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This Delphi study was designed to identify essential cross-cultural competencies for school psychologists. The investigation extends the results of the Rogers and Lopez (in press) Delphi study by using a distinct panel of experts, different instrumentation, and a modified process to identify cross-cultural competencies for school psychologists. The term cross-cultural is defined broadly and refers to racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse clients from African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander backgrounds in addition to individuals with diverse handicaps, sexual orientations, economic status, religious backgrounds, and gender. In this study, the investigators used the Delphi technique to poll the opinions of 11 experts in cross-cultural school psychology using an open-ended questionnaire. The panelists reached high levels of agreement in identifying 89 essential cross-cultural competencies. The competencies reflect a wide range of knowledge and skills for school psychologists working in broad ranging capacities with students with cross-cultural backgrounds. Although some essential cross-cultural competencies from the present study are similar to those obtained in the Rogers and Lopez study and in the cross-cultural counseling competency literature, the essential competencies also reflect differences in the scope and types of competencies identified.The call for psychologists to develop cross-cultural competencies is driven by several long-standing and compelling movements in our society and profession. Due to changes in our nation's demographics, many school psychologists are currently providing psychological services to a significant number of racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse children and families (National A sincere thank you is extended to our panelists for all their hard work and contributions to this investigation. We would also like to thank J.

This article argues that school psychology programs must prepare future school psychologists to address the needs of our increasingly diverse society. Providing training and field experiences that are grounded in multicultural practices, research, and advocacy will foster greater competence in addressing diverse schools', students', and families' needs. Following a review of relevant research on training program practices in this area, the authors identify four major program challenges to advancing culturally responsive preparation of school psychologists. These include (a) integrating multicultural perspectives within the philosophical foundation of training programs, (b) adapting multicultural approaches to reframe education and psychological theory in school psychology training, (c) defining the multicultural scope for training, and (d) articulating and implementing multicultural competencies via criteria already sanctioned by our profession through the latest National Association of School Psychologists Standards for Graduate Preparation of School Psychologists. C 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Preparing school psychologists to provide culturally responsive practices is a complex task that offers many challenges along with opportunities. The purpose of this article is to articulate four major challenges in the preparation of school psychologists to provide culturally responsive services. The challenges entail addressing the basic foundations of program development while embracing multicultural perspectives. We also identify these challenges as opportunities to shape future training and to prepare future school psychologists to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population.Multicultural school psychology training is conceptualized broadly in this article and in the context of preparing school psychologists to work with students and families from diverse backgrounds in terms of race, ethnicity, language, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and exceptionality. We argue that school psychology programs must prepare all school psychologists to render services to students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds by providing training experiences that are grounded in multicultural practices and research. As programs prepare to meet the latest National Association of School Psychologists Standards for Graduate Preparation of School Psychologists (NASP, 2010), we offer recommendations for meeting these standards in ways that are responsive to students' and families' diversity. BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF MULTICULTURAL TRAINING IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGYIn a review of the literature, Esquivel, Warren and Orlizky (2007) provided a comprehensive historical overview of the development of multicultural school psychology and argued that the emphasis on multicultural issues in school psychology "began slowly" but has become "a critical aspect of the identity of school psychology as a profession" (p. 3). According to Lopez and Rogers (2007), in the 1980s, the school psychology literature started to addre...

Psychologists who work in the schools have an ethical and professional responsibility to become informed about the knowledge base that addresses the delivery of psychological services to children from diverse backgrounds. This article reflects (1) a synthesis of some of the existing knowledge base about how best to promote the educational and psychological well-being of diverse students and their families within the school context, and (2) recommendations for practices for psychologists working in the schools. These recommendations for practice are intended to address professional issues which, if neglected in service delivery to racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse populations, can lead to inappropriate referrals for services, misassessments of needs and issues, ineffective interventions and therapeutic approaches, and erroneous research results. Specific professional practices are identified and illustrations of those practices are provided to help guide psychologists' behavior and actions when delivering services to a diverse clientele in the schools.

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