School Psychologist Workforce Shortage and Its Impact on ASD Diagnosis and Intervention Access in Title I Schools

Abstract

This study examines how school psychologist workforce capacity influences the timeliness of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis and access to intervention services within Title I schools in the United States. Using secondary data obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), including the Common Core of Data (CCD) and EDFacts databases, the study adopts a quantitative design to investigate the direct, indirect, and contextual effects of workforce capacity on ASD service delivery outcomes. Workforce capacity was operationalized using the student-to-psychologist ratio, while early identification, intervention access, and assessment capacity were measured using standardized proportional indicators derived from school-level reporting data. The analysis integrated multivariate linear regression, binary logistic regression, mediation analysis, and hierarchical linear modeling to evaluate the relationships among workforce capacity, assessment processes, and intervention access across Title I school contexts. The findings indicate that higher psychologist-to-student ratios significantly reduce early ASD identification rates (β = -0.000185, p < 0.001) and decrease the likelihood of access to intervention services (β = -0.00112, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis further demonstrates that assessment capacity partially mediates the relationship between workforce capacity and service access, while multilevel modeling reveals that the negative effects of workforce shortages are significantly amplified in high Title I contexts (\gamma = -0.000057, p = 0.002). The study concludes that workforce shortages and structural socioeconomic disadvantage jointly constrain ASD diagnostic and intervention pathways within underserved schools. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening workforce distribution, improving assessment infrastructure, enhancing inter-agency coordination, and expanding alternative service delivery models to improve equitable access to ASD-related services.