Preservice teachers' impressions of psychoeducational reports

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate how preservice teachers perceived the utility of a psychological report for their practice (e.g., creating an individual education plan or a lesson plan). Teacher candidates, who were enrolled in an Inclusive Education course, used fictional psychological reports as the basis for course assignments and were then asked to rate and describe the utility of each report section. Participants reported that most sections of the report were very accessible, and that the recommendations section was the most useful for their teaching practice. Qualitative comments revealed that teacher candidates were employing a student‐focused lens and identifying information that would enable them to support students in their class. Implications are discussed with respect to how to close the knowledge gap between educators and school psychologists.