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Abstract

Consultation is the process of establishing a partnership with a parent or professional to provide problem-solving assistance regarding a child or student for whom the parent or professional is responsible. The goal is to promote students’ academic and/or social-emotional well-being and performance.

Outline

Introduction
Definition
Key Components and Applications

1. Introduction

Most educators find that they are better able to provide the highest quality education services for their students when they work as partners with other staff and families to address student-related problems and promote competence. School consultation is a systematic process for implementing this partnership and engaging in problem solving. This research paper describes the knowledge, beliefs, and procedures required for successful practice.

Interest in school consultation became prominent during the late 1960s and 1970s, and there continues to be a high demand for training and practice in this area today. The impetus was that many school practitioners found that demands on their time for direct one-on-one service exceeded their capacity to provide assistance, and they also observed that many problems could be solved or prevented from becoming more serious if teachers and parents were given relatively immediate support in addressing problems that arose. Consultation addressed both of these needs, and it continues to be an important job activity for many school professionals who provide support services, including school psychologists, special educators, guidance counselors, school social workers, speech and language pathologists, and school nurses. As a result, many universities that offer professional training in education and applied psychology now offer formal coursework and practicums in this area. Further support for such services results from the mounting body of empirical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of consultative services.

2. Definition

School consultation refers to the process of providing preventively oriented, systematic, reciprocal problem-solving assistance to empower consultees, thereby promoting students’ academic and/or social–emotional well-being and performance. Participants form cooperative partnerships using an ecobehavioral perspective, with the consultees retaining responsibility for the students. The process is distinguished from ‘‘collaboration’’ and other services in that students are helped indirectly through the consultative problem-solving process.

3. Key Components And Applications

3.1. Participants

Consultation can involve two or more individuals. The person who provides help (e.g., school psychologist, special educator) is the consultant, and those seeking assistance are consultees (e.g., teachers, parents). The majority of school consultation takes place on a one-on-one basis, but group consultation frequently occurs as well, as with intervention assistance teams and in individualized education program (IEP) meetings or when major school reform initiatives are introduced by an external consultant. A critical distinction between consultation and other services is that the student who is the focus of the problem solving generally is not directly involved in the consultation sessions. In other words, the student is helped indirectly rather than directly as in teaching or counseling.

3.2. Ecobehavioral Perspective

Students and problems must be examined from a broad perspective because many times the issues being discussed have their origins in factors outside of the students and students live in systems outside of the school (e.g., family, community). Frequent causes of problems include the manner in which instruction is delivered, limited opportunities provided for student engagement in class, methods used for behavior management, social relationships, district policies, and family issues. However, sometimes problems are related to factors internal to students (e.g., those resulting from medical conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and traumatic brain injury) and to environmental factors (e.g., poverty, emotional neglect or abuse). A behavioral approach is commonly used to identify and define problems, understand the contingencies maintaining them, alter consequences to change the problem behavior, and assess the outcomes of the intervention.

3.3. Preventive Orientation

Consultation makes assistance more readily available rather than requiring a formal referral for an evaluation and then waiting for extended periods of time for it to take place as is traditionally done in many schools. Through consultation, problems can be solved in a timely manner and consultees are likely to seek assistance early before problems become more entrenched and habitual. Likewise, through the process, consultees improve their own skills and learn techniques for solving problem situations that they can apply to similar issues in the future.

3.4. Problem Solving

The essence and purpose of consultation is to solve problems. The starting point is problem identification. If problems are correctly identified, it is highly likely that they will be solved successfully. A structured systematic approach to problem solving is followed, as outlined in Table I.

3.5. Relationship and Interpersonal Aspects

Consultants exhibit warmth, genuineness, and empathy, and the consultant–consultee relationship is characterized by mutual respect, trust, and cooperation. Establishing a partnership with colleagues and parents is critical for effective consultative problem solving. What this means is that the consultant not only must view consultees as partners who possess expertise but also must actively involve and engage them as the problem-solving process unfolds. As a result, consultees are more likely to support and carry out interventions that are developed.

Consultation Processes in Schools Research Paper t1 TABLE I Consultative Problem-Solving Process

3.6. External Consultants

In addition to having special services and other staff providing consultation services, some schools hire outside experts to assist with specific projects, for example, introducing a new program such as Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Systems and evaluating district efforts to achieve No Child Left Behind Act goal attainment. The services these individuals offer can be highly specialized, but these individuals generally work with districts on a time-limited basis.

3.7. Other Approaches to Consultation

There are many approaches to consultation in schools. Although a behavioral approach, as described in this research paper, is used most often in schools, mental health and organizational consultation often can be found. The essential commonalities among these approaches far exceed the differences. The term ‘‘consultation’’ should not, however, be confused with the ‘‘expert advice-giving’’ approach typically found in medical settings. The latter approach is very different from the egalitarian process described in this research paper.

References:

Bergan, J. R., & Kratochwill, T. R. (1990). Behavioral consultation in applied settings. New York: Plenum.
Caplan, G. (1970). The theory and practice of mental health consultation. New York: Basic Books.
Erchul, W. P., & Martens, B. K. (2002). School consultation: Conceptual and empirical bases of practice (2nd ed.). New York: Kluwer Academic.
Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2003). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (4th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Gutkin, T. B., & Curtis, M. J. (1999). School-based consultation theory and practice: The art and science of indirect service delivery. In C. R. Reynolds & T. B. Gutkin (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (3rd ed., pp. 598–637). New York: John Wiley.
Medway, F. J., & Updyke, J. F. (1985). Meta-analysis of consultation outcome studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 13, 489–504.
Sheridan, S. M., Welch, M., & Orme, S. F. (1996). Is consultation effective? A review of outcome research. Remedial and Special Education, 17, 341–354.
Zins, J. E., & Erchul, W. P. (2002). Best practices in school consultation. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology IV (Vol. 1, pp. 625–643). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
Zins, J. E., & Johnson, L. J. (1994). Prereferral intervention for students with special needs. In T. Huse´ n, & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of education, Vol. 8: Research and studies (2nd ed., pp. 4657–4662). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science.
Zins, J. E., Kratochwill, T. R., & Elliott, S. N. (Eds.). (1993). Handbook of consultation services for children: Applications in educational and clinical settings. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass.

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