School psychology students' perceptions of their practicum experiences

Abstract

We surveyed a national sample of 139 school psychology students to better understand their perceptions of their practicum experiences. Specifically, we examined the students' reports of the types of activities in which they engage during practicum experiences and their perceptions of their school-based supervisors' activities. This information is potentially important as school psychology engages in a paradigm shift. Although most school psychology programs may teach students the proposed new and expanded roles, it is unclear whether field-based experiences are congruent with such university-based training. Results indicate that students spent the majority of their practicum time in assessment-related activities. They were generally satisfied with their practicum experience and supervisor, although many knew little about the range of their supervisor's activities. Most field-based practicum supervisors appeared to provide limited modeling of new and expanded roles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 727–736, 2006.