Public law 94–142: Practicing school psychologists' perceptions of how this law affects them

Abstract

A questionnaire regarding PL 94-142 and its effects upon the practice of school psychology was developed and mailed to 389 members of the National Association of School Psychologists. Information regarding professional training, years of experience, and type of service system was obtained for the purpose of various group comparisons. Age, sex, number of years of experience, and type of service system were specifically chosen for statistical analysis. Overall results suggested two relatively divergent views expressed by practitioners. The first was the stated belief that school psychology will become much more closely tied to the field of special education, while an alternative opinion was that the field will remain as diverse as the systems it serves.

Learning Disabled or Emotionally Disturbed

“…We are not suggesting that a teacher pretend to have the training or skills of a certified psychologist. Teachers should be aware that PL94-142 redefined some of the roles of the school psychologist (Ysseldyke, 1978;Stevenson-Hicks, 1980), and it also made the psychologist more a colleague of the teacher and less of an Olympian demigod hurling diagnostic fiats from his remote lair. Special educators should be as familiar with the definitions of ED as they are with the definitions of LD and should be able to apply those definitions to the child they have helped evaluate or have observed.…”