Understanding School-Based Consultation as Engineering Using a Mix of Methods

ABSTRACT

The central purpose of school-based consultation is making psychological and educational knowledge accessible to teachers, parents, systems, and communities so that it becomes standard practice. Current research methods based on limited scientific paradigms have not adequately addressed that purpose. Applied research based on engineering is a better model to study the complex problems at the interface of psychoeducational science, indirect service, and classroom practice in a diverse, pluralistic society. Such research requires a mix of methods focused on producing usable knowledge about the practices and processes of school-based consultation. Mixed method research may be particularly well suited to that task because it a) recognizes the composite expertise of the participants; b) features pragmatic approaches to merge education science with application and implementation realities; and c) acknowledges that educational systems are inherently relational. We provide additional considerations that may be useful as researchers tackle the thorny problems of applied school-based consultation research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Although we refer to school psychology because that is the literature we primarily reference, we believe that the issues and recommendations cited apply to school-based consultants in general.

² See (Onwuegbuzie et al., 2009) for examples of mixed research paradigmatic elements.

³ Consultation researchers can also adapt designs to include other data. For example, using data from small-n methods within a MMR design.

⁴ See figure 1 of (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2009).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen D. Truscott

Dr. Stephen Truscott recently retired as a Professor at Georgia State University. He practiced school psychology in New York State before completing his Psy.D. at the University at Albany. Dr. Truscott's research interests include applied research about school-based consultation and professional issues in professional school psychology such as diversity of the workforce. He is a past Editor of the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation.

Diane M. Truscott

Dr. Diane Truscott recently retired as an Associate Professor at Georgia State University.  Her research and teaching support teachers, urban public schools and their communities through examinations of teacher dispositions and equity-based educational practices.

Michelle L. Washington

Michelle L. Washington is a school psychology student at Georgia State University. She currently practices as a school psychologist in the metro Atlanta area. Michelle's research interest include improving the research to practice gap and diversity issues in the field.

Katherine E. McLendon

Katherine E. McLendon is a doctoral candidate at Georgia State University and a school psychologist in Georgia. Before becoming a school psychologist she was a special education teacher. Her current research projects are related to inclusive post-secondary education.