Teacher Resistance to School-Based Consultation with School Psychologists

Abstract

This study investigated teacher resistance to real-world school-based consultation services delivered by school psychologists. In 2 analyses, the predictive power of both proximal and distal variables was examined with regard to the reported use of consultation over the course of the 1998—1999 school year by elementary school teachers. In the primaryfindings,factor analysis of survey items yielded 8 proximal variable factors: School Psychologist Characteristics, Principal Support for Consultation, Personal Teaching Efficacy, Teacher—School Psychologist Similarity, Classroom Management/Discipline Efficacy, Adequacy of Time Availability for Consulting, Opportunity to Reciprocate, and Teacher Consultation Insight. However, stepwise regression of actual reported teacher consultations on the factors revealed they were not significant. In the secondary analysis of distal variables, using stepwise regression, the number of hours the school psychologist is in the building was the only variable to make a significant, albeit small, contribution to the prediction of number of actual reported consultations. Several important methodological and conceptual differences between the present study and the literature on consultation are identified. Implications, study limitations, and future research directions are discussed.