (Greece- Dr. Hatzichristou; Estonia – Dr. Kikas, and The United Kingdom – Dr. Farrell) for translation, then copying, and distribution. Thus, we finished phase 1 of the process in January and then moved into phase two during February of 2002 , phase 3 is currently in progress during March-April of 2002. In addition to the original three pilot countries, through communications with other colleagues interested in using the survey, Dr. Boce and Dr. Bashi (of Albania), were provided the survey (as they agreed that they could gather the data on the same timeline as the other three countries). We aimed to have collected surveys in the pilot countries by the 2002 ISPA colloquium in Denmark. UCSB School Psychology, under my direction will be responsible for processing the data submitted by each pilot country(see summary below of progress to date in each country). The ISPA Research Committee also anticipates future revisions based on this pilot period. ISPA Survey Country Contacts (6.1.2002 update) United Kingdom Dr. Peter Farrell completed the distribution and collection of the ISPA survey 3/2002 and returned the completed surveys to UCSB 4/2002 and UCSB entered into the database. Estonia Dr. Eve Kikas completed the translation of the ISPA Survey and completed the first distribution 4/2002 and a second distribution 5/2002 and mailed the completed ISPA Surveys to UCSB 5/30/2002. (hopefully will receive the completed surveys in early 6/2002 to be entered into the database.) Greece Dr. Sissy Hatzichristou and her research team completed the translation of the ISPA Survey 4/2002
and are preparing for distribution 5/2002, a School Psychology student will assist with data processing and we will obtain the data from them electronically. (or they can forward the completed surveys and we will process it at UCSB, we hope to have this data by 6/28/2002). Albania Eljona Boce and Gladiola Bashi sent the ISPA survey in April and they completed translation 4/2002 and completed distribution and data collection 5/2002. By 6/15/2002, to be entered into the database by UCSB) The ISPA Research Committee also prepared a symposium session proposal for Denmark to provide information to ISPA members about the pilot data and an invitation to participate. Symposium Session: The International School Psychology Survey: Development, Preliminary Data, and an Invitation to Participate. It is important to understand the training, roles, and responsibilities of school psychologists in countries around the globe. During the past year the ISPA Research Committee has embraced the challenge of developing a means of systematically gathering information from colleagues around the world and has worked diligently to design and pilot the International School Psychology Survey. This presentation will share information regarding the development of the survey, the pilot process, preliminary data, and encourage other countries to participate. The International School Psychology Survey has recently been translated, distributed, and collected in three countries (Estonia – Dr. Kikas, Greece - Dr. Hatzichristou, The United Kingdom – Dr. Farrell, and Albania – Dr. Bashi & Dr. Boce). The research team at the University of California in Santa Barbara, under the direction of Dr. Jimerson is responsible for coordinating correspondence among the country representatives, processing the surveys, and completing data analyses. The ISPA Research Committee aims to generate awareness
of the International School Psychology Survey and to encourage ISPA members to provide leadership in translating the survey and gathering the survey data in their country. Goal II: To publish articles and disseminate results of previous ISPA Research Committee study examining teachers perspectives about school psychologists and the services they provide. Activities: 1. Dr. Farrell has been providing leadership on this project for the past three years and currently has several manuscripts in preparation or under review. It is anticipated that these will appear during the upcoming 2 year period. 2. Dr. Farrell may utilize Research Committee members to contribute to the development of manuscripts and dissemination of these results. Dr. Farrell has continued to provide leadership on this project. All is well and proceeding appropriately. An update and discussion among the ISPA Research Committee will occur at the ISPA Colloquium. A proposal for consideration is to continue to examine the data, modify the survey based on feedback from the country representatives and the process, also, possibly identify additional country representatives to participate, translate, distribute, and collect the ISPA survey data in their country.
Also, a manuscript should be developed regarding teachers perspectives.