1. Practicing the Three C’s: Cross-Cultural Competence
Excerpts from:
Practicing the Three C’s:
Cross-Cultural Competence
in School Psychological Services
Emilia C. Lopez, Ph.D.
Queens College, CUNY/NASP IDEA Resource Cadre
Doris Páez, Ph.D.
Furman University/NASP IDEA Resource Cadre

2. The Three C’s: Cross-Cultural Competence
“The ability to think, feel, and act in ways that acknowledge, respect, and build upon ethnic, sociocultural, and linguistic diversity.”
(Lynch and Hanson, 1998)

3. Cross-Cultural Competence
Awareness: assumptions, values, biases
Understanding: worldview of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) clients
Knowledge: cultural differences, assessment and intervention strategies
Skills: providing assessment and intervention services
(Sue et al., 1982)

4. Culture “An integrated pattern of human behavior that
includes thoughts, communications, languages,
practices, beliefs, values, customs, courtesies, rituals,
manners of interacting and roles, relationships and
expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, religious or
social group; and the ability to transmit the above to
succeeding generations.”
(National Center for Cultural Competence of Georgetown University:

5. Ethnicity of the U.S. Population Source: 2000 Census%
White/Caucasian
70.7
Hispanic/Latino
12.5
Black/African American
12.3
Asian-American/Pacific Islander
3.6
American Indian/Alaskan Native
0.9

6. Ethnicity of School Psychologists Source: 2003 NASP membership survey (69% response rate)
White/Caucasian
91.0
Hispanic/Latino
Chicano/Mexican American
Puerto Rican
1.7
0.9
0.8
Black/African American
2.4
Asian-American/Pacific Islander
1.1
American Indian/Alaskan Native
0.6

7. Ethnicity Comparison
U.S. Population
School Psychologists

8. Linguistic Diversity of the U.S. Population Source: 2000 Census
17.9 % of the U.S. population (five years old and older) speaks a language other than English at home.
Approximately 11% of the U.S. population is foreign born.

9. Linguistic Diversity of School Psychologists Source: NASP 2000 Bilingual Directory
612 school psychologists speak at least one foreign language
97 school psychologists speak two or more foreign languages

10. Diverse States Source: 2000 Census
26-61% of the population in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and the District of Columbia is African American/black
25-42% of the population in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas is Hispanic
5% of school psychologists in the field are people of color
(Curtis, Hunley, Walker & Baker, 1999)

11. Cross-Cultural Competence
Important to develop given an increasingly diverse population
Benefits children by improving cross-cultural communication and ensuring that consultation, intervention, and assessments are appropriately designed to meet student, staff, and parental needs
Promoted by NASP through partnerships, recruitment efforts, bilingual publications, training, online resources, and advocacy (

12. Six Domains of Service Delivery
Six domains of service delivery needed for cross-culturally competent practice
Domain 1: Legal and Ethical Issues
Domain 2: School Culture, Educational Policy and Institutional Advocacy
Domain 3: Psychoeducational Assessment and Related Issues
Domain 4: Academic, Therapeutic and Consultative Interventions
Domain 5: Working with Interpreters
Domain 6: Research
(Rogers et al., 1999)

13. Domain 1: Legal and Ethical Issues
Knowledge of local, state, and federal laws and regulations, awareness of litigation, and understanding of ethics
Advocate for public policy and educational law

14. Domain 2: School Culture, Educational Policy, and Institutional Advocacy
Knowledge of aspects of organizational culture that promote achievement and mental health for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students
Ability to play a leadership role in the implementation of supportive interventions for CLD students and their families

15. Domain 3: Psychoeducational Assessment
Knowledge of and skills in assessing CLD students, including consideration of variables such as environment, social issues, language development, second language acquisition, acculturation, educational history, quality of educational program, SES and racism

16. Domain 3: Psychoeducational Assessment
Understanding that normed tests may not be a valid measure for English Language Learners (ELLs) due to inappropriateness of norms, scores reflecting English proficiency, product as opposed to process orientation, fairness of content, and differences in educational background, acculturation, and economic situation

17. Domain 4: Academic, Therapeutic, and Consultative Interventions
Skills in multicultural counseling and cross-cultural consultation
Knowledge of multicultural education, ELL programs, and school culture/culture of staff and students

18. Domain 5: Working with Interpreters
Knowledge of recommended systemic practices, including guidelines from professional organizations and national and state policies, and plans for hiring, training, and managing interpreters
Knowledge of recommended practices for interpreters translating for parent conferences, including using school personnel and community members as interpreters (never children or family members)

19. Domain 6: Research
Knowledge of research related to culture and language issues and ability to conduct research that is sensitive to cross-cultural issues
Awareness of Emic-Etic distinctions (Emic: behaviors or views that are common to an ethnic or minority group; Etic: aspects of human functioning that are more universal to peoples across cultures)

20. For More Information and Extensive References
Curtis, Hunley, Walker & Baker, 1999
Lopez E. C., Best Practices in Working With School Interpreters to Deliver Psychological Services to Children and Families. In A. Thomas and J. Grimes (Eds.), Best Practices in School Psychology IV. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
Lynch & Hanson, 1998
NASP Culturally Competent Practice:

21. …continued
National Center for Cultural Competence of Georgetown University:
Rogers, M. R., Ingraham, C. L., Bursztyn, A., Cajigas-Segredo, N., Esquivel, G., Hess, R. S., & Nahari, S. G., & Lopez, E. C. (1999). Best practices in providing psychological services to racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse individuals in the schools. School Psychology International, 20,
Sue, Bernier, Duran, Feinberg, Pedersen, Smith, & Vasquez-Nuttall, 1982
U.S. Census Bureau: