Supervision and Mentoring for Early Career School Psychologists: Availability, Access, Structure, and Implications

Abstract

This study is the first national survey of supervision and mentoring practices for early career school psychologists (ECSPs). Respondents included 700 participants, 38% of whom reported having access to professional supervision. Time, availability, and proximity to a supervisor were found to be the most common barriers to accessing supervision and mentoring; access to technology, supervisor interest, and cost were not found to be as significant. Nearly 30% of ECSPs reported feeling pressure to practice outside their boundaries of competence because they did not have access to mentoring or supervision, suggesting a potential ethical concern. Results demonstrate the need to provide more supervision and mentoring opportunities for ECSPs, particularly given the National Association of School Psychologist's requirement that first‐time Nationally Certified School Psychologist renewal applicants complete a year of mentoring or supervision. Implications of the results, strategies to support the barriers to access, and future directions for research are addressed.

What we know and do not know about supervision in school psychology: A systematic mapping and review of the literature between 2000 and 2017

“…Supervision in school psychology is considered critical from training to advanced practice, and presumably contributes to overall school improvement, and student success (National Association of School Psychologists, ). All school psychology trainees receive field and university supervision during graduate training, and approximately one‐third of practitioners receive clinical supervision focused on the ongoing development of school psychology knowledge and skills (Curtis, Castillo, & Gelley, ; Silva, Newman, Guiney, Valley‐Gray, & Barrett, ). Much has been written about “best practices” in supervision in school psychology (e.g., Harvey & Desai, ; Harvey & Struzziero, ; National Association of School Psychologists, ; Simon & Swerdlik, ).…”

“…Several articles in the sample focused on describing current supervision practices in school psychology, including attention to issues such as access, availability, and supervisee satisfaction. Several of these studies used survey methods (Chafouleas, Clonan, & Vanauken, ; Cochrane, Salyers, & Ding, ; Flanagan & Grehan, ; Silva et al, ; Tarquin & Truscott, ; Thielking, Moore, & Jimerson, ; S. B. Ward ; S. Ward & Ward, ), although qualitative (e.g., Annan & Ryba, ) and other exploratory methods (Gibbs et al, ) were also present in the sample.…”

“…The need for more supervision was linked with overarching continuing education and professional development needs of practicing school psychologists (Annan & Ryba, ; Chafouleas et al, ; Crespi, 2003; Crespi & Dube, ; Lam & Yuen, ; Silva et al, ). Supervision's importance was deemed essential due to changing roles and tasks required by practitioners particularly in terms of escalating requirements for expertize in school‐based mental health services, ensuring best practices for clients, and implementing ethical and legal practices (Crespi, 2003; Crespi & Dube, ).…”

“…Several authors also raised the concern that administrative supervision of school psychologists is generally provided by educators who are not themselves school psychologists, thus lacking the professional background to understand and support best practices in the field and ability to focus on the professional skill development of supervisees (Chafouleas et al, ; Dixon & Burns, ; Lam & Yuen, ). Supervision needs for early career school psychologists (ECSPs), those in the first 5 years of professional practice, was demonstrated by Silva et al (); these authors found limited professional supervision access and availability and frequent perceived pressure to practice outside of areas of competence for ECSPs.…”

“…The authors called for supervisors to become system change leaders to address these barriers to best practice, implicitly modeling change‐agent skills for supervisees. Silva et al () found that a lack of supervisor availability, insufficient time, and lack of proximity to supervisors were viewed as primary barriers to accessing clinical supervision (Silva et al, ). The authors suggested that employing technology for distance supervision might increase access to supervision.…”