Rural School Psychology: Perspectives on Lessons Learned and Future Directions

Abstract

Studies of rural school psychology have focused too heavily upon the problems and characteristics of these settings at the expense of their strengths. Interest should also be focused upon strategies for rural practitioners to cope with the realities of the settings and maximize service delivery. Several conditions are described under which favorable expansion and delivery of school psychological services to rural areas can be anticipated. These include parent and administrator variables, public relations, training concerns, expanded role and function, external influences on local schools, considering concepts from family system theory, and those of expert and referent power.