Analysis of author affiliation across four school psychology journals from 2000 to 2008: Where is the practitioner research?

Abstract

in four major school psychology journals-School Psychology Review, Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, and School Psychology Quarterly-were classified based on type (empirical or narrative) and on the primary and secondary authors' affiliations. Results showed that more than 90% of the primary and secondary authors were university affiliated with little difference across article type. Although more than 85% of school psychologists are practitioners, these results suggest that their contributions to these school psychology journals are limited because they account for less than 10% of the authors of articles. Discussion focuses on practitioners' involvement in the research base that is intended to inform their professional behaviors. C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.A primary role of school psychologists is to collaborate with others to identify, prevent, and remedy student problems via the application of scientifically supported theories, strategies, and procedures (Fagan & Wise, 2000;Merrell, Ervin, & Gimpel, 2006;Shapiro, 2004). The scientific support for school psychologists' professional behaviors comes from multiple fields, including special education, general education, behavior analysis, and applied and experimental psychology (Davis, Zanger, Gerrard-Morris, Roberts, & Robinson, 2005;Hughes, 2000). Also, several school psychology organizations support the dissemination of school psychology research with professional journals, including the American Psychological Association (APA), which publishes School Psychology Quarterly (SPQ); the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), which publishes School Psychology Review (SPR); and the Society for the Study of School Psychology, which publishes Journal of School Psychology (JSP). Another major outlet for school psychology research is Psychology in the Schools (PITS), published by Wiley (Bliss, Skinner, Hautau, & Carroll, 2008;Curtis, Grier, & Hunley, 2004;Davis et al., 2005;Hagin, 1993;Roberts, Gerrard-Morris, Zanger, Davis, & Robinson, 2006;Robinson, Skinner, & Brown, 1998;Skinner, Robinson, Brown, & Cates, 1999).Although one function of school psychology research is to inform practice, educators and researchers have discussed a gap between research and practice that may reduce the influence researchers have on practitioners' ability to (a) link assessment to intervention; (b) change their professional roles; and (c) develop, implement, and evaluate prevention and remediation strategies

Emerging Opportunities for School Psychologists to Enhance Our Remediation Procedure Evidence Base as We Apply Response to Intervention

“…Working collaboratively with educators should help to encourage researchers to refine or adapt existing remediation strategies so that they can be implemented with integrity and sustained in the classroom/school context (Carroll, Skinner, McCleary, Hautau von Mizner, & Bliss, ; Detrich et al, ; Skinner & Skinner, ). Additionally, as various educational professionals and researchers collaborate to remedy academic skills, they are likely to share theories, strategies, and procedures that lead to the development of novel concepts and procedures (Parker, Skinner, Booher, & Crisp‐Turner, ).…”

An updated analysis of author affiliation across four school psychology journals: Is practitioner research increasing?

“…School psychology journals show evidence of growing influence, as indicated by the increase of 2‐year impact factors (Floyd et al., ). Nonetheless, a qualitative gap between the research being produced and the practitioners within the field continues to persist (Bliss, Skinner, Hautau, & Carroll, ; Carroll, Skinner, McCleary, Hautau von Mizener, & Bliss, ; Cohen, McCabe, Michelli, & Pickeral, ; Kehle & Bray, ; Little, Akin‐Little, & Lloyd, ). One reason for the gap may be that interventions that practitioners implement are often tested in a controlled research environment and fail to adapt to the school setting (Chafouleas & Riley‐Tillman, ; Ringeisen, Henderson, & Hoagwood, ).…”

“…The number of practitioners contributing to research is alarmingly low (Carroll et al., ). Carroll et al.…”

“…Carroll et al. () analyzed author affiliation across four major school psychology journals ( School Psychology Quarterly [ SPQ ] , School Psychology Review [ SPR ], Journal of School Psychology [ JSP ], and Psychology in the Schools [ PITS ]) from 2000 to 2008. Book reviews and introductions were excluded from their analysis.…”

“…Carroll et al. () indicated that of the total journal articles analyzed, 9% of primary authors were practitioners within the field, whereas the remaining 91% of primary authors were university affiliated. This was also true of the total percentage of secondary authors; 10% of secondary authors were practitioners in the field, whereas the remaining 90% were university affiliated.…”