Conceptualizing cross-cultural school psychology competencies

This Delphi study was designed to identify essential cross-cultural competencies for school psychologists. The investigation extends the results of the Rogers and Lopez (in press) Delphi study by using a distinct panel of experts, different instrumentation, and a modified process to identify cross-cultural competencies for school psychologists. The term cross-cultural is defined broadly and refers to racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse clients from African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander backgrounds in addition to individuals with diverse handicaps, sexual orientations, economic status, religious backgrounds, and gender. In this study, the investigators used the Delphi technique to poll the opinions of I I experts in cross-cultural school psychology using an open-ended questionnaire. The panelists reached high levels of agreement in identifying 89 essential cross-cultural competencies. The competencies reflect a wide range of knowledge and skills for school psychologists working in broad ranging capacities with students with cross-cultural backgrounds. Although some essential cross-cultural competencies from the present study are similar to those obtained in the Rogers and Lopez study and in the cross-cultural counseling competency literature, the essential competencies also reflect differences in the scope and types of competencies identified.