Educational Psychology, Department of
Title
Final Comments on School Consultation Research
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
February 2008
Abstract
Writing an epilogue (i.e., an ending) to a text as forward-thinking as this one is a bit of an oxymoron.
Indeed, it has been the intent of the coeditors to encourage authors not only to provide "state
of the science" relative to consultation research in key areas, but also to look ahead and carve out
important research agendas still facing the field. It was our hope that the ideas presented herein
would stimulate and invigorate new research directions and agendas and spur researchers to tackle
new and challenging issues to move the field forward. Many themes have been offered in relation
to the research discussed in the preceding chapters. Thus, this concluding chapter synthesizes the
issues presented across chapters and offers some predictions about the future of school consultation
research and its potential to guide practice.
If one thing is certain, it is that the research undertakings required to bolster new understandings
in consultation will be neither simple nor straightforward. Virtually all of the authors in the
handbook reflected on what is known and concluded that much more needs to be known. In one
way or another, each lamented that we are ill-prepared to draw firm conclusions about processes or
outcomes of consultation practice. This assessment is predicated on the fact that previous research
has largely used imprecise or incomplete tools, improper methods, and limited samples. To make
advances, we must improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which consultation works;
interactions among relevant variables; and effects on broader, more salient outcomes. Whereas this
account of limitations may appear rather daunting, we suggest that it represents exciting directions
and opportunities for consultation researchers to expand and energize research efforts for the
future. In this chapter, we explore questions that, if addressed, may accelerate the future progress
of consultation research.
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Comments
Published in Handbook of Research in School Consultation, edited by William P. Erchul and Susan M. Sheridan. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., New York, 2008. ISBN: 9780805853360. Copyright © 2008 Taylor & Francis Group LLC. Used by permission.