THE SCHOOL ASSISTANCE CENTER - AN ALTERNATIVE MODEL FOR THE DELIVERY OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGICAL-SERVICES

The School Assistance Center is presented as a viable alternative to t he traditional delivery model for school psychology services. The effe ct of recent developments in special education in the United States on the role of the school psychologist is discussed, the shortcomings of the traditional model are reviewed and the School Assistance Center i s described. The regular education initiative of the 1980s and, more r ecently, the inclusion movement reduces the need for assessment and in creases the need for consultation. The School Assistance Center better meets these needs as it promotes consultation, collaboration and inte rvention in regular education classrooms in which students with specia l needs are enrolled. Following the successful pilot of the School Ass istance Center in a medium-sized, urban school district in 1993, the m odel was adopted throughout the district in 1994.