CHAPTER 5

ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGISTS IN
INTERDISCIPLINARY RELATIONS
IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

Lynda Kasky-Hernández and Gary L. Cates

ABSTRACT

The roles and functions of a school psychologist are multifaceted. School

psychologists are traditionally trained in areas of assessment, interven-
tion, consultation, and program evaluation, though they often participate
in prevention and crisis intervention efforts and program evaluation
(Harvey & Struzziero, 2008). School psychologists work at district,
building, and individual student levels to provide comprehensive and
effective services to children and families. Despite a wide range of
responsibilities, the school psychologist works in conjunction with other
school professionals (e.g., general and special education teachers,
speech-language pathologists, audiologists, social workers, principals)
and parents to foster individual student success. This chapter presents
the general roles and responsibilities of the school psychologist, as well
as the school psychologist’s role within an interdisciplinary team when
making appropriate educational decisions.
Keywords: Interdisciplinary team; school psychologist; multitiered
system of support; Response-to-Intervention; decision-making

Interdisciplinary Connections to Special Education: Important Aspects to Consider

Advances in Special Education, Volume 30A, 81 94
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All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 0270-4013/doi:10.1108/S0270-40132015000030A019
81
82 LYNDA KASKY-HERNÁNDEZ AND GARY L. CATES

PROFESSIONAL SNAPSHOT

Ms. Francis arrives at the school at 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning. As she
sets down her coffee and arranges files for her caseload at the elementary
school, she plays back phone messages and responds to emails that she has
received over the past three days. Ms. Francis works at two schools, two
days in an elementary school and two days in a high school. She also stays
busy as a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) specialist for the district and
spends one day a week traveling to schools in the district to provide sup-
port to staff in their efforts to collect, manage, and interpret school-wide
progress monitoring data.
At the top of her list this morning, Ms. Francis has an Individual
Education Program (IEP) meeting at 8:05 a.m. for a fourth grade student
named Mateo. Mateo is an English Language Learner student and is cur-
rently receiving intensive services for reading. Ms. Francis, the interdisci-
plinary team, and Mateo’s parents will together review the information
that various members at the school have collected over the past few weeks
to (a) determine the educational needs for Mateo in the area of reading and
(b) to determine whether those needs warrant eligibility for special educa-
tion services for more individualized educational programming. Ms.
Francis spends the next 35 minutes reviewing data collected from Mateo’s
educational record, assessment results from the Woodcock Reading
Mastery Test (WRMT; Woodcock, 2011), school-wide benchmarking
assessment data from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy
(University of Oregon, 2015), teacher and student interview transcriptions,
and systematic direct behavioral observations she has collected over the
past few weeks in preparation for the IEP meeting before greeting Mateo’s
parents in the main office. After playing the facilitator’s role of the meeting,
Ms. Francis anticipates that she will likely engage in a variety of interdisci-
plinary roles related to Mateo’s educational future. Specifically she antici-
pates regardless of outcome that she may play an active role in one or
more of the following roles: (a) serve as a parent liaison; (b) coordinate
and/or implement intervention services in reading; (c) facilitate intervention
data collection, analysis, and interpretation; and (d) provide ongoing sys-
tematic support to other team members in the form of consultation.

INTRODUCTION

A school psychologist plays a necessary role in the education system as a

trained professional who works with students, families, and school staff to
promote student learning and development. The role of the school
Role of Psychologists in Interdisciplinary Relations 83

psychologist is, in part, to ensure that school practices align with recent leg-
islation, including No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), and in many states, RtI.
As such, the school psychologist plays an integral role in choosing scientifi-
cally based interventions, monitoring intervention effectiveness, and contri-
buting to making appropriate data-based decisions for service delivery of
all children. In order to provide the most effective services for children and
their families, school psychologists work collaboratively with other skilled
professionals through a team approach. Together, an interdisciplinary team
follows a systematic method for problem solving in order to provide com-
prehensive and effective services to children and families.

GENERAL ROLES OF THE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST

School psychologists are traditionally trained in many areas of assessment
(e.g., cognitive, academic, and social behavior), intervention (e.g., beha-
vioral management and social-emotional intervention), and consultation
with parents and school staff (Harvey & Struzziero, 2008). In addition to
receiving training in multiple areas, a school psychologist works at various
levels within individual schools and districts to provide both direct (e.g.,
intervention) and indirect (e.g., consultation) academic and mental health
services to children and adolescents. These levels include working at a dis-
trict level or individual schools, as well as working with students at the
individual level. Fig. 1 displays common activities of the school psycholo-
gist at three levels: district, building, and individual student. We will discuss
the various roles individually at each of the major levels.

District-Level Roles

At the district level, a school psychologist may assume responsibilities that

affect a large number of schools. As an example, a school psychologist at
the district level may be involved in the analysis and interpretation of stu-
dent data that are collected through an RtI system. Responsibilities may
include compiling and managing data related to monitoring student perfor-
mance for the district. School psychologists at the district level may also
train other professionals to collect and manage school and individual class
or student data. The data management role is especially important given
that federal legislation has placed increasing emphasis on the implementa-
tion and monitoring of RtI (Cates, Blum, & Swerdlik, 2011). In addition to
involvement in data collection and management, a school psychologist at
84 LYNDA KASKY-HERNÁNDEZ AND GARY L. CATES

Fig. 1. Common Activities Related to the Role of the School Psychologist at

Three Major Levels.

the district level may provide in-service workshops to provide additional

training to other educational professionals. Trainings may specifically
address a district’s needs or may provide helpful educational information
on recent topics that benefit the district as a whole, such as assistive tech-
nology, supported social-emotional interventions, or other professional
development opportunities. These activities are helpful during interdisci-
plinary meetings such as the one described at the beginning of this chapter
as they help with the decision-making process in addition to the under-
standing and implementation procedures that often follow.

Building-Level Roles

At the building level, a school psychologist supports the efforts of teachers

and other school staff in providing educational support to children and
their families. School psychologists are frequently called upon to provide
expertise in assessment, intervention, and problem solving within interdisci-
plinary teams for special education decisions. School psychologists are
instrumental in identifying and implementing school-wide prevention and
intervention programs that are supported by sufficient evidence (Strein,
Kuhn-McKearin, & Finney, 2014). For instance, a school psychologist may
lead efforts to locate funding, involve families, and monitor the effective-
ness of school-wide positive behavior interventions and support strategies
Role of Psychologists in Interdisciplinary Relations 85

(McKevitt & Fynaardt, 2014). Given their training in evidence-based inter-

vention strategies, school psychologists may lead crisis intervention efforts
by developing crisis plans, identifying evidence-based interventions relevant
for building-level crisis management, and examining the effectiveness of cri-
sis interventions (Brock, Reeves, & Nickerson, 2014).
Consultation with teachers is also a critical role of the school psycholo-
gist. At the building level, a school psychologist may consult with teachers
about specific student concerns and provide small-group academic or
social-emotional interventions. An important aspect of intervention imple-
mentation is the integrity of the intervention. The school psychologist may
also conduct treatment integrity checks during class-wide implementation
of interventions and are in a position to provide feedback to teachers in
order to improve intervention consistency and effectiveness (Cates et al.,
2011). Within an RtI framework for service delivery, the school psycholo-
gist often participates or even leads universal screening and progress moni-
toring of students at various grade levels and provides small-group
interventions as necessary.

Individual Student-Level Roles

In addition to district- and building-level roles, a school psychologist often

works directly with children and their families to identify any academic,
behavioral, or social-emotional concerns. Depending on the school’s needs,
the school psychologist commonly assists in the provision of individualized
services. Additionally, school psychologists have specific training in moni-
toring whether students are responding sufficiently to any interventions
that may be in place. School psychologists play a large consultative and
communicative role between home and school systems. For instance, a
school psychologist may work with parents and teachers to implement a
behavioral rewards system that is consistent between the student’s home
and school settings. In general, school psychologists are in the position to
advocate on behalf of individual students and families.

DIRECT SERVICE TO STUDENTS: A MULTITIERED

MODEL OF SYSTEM OF SUPPORT

School psychologists interact with students in schools who receive a range

of general and special education services. One of the most essential roles of
86 LYNDA KASKY-HERNÁNDEZ AND GARY L. CATES

a school psychologist is his/her involvement in the evaluation of children

and adolescents’ academic skills, cognitive functioning, problem behaviors, and
social competencies. The multitiered model of assessment, intervention, and
evaluation of outcomes is becoming a useful diagnostic process used to
identify student needs that require more specialized educational program-
ming (Greshman, 2014). Within a multitiered system of support such as
RtI, the school psychologist interacts with students on all levels to provide
appropriate academic and social-emotional support. The number of tiers
within a multitiered model typically ranges from two to four, with a three-
tiered model being most common. School psychologists play an important
role at each level of the model. Tier 1 level services are designed to address
the needs of the largest amount of students, targeting approximately
80 90% of the class or school population (Stoiber, 2014). Tier 1 services
include class- or school-wide programs, including universal screenings for
reading or math, prevention programs, social-emotional learning programs
(e.g., Second Step), and the general education curriculum (Cates et al.,
2011). The school psychologist may provide assistance at the Tier 1 level by
identifying instructional strategies or programs to meet students’ needs.
School psychologists also provide direct services to students at the Tier 2
level.
At the Tier 2 level, more targeted services are provided in addition to
Tier 1 services to a smaller group of students needing more help, time, or
support. At the Tier 2 level, the school psychologist may provide consulta-
tion and assistance to teachers and other school staff in the identification
and implementation of Tier 2 interventions. Identifying the area of concern,
selecting evidence-based interventions, and progress monitoring and inter-
preting data for students in Tier 2 are critical to the success of the multi-
tiered system of support. The school psychologist may also help support
students at the Tier 2 level for social-emotional concerns by conducting
functional assessments to design more targeted interventions based on stu-
dent behavior (Stoiber, 2014).
Tier 3 represents the most intensive intervention services for approxi-
mately 1 5% of students in a school (Stoiber, 2014). This small group con-
sists of students who are identified by the school psychologist and other
members of the decision-making team as not benefiting sufficiently with
Tier 1 and Tier 2 services. Tier 3 services are designed to be individualized
or small-group intervention and evaluation that supplement Tier 1 and 2
levels of instruction. The school psychologist is highly instrumental at the
Tier 3 level through consulting with teachers and other school personnel
to determine the specific nature of the student’s concerns. The school
Role of Psychologists in Interdisciplinary Relations 87

psychologist is often in a unique position to identify effective intervention

strategies for students who exhibit more severe academic, social-emotional,
and behavioral concerns (Stoiber, 2014). In general, the school psychologist
may also ensure fidelity of Tier 1 and 2 interventions through treatment
integrity checks.
In addition to helping identify the necessary level of intervention for the
child or adolescent to improve his or her performance to expected levels,
the school psychologist also plays a large role in determining student elig-
ibility for special education (Stoiber, 2014). Through a multitiered model of
support, a student whose performance does not improve to the expected
levels despite intensive levels of support is eligible for evaluation for special
education services. The school psychologist is a highly valuable member of
the decision-making team that is responsible for addressing student eligibil-
ity concerns. The school psychologist’s role in the decision-making process
is described in more detail below.

DECISION MAKING: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY

APPROACH

As a member of an interdisciplinary team, the school psychologist is typi-

cally responsible for gathering critical information from teachers, parents,
and students in order to facilitate the multidisciplinary team’s data-based
decision making about children’s educational needs. As such, the school
psychologist is generally called upon for his or her expertise in areas that
are focused on supporting the student both directly and indirectly. School
psychologists are traditionally involved in individual assessment (e.g., cog-
nitive and academic assessment), as well as the implementation and moni-
toring of interventions (e.g., behavior management and counseling). School
psychologists also have training in collecting, managing, and interpreting
data and student outcomes within multitiered systems of support. Given
this wide range of duties, a school psychologist’s effectiveness is highly
dependent upon the collaboration of a multidisciplinary team.
Decisions about a child’s education are made using a problem-solving pro-
cess in order to collect data from multiple sources of data and multiple infor-
mants (e.g., teachers, parents, and the child). The school psychologist often
uses data to guide and support decisions. Fig. 2 shows a typical framework
that a school psychologist takes during his or her involvement in an IEP
meeting. At each stage of the decision-making process (before, during, and
after), the school psychologist may use specific strategies to organize data.
88 LYNDA KASKY-HERNÁNDEZ AND GARY L. CATES

Identify the student

concern

Teacher interview Classroom observation

Before the IEP Record review Student interview
meeting
Parent interview Student testing
Student testing

During the IEP

Intervention development
meeting

Following the IEP

Intervention implementation
meeting

Follow-up Intervention evaluation

meeting Intervention decision

Fig. 2. School Psychologist’s Path Before, During, and After IEP Meeting.

During each of these phases, the school psychologist is involved in sys-

tematic data collection in order to fully assess the student concern. RIOT is
an acronym that provides a blueprint for a best practice approach to asses-
sing student concerns. The methods of assessment involved in the problem
analysis fall into four general categories: Reviews, Interviews, Observations,
and Tests.

Record Review

A record review includes reviewing such formal school documents such as

educational records (e.g., report cards), attendance, suspensions, and medi-
cal records. Office referrals and referrals to the school nurse are included
Role of Psychologists in Interdisciplinary Relations 89

within records. Permanent products, or work samples, that inform the spe-
cific educational concern can also be collected. For example, completed
and graded classroom worksheets can be obtained from the student’s tea-
cher to inform decisions about a student who is being assessed for a mathe-
matics concern. If the school is fully engaged in a RtI or other multitiered
system of support, data on the student’s response to the general curriculum
(and potentially more intense services) are also available. Information col-
lected during the record review stage can inform further assessment, as well
as help the multidisciplinary team conceptualize the student’s concern.

Interviews

Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews can be used to

facilitate the data collection process. Interviews can be conducted with the
student to obtain more information about him or her. An interview with
the student, him/herself, often informs possible rewards and reinforcers
that may be used as part of an intervention plan. Students may also be
asked directly about their thoughts on instructional strategies that are most
effective for them. Interviews also afford the school psychologist with an
opportunity to identify the student’s strengths, which are important to
identify when developing intervention plans and building rapport with the
family. Interviews with a parent or parental figure can provide information
about the student’s development that may contribute to the present con-
cern. Discussing the student’s performance in the classroom with the stu-
dent’s teacher(s) also assists the school psychologist in understanding when
the teacher first identified the student’s concern, strategies the teacher has
already attempted, and the result of such strategies.

Observations

In addition to interviewing the student, his or her parent, and/or the stu-
dent’s teachers, school psychologists may also conduct direct observations
of the student. Classroom observations can inform the student’s academic
engagement or on-task behavior during particular subjects in comparison
to other subjects. Classroom observations also provide information about
the type of instruction that the student is exposed to, the amount of direct
feedback provided, and the number of opportunities the student has to
90 LYNDA KASKY-HERNÁNDEZ AND GARY L. CATES

respond during a given lesson. Observations across settings help to deter-

mine where the student’s behaviors are more and less likely to occur.

Testing

Testing is often used in conjunction with a thorough record review, inter-

views, and observation in order to rule out competing explanations about a
student’s behavior. Such testing may include specific assessments that tar-
get the student’s problem in a particular subject (e.g., mathematics or read-
ing). School psychologists are often called upon to assess areas of concern
using standardized achievement tests, standardized domain-specific tests,
curriculum-based assessments (e.g., comparing a child’s performance to
peers or a criterion), and curriculum-based evolutions (e.g., observing a stu-
dent’s strengths and weaknesses relative to a curriculum). Rating scales are

I C E L
Review a student’s
Review a student’s old files for previous Observe student’s
Review notes from
permanent products teachers’ self-efficacy for
R past teachers to find
effective instructional
in a particular class recommendations for writing by looking at
(e.g., writing the best instructional previous writing
techniques environment for the
worksheets) samples
student
A teacher interview Speak with the
Interview the student
to collect information Interviewing the teacher about
to learn more about
I
about effective student to learn more differences in
his or her study
instruction methods about the child’s physical structure of
habits, attitude
for the student(e.g., skills in a writing the classroom during
towards writing, etc.
large group) writing time

Conducting a Conduct a classroom

classroom observation of the
Observe the nature of
classroom during Teacher ratings of the
observation to various in-class
O monitor student’s on- writing tasks and the
writing activities
(e.g., proximity of the
student’s number of
attempts on writing -
task behavior during presentation of those
teacher to students; related tasks
whole class tasks
noisy distractions;
instruction disruptive peers)
A behavioral
Academic or
observation of a Assessing the
cognitive testing; Administration of a
student’s on-task student’s accuracy on
T monitoring student’s
response using a
diagnostic test using
the student’s reading
behavior in various assignments with and
desks (e.g., near peers without a reward or
behavioral incentive curriculum
vs. isolated work reinforcement
program
conditions)

Fig. 3. ICEL Matrix Example.

Role of Psychologists in Interdisciplinary Relations 91

also used to identify any concerns teachers have regarding students’ beha-
vior, academics, or social performance.
In order to conduct a thorough and informed analysis of the concern,
multiple sources of information must also be considered. These sources of
information are represented in the acronym ICEL and include the follow-
ing domains: Instruction, Curriculum, Environment, and Learner.
Examples of types of information that can be collected in each domain are
listed in in Fig. 3. The use of this matrix can provide insight into the sever-
ity of the concern and can initiate a more thorough assessment process
(Christ, 2008).

SPECIAL ISSUES RELATED TO SCHOOL

PSYCHOLOGISTS AND INTERDISCIPLINARY
PROCESS
It is evident that school psychologist play an active role in the mental
health and academic success of students in the interdisciplinary process.
Because the school psychologist plays many roles and serves many func-
tions, it is helpful to understand the amount of time spent by a school psy-
chologist in the major activities described above. Bramlett, Murphy,
Johnson, Wallingford, and Hall (2002) conducted a survey of nearly 800
school psychologists about the amount of time they spent engaged in a
variety of activities. The school psychologists reported that 47% of their
time was spent in assessment. The remaining time was spent in consultation
(16%), intervention (13%), counseling (8%), conferencing (7%), supervi-
sion (3%), in-services (2%), research (1%), parent training (1%), and
others (3%). It is apparent that roughly 75% of a school psychologist’s
time is spent in assessment, intervention, and/or consultation.
It is estimated that 20% children will experience a significant mental
health issue during their time in school (National Association of School
Psychologists (NASP), 2015). Because the school psychologist is an impor-
tant contributor to the interdisciplinary process, it is also helpful to under-
stand the current status of school psychologists with regard to
employment. The NASP recommends a ratio of 1 school psychologist to
1,000 students (NASP, 2015). Currently a ratio of about 1 school psycholo-
gist to 1,600 students exists (NASP, 2015). With additional funding
decreases and increased levels of accountability with regard to legislation in
education, it is apparent that the need for school psychologists to facilitate
92 LYNDA KASKY-HERNÁNDEZ AND GARY L. CATES

the assessment, intervention, and consultation process will likely increase.

This means that while the student to school psychologist ratio increases,
the availability of quality services administered through interdisciplinary
teams may decrease.
The shortage of school psychologists is not simply a self-serving point of
view of the authors of this chapter. A survey of teachers by Watkins,
Crosby, and Pearson (2001) revealed that not only were school psycho-
logists regarded as important to their predominant role of assessment, they
were perceived as important to special education input, consultation, and
counseling. Specifically teachers were interested in seeing the school
psychologist not only maintain their role in assessment but also in seeing
them expand their presence in their buildings daily to engage in a variety of
activities.

CONCLUSION
The role of the school psychologist is multifaceted. School psychologists
are trained in various areas, including assessment (e.g., cognitive and aca-
demic assessment batteries, diagnostic testing), intervention (e.g., beha-
vioral intervention, counseling), and consultation with parents and school
staff. At the district level, school psychologists are often involved in mana-
ging and analyzing data and providing district-wide professional develop-
ment workshops. At the school and building level, school psychologists
spend time exercising their expertise in assessment, as well as intervention
and consultation with teachers and parents. At the individual student level,
school psychologists often conduct individualized assessment and interven-
tion and collaborate with students’ families to promote home school colla-
boration and communication. One of the most essential roles of the school
psychologist is his or her involvement in the evaluation of students’ skills
using a multitiered model of assessment, intervention, and evaluation.
Through this multitiered system (e.g., RtI), the school psychologist is
actively involved in each tier to provide assistance to students identified as
requiring varying levels of academic, behavioral, and social support.
Frequently, school psychologists are called upon to participate in the
decision-making process regarding students’ educational future. The school
psychologist uses data to guide important educational decisions using a sys-
tematic data collection process (e.g., completion of the RIOT × ICEL
matrix) to ensure that an appropriate breadth and depth of information is
Role of Psychologists in Interdisciplinary Relations 93

collected to make such important decisions. Based on a study conducted by

Bramlett et al. (2002), school psychologists reported that a large percentage
of their role is spent conducting assessments (47% of the school psycho-
logist’s time), followed by other activities including consultation (16%),
intervention (13%), counseling (8%), conferencing (7%), supervision (3%),
in-services (2%), research (1%), and parent training (1%). Thus, school
psychologists spend most of their time (75%) engaged in assessment, inter-
vention, and/or consultation activities. The role of school psychologists is
increasingly important given the number of students who experience signifi-
cant mental health issues at some point in their educational career (NASP,
2015). Thus, there is a great need for increased numbers of school psycho-
logists entering the field in order to assist in the necessary assessment,
intervention, and consultation to meet students’ academic, social, and
behavioral needs.

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