The Enabling Support Foundation

Welcome to the School Psychology Center where parents and school personnel can wet their appetites and locate answers to significant questions:

Healthy classroom environments  and learning differences are the full time responsibility of the school-psychologist. The introduction of Federal Law 94-142  was passed by Congress in 1975 to meet the needs of children with identifiable needs. The passage of this law altered the role of the school psychologist in diagnostic-planning and counseling responsibilities.

The School Psychology Center at Enabling Support Foundation is a place to find answers to your questions through a library of information and opportunities for blog discussions. I look forward to your comments and inquiries through the blogs as well as forums. Our site information is updated frequently so join us often. Please feel free to dwell in the School Psychology Center among the research regarding children's difficulties in schools that have been assembled and participate frequently in each of the listed centers through-out the Enabling Support Foundation (ESF) website.

The School Psychologist:  The Role in Assessment

The role of the school psychologist in the assessment and the preparation the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in the United States is significant. A Free and an Appropriate Education (FAPE) is basic to American Education. The IEP process was initiated in 1975 under PL94142 to meet this regulatory requirement. Today, this procedure is further defined in the determinations by revisions in Federal law: IDEA (2004) which requires that practitioners “not use any single measurement or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability” and that the instruments used are “technically sound” (20 U.S.C. SS 1414 b). While it is the lack of academic progress that generally refers a child to the school psychologist, it is the diagnostic evaluation that in fact drives the planning process which is presented to the Committee on Special Education (CSE) with a completion target of thirty school days.  At that time, planning for the academic changes is officially initiated.  

Furthermore, during the diagnostic process, the school psychologist collaborates and maintains the communication with referral agencies outside of the school community including a range of medical resources necessary. Take for example, the assessment of a non speaking child: the school psychologist considers the disturbance in the context of all assessment data to determine if the dysfunction is not better accounted for by a communication disorder (e.g., stuttering) and evaluated whether the occurrence is exclusively during a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder. This assessment process always includes a medical evaluation to rule out undiagnosed issues. Each of these steps is determined by the Federal law.  The school psychologist also reviews test results in light of the known implications for assessing young children with developmental delays.

Statistical significance of the data derived from the various components of the diagnostic process is evaluated by the school psychologist. This important responsibility facilitates the the special education teacher in determining goal selection priorities.  For example, data derived from assessment of vocabulary has a greater validity and reliability than the data derived from paragraph comprehension. Regardless of which diagnostic method is chosen, a basic assessment of information is collected. It is interpreted to determine the student's psychological processing as well as his functional academic ability in the context of the reliability of the data.  The school psychologist assists the team in the utilization of "best practice" methods: for example, he makes references to the reliability tables that describe data specific to the test and the client's performance prior to providing subtest or composite interpretation.

In order to further provide an opportunity to develop comprehension of the collaboration process,  a description of a basic case typically referred to the CSE is presented below:

A dramatically underperforming student with an average range of potential (as determined statistically accurate conventions) can be provided a special education intervention by the Committee for Special Education (CSE) as provided by Federal law.

Essentially, this occurrs  when the rate of growth falls dramatically below predetermined statistical criteria as well as when the parents have noted a major interference with progress.   (Note: Referrals, therefore, are not the consequence of the failure of a single classroom test, nor is referral initiated as a consequence of failure of a single subtest of a psychological measure that adequately informs the process.)

The Committee on Special Education (CSE) makes the decision based on the detailed analysis process which is the responsibility of the school psychologist to determine: it is the special education teacher, generally in collaboration with the school psychologist, that determines the academic priorities presented to the multi-disciplinary decision making body, the CSE.  The annual plan, therefore, results from an intensive collaboration of the multi-disciplinary team including the parents who also provide data for the development of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), including goals and authorizing priorities of how the student's time will be spent in the special education.

Typically, the referral to this committee (CSE) results from the following: 1) the observed needs in the classroom as well as during the formal assessment process  2) the accumulated concerns revealed by the parents to the faculty including the conferences with the school psychologist. Federal law provides that the parents are full partners of the planning process of the goals and strategies that are presented to the decision making body, the Committee on Special Education (CSE).  The plan that evolves includes ongoing assessment with requirements for communication and review to parents. Complexity of the planning process increases as documentation of medical, social or psychological difficulties are documented. Currently, priorities reflect the goal for the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) with the ultimate long term goal of success in the "greater" community.  Note the two pillars that the 2004 revision of the law includes:  the child receives a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE). The school psychologist is a major facilitator of both pillars and works in concert with the special education teacher in the presentation of the significance of assessment results.

How can the school psychologist impact the disabled child in the school? How can parents gain insight to the problems of school age children? How can the community address the serious issues of fragile populations within the community?

School psychologists have extensive scientific knowledge about basic human development. In addition, they specialize in the utilization of validated techniques for assessment. The technological process includes direct and indirect procedures with the expressed goal of limiting the impact of maladaptive behavioral strategies on the progress of students. The school psychologist services within the school system is responsible for monitoring development of behavioral, affective, adaptive, and social skills. In fact, it is the school psychologist, who works in collaboration with others to provide an appropriate environment for behavioral, affective, adaptive, and social goals.

School age students with a wide range of abilities, disabilities, strengths, and needs receive the ongoing support of interventions and monitoring. The planning, consultation, implementation and monitoring of interventions to achieve designated goals as well as the subsequent evaluation of the effectiveness of these tailored interventions is the responsibility of the school psychologist. Interventions, therefore, may include counseling, consultation, and behavioral assessment.

Pollack is one university level researcher who has taken to the streets to address the causes of the significant levels of violence impacting Chicago's children: not surprisingly, the causes are not new.
He points out that many causes are easy to identify and that high unemployment contributes to the environment that is complicated by poverty and However, the Chicago schools are taking responsibility for reaching out aggressively to the youth in order to shift the persistent violence that children view daily in the most acidic environments.

http://crimelab.uchicago.edu/pdf/Gun_Violence_Report.pdf

Current Events: News
Note that a full length movie named "Waiting for Superman" is coming to your theater :
After watching, please participate in our forum. We have prepared this element to share with parents as well as professionals to develop a dialogue regarding progress in current education in the US.

"Exhilarating, heartbreaking and self-righteous, "Waiting for Superman" is also a kind of high-minded thriller: Can the American education system be cured? Can it be made globally competitive? Can it, at least, be made educational? A bucket of ice water in the face of politically motivated complacency, Davis Guggenheim's epic assessment of the rise and fall of U.S. schools has been bought to the viewer in film by Paramount. While this bodes well for theatrical nonfiction overall, it also means that those who prefer can do their crying in the dark."

“Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” explores some of the apparent changes in American society that have led to this crisis in education. Guggenheim uses the major film process to point out the significant and growing gap between rich and poor, as well as a shift in concepts related to our social contract. The downward shift of the general culture along with palpable despair apparently contributes to his perspective of public education. The viewer gains insight to a world that his hard to assess on a day to day basis without looking over the shoulder of the filmmaker. He points to the successful schools that are accessed through a lottery. Then he demonstrates that these charter schools are an answer outside of the more standard school structure. By showing two dedicated idealists who make a difference, he effectively communicates the changes that the identified students need in order to make progress beyond expectations. In fact, this film is expected to rock the boat and functions as a call to the public for major changes in the delivery system.

10/1/10
To read the full review: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941947.html?categoryId=31&cs=1#ixzz1...

—
Sherose  
School Psychologist - Developmental Learning Specialist