Personnel Needs in School Psychology: A 10-Year Follow-Up Study on Predicted Personnel Shortages

Abstract

Concerns regarding whether a sufficient supply of school psychologists exists have been evident for decades. Studies have predicted that school psychology would face a critical personnel shortage that would peak in 2010, but continue into the foreseeable future. The current study is a 10‐year follow‐up investigation based on previously published personnel shortage projections. Data derived from the National Association of School Psychologists 2009–2010 national study were used to examine current personnel shortages as well as to project the extent to which personnel shortages are likely to continue. Findings indicate that the field of school psychology continues to experience a personnel shortage that will continue through 2025. Additionally, greater rates of retirements are projected for the field for school psychologists who are males, who possess a doctoral degree, and for university faculty. Analyses based on the U.S. Census Regions indicate that notable differences are likely to occur in the match between the supply of and demand for school psychologists based on geographical location. Implications are discussed relating to the recruitment and retention of school psychologists and to the services they deliver.

The research impact of school psychology faculty

“…Consistent with demographic trends in school psychology (Castillo, Curtis, & Tan, 2014), female faculty members outnumbered male faculty members at the assistant (72 vs. 25, respectively) and associate (79 vs. 64, respectively) professor ranks. Although male faculty members were more numerous at the full professor rank, they received their doctoral degrees around 5 years prior to the female full professors.…”

A case example of one state's efforts to measure and address the critical shortage of school psychologists

“…Consistent with national projections (Castillo et al, ) and reports from other states (e.g., KASP, ), data from district supervisors of school psychologists and university trainers indicated that the current supply of school psychologists is not keeping pace with the increasing demand. Reports from participants indicated that levels of retirements and attrition of school psychologists for other reasons exceeded the numbers of school psychologists entering the field from state training programs consistent with national estimates.…”

“…Shortages in the number of school psychologists have been reported for decades (Curtis, Hunley, & Grier, ; Miller, ; Miller & Palomares, ; Thomas, ; U.S. Department of Education, 1991) and are predicted to continue into the next decade (Castillo, Curtis, & Tan, ). Castillo et al () projected that approximately 1,000 to 1,500 more school psychologists each year will exit the field due to retirement and attrition than will enter the field through graduating from school psychology training programs from 2015 to 2025. The authors also projected that the magnitude of the deficit will vary regionally with some areas being hit harder by personnel shortages than others.…”

“…Castillo et al () postulated that personnel shortages would lead to increases in the ratio of students to school psychologists, which was reason for concern given that higher ratios have been associated with more special education‐related activities such as initial evaluations and re‐evaluations (Curtis et al, ; Curtis et al, ). Although correlation does not imply causation, these data, combined with school psychologists’ traditional gatekeeper role to special education (Fagan and Wise, ; Fagan, ), indicate that school psychologists may be relegated to more traditional psychoeducational evaluation duties if required to serve greater numbers of students.…”

“…Although projections of personnel shortages provide valuable information regarding current supply of versus demand for school psychological services, they are not without limitations. Both Curtis et al () and Castillo et al () relied on a number of assumptions when deriving their projections. In the most recent projection, Castillo et al estimated the total population of school psychologists by dividing the total school age population in the U.S.…”