Realignment of School Psychology Research, Training, and Practice

Abstract

To ensure the field of school psychology reaches its full potential to positively impact educational systems and student outcomes, research, training, and practice should align. However, these domains are often misaligned leading to research-to-training and research-to-practice gaps and missed opportunities to solve “big” problems. This commentary, in response to the call to “Reconceptualize School Psychology,” proposes a framework for the alignment and interface of these three domains within the field of school psychology. Previously proposed techniques from implementation science, participatory action research, and program evaluation are integrated in the proposed framework. Barriers to the implementation of these techniques are discussed, which provides an agenda to move the field toward alignment through collaborations, resources, and actions. Impact Statement By collaborating, researchers, trainers, and practitioners can maximize their impact on educational systems and student outcomes. However, for collaboration efforts like implementation science and participatory action research to work, researchers, trainers, and practitioners will need to act as change agents to address problematic reward structures in the field of school psychology.