The School Assistance Center

Abstract

The School Assistance Center is presented as a viable alternative to the traditional delivery model for school psychology services. The effect of recent developments in special education in the United States on the role of the school psychologist is discussed, the shortcomings of the traditional model are reviewed and the School Assistance Center is described. The regular education initiative of the 1980s and, more recently, the inclusion movement reduces the need for assessment and increases the need for consultation. The School Assistance Center better meets these needs as it promotes consultation, collaboration and intervention in regular education classrooms in which students with special needs are enrolled. Following the successful pilot of the School Assistance Center in a medium-sized, urban school district in 1993, the model was adopted throughout the district in 1994.