ROLE AND FUNCTION OF SCHOOL-PSYCHOLOGISTS, 1992-93 - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

The roles and functions of 52 school psychologists from Iowa and Tenne ssee were examined. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was u sed to test differences between reported time spent on prereferral, as sessment, intervention, consultation, and curriculum-based assessment. Significant differences were found for the time spent in all areas. A second one-way MANOVA was used to test the differences between the tw o groups in reported actual time spent and desired time spent. A signi ficant difference was found for consultation. A third MANOVA was utili zed to test the differences between the two groups' desired time spent on the five variables. A significant difference was found for curricu lum-based assessment. The results suggest that school psychologists in Tennessee and Iowa occupy different roles. School psychologists in Te nnessee reported spending the majority of their time on assessment act ivities, whereas the Iowa sample balances their time between the five functions. The Iowa role exemplifies alternative functions for school psychologists. The Tennessee role is oriented more toward the refer, t est, place model.