Jill Hutzel
System Organizational/Definitions Summary
Touro College –Fall 2013
PL94-142 (Public Law in 1975) Gave disables kid’s right to a free and appropriate education (Education
for all handicaps children’s act-(now it’s just PL94-142) Unified federal law- More School Psychologist
are now needed!
IDEA-Individuals with Disabilities Act (1990)- united states federal law that governs how states provide
early intervention (birth to 3-5), special education and related services. Broken into 13 categorieschildren need to be classified with one or more of these categories (autism, deaf-blind, deaf, hearingimpaired, emotionally disturbed, MR-mental retardation, multiply disabled, orthopedically impaired,
OHI-other health impaired, learning disabled, speech and language, TBI-traumatic brain injury, visual
impairment-blindness) Page 119
IDEA-(PL-94-142) Continued-students with disabilities being excluded from public schools, this was
going against their rights-FAPE-Free Appropriate Public Education, LRE-Least Restrictive Environment
(give this to kids in the maximum least possible amount) –IDEA known for services provided for people
from 3-21years of age
IDEA Continued- when children are evaluated they need to fall under the 13 handicapped conditionsidentified, evaluated (sound instruments, non-discriminatory, in child’s language, come up with IEP
(reviewed annually) The child can be at the IEP meetings if necessary-Usually just involves parents,
psychologists, teachers, interns, etc…IEP meetings discourage parents that don’t show up-records will be
taken to prove parents where or where not there
Categories of IEP- Current education performance of student, goals, special services and special
equipment, statement about the child with the regular ED population, test modifications, frequency
location and settings, progress and how to keep parents informed about the progress, (14-16years old)
transition period and updated evaluations
No Child Left Behind Act (2001)- Very political- federal law, educational reform- set higher standards
and to establish measurable goals in the schools-educational accountability (make teachers responsible
for test scores-can be penalized) Can be very controversial-hasn’t been documented on whether this is
successful or not
No Child Left Behind Continued-greater accountability in school districts to show that children are being
taught-were all the State Tests came along (regions…) Grades 3-8 in reading and math –if the school
doesn’t show efficient amount of progress, the parents have an option to switch schools, the schools
must provide additional tutoring and instruction, the school might possibly have to replace the staff, or
the state comes and takes over the school -Pro and Cons-2 Negatives; lack of adequate funding to
implement assessment procedures and the use of test scores for disabilities and ESL get included in the
entire test score
NASP and APA- overriding issue is the Doctorate VS the Masters-APA thinks doctorate should be the
minimum level for a Psychologist, although agrees that a Masters level is OK for a school psychologist,
NASP wants Masters level-licensed for independent practice and APA disagrees
NASP says no relationship with students, supervisees, past or present clients- APA says no sexual
relationship with current clients but can engage with clients as long as 2 years have passed (not
encouraging it but sometimes there are unusual circumstance), or anyone close to your client- a
psychologist should not take anyone into therapy that has had a prior relationship
APA-Founded in 1892 and NASP-originated in 1969
Culture-* race and ethnicity-Broader-age, gender, SES, tradition, etc. residential, graphical locationwhere someone is located
Acculturation- process of psychological change when someone is adapted into a new culture, in values,
beliefs and behaviors –acculturation stress can lead to alienation, identity confusion, anxiety, and
depression –can’t assume a child’s problem is always LD or ED could just be a normal response to
adjustment
Use of interpreters-very controversial, better to assess a child with a fluent interpreter-they are usually
frowned upon because some words don’t translate well, you cannot be positive the interpreter
understands you and are conveying the language correctly, they must be an excellent listener and an
exceptional memory, always have to keep confidentiality (use of interpreters is extremely complex and
has only recently been evaluated)
Need to know a lot about language, culture, immigration, language dominance and proficiency- It may
seem like a child has a cognitive deficit but really they are trying to learn 2 different languages, or just
learning a second language- 1.Code-switching means mixing up languages 2. Interference-when 1
language interferes with the other cognitively 3. Silent period- child could be very quiet and has an issue
but they could just be confused and don’t know how to express themselves
Behaviors with bilingual students or students learning a second language- behaviors that are similar to
learning disabilities-usually get labeled with LD- some behaviors include ,withdrawn, distracted, move
around more (especially during English class), hesitating to speak, errors in verbal or written
assignments, difficulties in Math, and reading errors
Cummins (1984) the theory talks about the years it takes to develop a new language for basic learning
skills to academics (2-3 years for basic social and communication skills BICS-basic interpersonal
communication skills, 5-7 years for CALP-Cognitive academic language proficiency – could be more
difficult and academic related) There could be a lot of deception for learning languages, they could
understand every word your saying although they seem as if they don’t understand anything at all
Gathering information related to language dominance by doing an informal interview with family and
you can also use a formal assessment tool-bilingual verbal abilities test (Cummins)
Masters VS Doctorate –MS 60 credits with 1200 clocks hours and Doctorate requires 90 credits with
1500 clock hours –Masters is the typical entry level for school psychologist-doctorate for administrative,
clinical/medical settings or supervisory-doctorate enhances areas such as research methods, specialized
assessment, specific intervention techniques, and clinical expertise for specific populations
10 Characteristics of School Psychologist-strong academic aptitude, brief individual curiosity, excellent
intrapersonal/social skills, strong communication skills (written and verbal), ethical responsibility, strong
desire to help kids, cultural respect, leadership skills, organized and efficient, internal strength (ego,
emotional stability, insightful, adapts well under stress, resiliency)
Practicum Training VS Internship-Internship is at the end of coursework, practicum is at anytimeInternship is more ongoing (more regimented and scheduled-more comprehensive range of services) –
go to conferences and networking-look on NASP, Communica, APA monitor –a good internship is for
future success
Assessment- process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, usually individual or group and the
areas you will assess are behavior, intelligence (cognitive), achievement, social, emotion, and family.
Assessment Continued-passage of public law-requires certain assessment procedures prior to placing a
kid within Special Ed-provide more mental health and education (kids and family), receive referrals in
academic, emotion and behavioral –Conduct assessment to determine a certain problem and then
develop intervention strategies –determining eligibility-assessments are formal (ex. tests) and informal
(ex. observations and interviews)
Assessments include-Report writing, review of records, consultation, assessment planning, reviewing
the records- without assessment you cannot determine what intervention to use or if the intervention is
working –traditional assessment (negative), problem solving assessment (positive)-all is to gather data
and help with decision making
Assessment and Intervention- who is the client? Use researched based tools and appropriate tools
when doing assessment –make sure psychometric tools are appropriate, get information from multiple
test scores, cannot assessment tools if you are not a school psychologist (sometimes this will make jobs
secure), when communicate testing finding make sure it is understandable, make recommendations,
document the source of whoever is involved, mention the degree of confidence for the accuracy of
results
Assessment tools-CBA (assessment to curriculum) which has 4 advantages over the original model-can
be used for behavioral or academic problem, assessment focuses on learning outcomes rather than
modality and processes, CBA is briefer and a IQ could be much longer, CBA- there is a greater sensitivity
to changes, repeat the measure to monitor growth (can’t with an IQ test)
FBA-Overlap of CBA-Functional Behavior Assessment- focuses on 3 things- ABC model: antecedent
(prompt negative behavior), behavior (how the child acts out), consequence (what’s done to improve
the problem) –EX: collecting behaviors on aggression, work completion, on-task behavior…important
because different interventions are based on the functions of each specific behavior
School psychology- applying the principles of clinical and educational psych to diagnose and treat
children’s and adolescent behavior and learning problems
7 areas of training for school psychologist- general psychology, child and adolescent development, child
and adolescent psychopathology, education (effect instruction in the schools), family and parenting,
learning theories, and personality theories.
Special education-education of students with special needs in a way that addresses individual
difficulties/needs
Interventions- are designed to help to achieve potential goals and to be successful
Differences within the field (5)- Science VS human values-reinforce positive behaviors-offered after the
behavior occurs (some thinks its bribing kids-offered before the behavior occurs), Nature VS NurtureBiology predetermined-more determined and how much TLC?-less determined, Objective VS Projective
experience for judgment) qualitative-Ex. inkblot test, incomplete sentences, drawings, TAT (choose
pictures and the child tells a story), Lab VS Field-research results in a Lab are not always applicable in
schools-can’t always transfer to a real life setting, Part VS Whole-subtest score vs. the total score (item
analysis-identify a pattern then use for intervention)
Conflict between the School Psychologist role VS the Ideal Psychologist role-Ideal role: role expansion,
want to provide more intervention and consultation services, want to solve more systematic problems
(bigger/broader problems)-School Psychologist: dealing with Assessment
LD and RTI- LD no longer is between the IQ score and academic achievement –schools can use Response
to Intervention (RTI) to determine whether a child has a learning disability (LD) –Pre-Referral Model
(catching a prompt early), Prescriptions-cannot say that teachers (or anyone) will not educate unless the
child is evaluated and possibly medicated (ethically wrong)
FERPA-family educational rights and privacy act-protects student records-Parents can review, request
corrections, consent prior to releasing information
Ethics in term of teaching (decision making-there is a model of 5 steps )- identifying the ethical
dilemma, consider the guidelines, generate all possible resolutions, evaluate each resolution including
the effects it will have with each individual involved, make a decision on which course of action to take
Duty to warn or Protect-Tarasoff VS University of Cali-1974-76-potter told psychologists his intentions
to kill Tarasoff- psychologist informed police, contained Potter, 2months later after evaluation they let
him free, Potter did murder Tarasoff, Tarasoffs parents then sued saying Potter should have been
confined and Tarasoff should have been warned of Potters threats –because of this, therapist now have
a duty to warn a threatened person “Duty to Protect an Intended Victim”-then take necessary steps to
protect the intended victim-ethically obligated to break confidentiality when in a serious (dangerous)
situation arises
Problem solving model- Outcome Measure, Data driven, linked to intervention, emphasis is on
measurement -what is and what should be is more a curriculum bases assessment- Ex-assess the current
performance to what the child should be doing, develop interventions and evaluate progress on an
ongoing basis -4 problem solving questions-what is the problem? Why is it occurring? What should be
done? Did it work?
5 Steps for Problem Solving Process (Assessment)-starts with a referral, then clarifies with interviews
and observations, develop hypothesis (will help guide in additional assessments to use)-identify
intervention, after reviewing data develop an intervention (points or reinforcer for behavior), and
evaluate intervention on an on-going basis (review and revise)
Focus on Problem Solving Model is on Objectivity, observation and is it measurable-maybe the student
does not want to perform task-does the student receive a reinforce-enough assistance-too challenging –
is there enough time-is the work presenting in a new and effective way-Using the problem solving model
you can make the test more interesting, increase opportunities to practice by pairing peers either in
school or at home, allow brief breaks through the test or assignment
Academic Assessment-Standardized measure or alternative curriculum bases (used about 8 times a
month), much less controversial: face validity (like a math test), reading, math and writing-most SP may
not have to provide the academic assessment but it still needs to be incorporated in evaluation (WISCWIATT combo)
Curriculum based assessment- materials adapted from class to assess skills, more time efficient-DIBELS
–dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills
Functional assessment- to address academic and behavioral issues (5 possible questions are asked-why
is the child struggling?) 1. Hypothesis are formed 2. Do mini experiments with child to rule out or in
hypothesis 3. Repeatedly assess the child under certain conditions 4. Assessing social and emotional
factors
Projective- incomplete test, drawings, family kinetic (action) drawing, ink blot –based on the assumption
with ambiguous stimuli, individuals will project emotion onto the stimuli –people believe projectives
should not be used within the schools because there are better assessments to be used
Behavior Rating Scales- recently increasing in popularity, usually two types-externalizing behaviors
(aggression) and internalizing behaviors (anxiety and depression) -BRS: help determine the severity of
problems
Broadband behavior scales-measures on numerous levels- CBCL-child behavior check list (Ackembeck),
Reynolds (BASC-behavioral assessment system for child) –these are in contrast to projective scales
(objective)
Interviews- informal, formal, informal clinical interview is the most common (parent, child or teacher)can have a flexible interview
Structured Interview-more formal, highly scripted, mostly yes or no questions, more used for research
Unstructured Interview-usually open-ended questions, informal, finding antecedents and consequence
of behaviors