This study examined the strengths and weaknesses of employing part-time or contract school psychologists as primary providers of school psychological services for eight rural school divisions. In addition, data were obtained which facilitated comparison of full-time rural school psychological service delivery with the services obtained through these alternative employment arrangements. Questionnaires were completed by two part-time and six contract school psychologists employed by rural school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The supervisors of these school psychologists also completed questionnaires. Both groups of respondents participated in a 40 minute personal interview with the researcher. Additionally, questionnaires were completed by 58 school principals from rural school divisions in Virginia which employed full-time, part-time, or contract school psychologists. Other data analyzed in the study were questionnaire responses from 31 rural school psychologists who had participated in Merchant's (1982) study of the professional practices of full-time school psychologists in Virginia. Results indicated that for the majority of school divisions employing part-time or contract school psychologists, the strengths of the employment were: 1) cost efficiency; 2) impartiality of the school psychologist; and 3) high quality psycho-educational assessments and recommendations. Weaknesses of the employment arrangements were: 1) high psychologist-to-student ratios; 2) lack of school psychologist time to perform non-assessment functions; and 3) lack of accessibility to the school psychologists by parents and school personnel. Contracted school psychologists were found to devote almost all of their professional time to working with handicapped children. Full and part-time school psychologists spent approximately 30% of their time with nonhandicapped students. Salaries of part-time and contracted school psychologists were higher than those of full-time practitioners. Part-time school psychologists, based on a 200 day school year, earned an equivalent of $39,000. Contract school psychologists earned an equivalent of $35,000, while the average yearly salary of full-time practitioners was approximately $18,500. Recommendations included the need for research on contracted and part-time employment of school psychologists in other settings. Additionally, it was recommended that the school psychology profession become actively involved in public awareness activities geared to improving school psychological services in rural areas. / Ed. D.

This study investigated the role-performance of middle and high school counselors in one-counselor public school settings in Virginia; in particular, how these counselors use their time. One goal was to determine whether these counselors were currently meeting the state’s “sixty percent counseling accreditation standard” and what impediments they encountered in their efforts toward compliance. The researcher observed and interviewed a middle school counselor and a high school counselor to gather information about counselor role-performance in the one-counselor school which would be helpful in designing an appropriate research instrument. All counselors who work in one-counselor middle and high schools in Virginia were contacted to participate in a survey regarding their use of time. In addition, a sample of these counselors participated in the next phase of the study by recording their activities over a two day period on a counseling log provided by the researcher. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and to report the findings. The findings of this study are consistent with prior studies of counselor time-utilization showing that counselors spend much of their time in activities considered outside their role, and less time in counseling than they would like. More than half of the counselors in this study did not meet the 60% counseling standard and identified the barriers to compliance they encountered. Recommendations are made regarding counselor time management, educational preparation, and a system of accountability linked less to time-utilization and more to student outcomes. Additional recommendations are made for further research. / Ed. D.