SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST WORKLOAD AND STRESS: TIME AND TASKS
Statement of the Problem & Study Purpose
School psychology has grown since the status of children and education has become a focus. Improving society is viewed in the context of improving the quality of the children through the educational process, which includes the role of the school psychologist. Public school enrollment has risen, as have the problems and needs for the school psychologist. By the early part of the century, children were reported as experiencing speech, sensory, and health problems, which required the psychologist to collaborate with a physician. Special education has also grown, with special class development and the use of educational and intelligence tests increasing. The tasks were becoming multiple and the support systems were not growing accordingly. State and national level organizations to serve the interests of the school psychologist were lacking as were training and accreditation (Fagan, 2000). The National Association of School Psychologists (2002) provides information regarding the status of education and the role of the school psychologist, however, more professional support is needed.
O'Connor (2001) reports that psychologists suffer from distress and impairment, due to personal and occupational factors. Kruger, Maital, Macklem, Shriberg, Burgess, Kalinsky, and Corcoran (2001) reported that psychologists face a major challenge in finding relevant professional support. Since it appears that school psychologists are faced with increased work demands and a lack of support to meet these demands, resulting in job stress, further study of these variables is warranted. The purpose of this research study will be to investigate the effect of professional support on stress levels for the school psychologist.
The research question is as follows: How does having a professional support system, affect stress levels for the school psy...