Looking For A School Psychologist

The purpose of this paper is to interview a school psychologist and gain a greater understanding of assessments, and student eligibility, and requirements. The interview was done by Jessica Guerrero and interviewee Michele DuVall, who is a school psychologist at Montclair High School. The school is part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, the district has 12 schools ranging from high school to adult school. The amount of students that attend Montclair High School is 3,034, making it a large high school population. Montclair High School student body consists of 85%

By working in a public school setting, I hope to integrate aspects of assessment, counseling, research, and skill training to create individualized intervention plans, and provide an optimum learning environment for all students. After receiving the opportunity to work with children with exceptionalities at Camp MATES and the social skills groups, I was stunned to discover how underserved that population is. I was appalled by the obscene amounts of money parents pay for their children to receive services tailored to them and their exceptionalities and how difficult it can be to get into those programs. As a School Psychologist, I hope to make academic success more attainable for all students despite their socioeconomic background. My goal is to assess students who are struggling academically to find an educational method that suits their individual differences and be able to refer them to community resources if needed. My dream is to bridge the gap between home and school and promote supportive environments in both that migrate seamlessly. I hope to provide students with strategies, such as social skills training, they can use to be successful both in and outside of the classroom. I aim to learn more about Learning and Intellectual Disabilities and interventions that improve the academic success rate of students with those

Following the interview conducted with a school psychologist, I was able to obtain a sense of Mrs. Montgomery’s basis for her practice, including her target clients, assumptions and values, goals and various roles of consultation, counseling, intervention and program evaluation (Sandoval, 1986). Mrs. Montgomery may be characterized as a school psychologist who places particular emphasis on the need to improve the student and systems’ capability.

Thus, examinees must understand common school-based intervention programs, such as bullying prevention and promoting good health. The foundation of school psychology delves into the importance of culture, background and individual values. Examinees must demonstrate understanding of research design, evaluation and statistics. Finally, the children’s service section covers instructional strategies, curricular accommodations and effective group interventions. In fact, examinees must clearly understand school-based intervention skills and techniques. They must also be familiar with child and adolescent psychopathology, such as common symptoms of mental health problems and how these impact a student’s

While working in a school setting, I’ve worked with many different students. Upon working with these students, I have noticed that many of them have different psychological, physical, and social experiences because of their diagnoses. Many of the students receive Individualized Education Programs (IEP) to assist them within the classrooms. Depending upon the progress within the modifications made, many students receive more assistance through positive behavior support plans. Within my experience in urban settings, I noticed that many students with IEP plans or behavioral issues are easily diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Due to cultural, lifestyle, and value differences many students with behavioral problems have

It “creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related service personnel, and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities,” (Office of Special Education Programs, 2000, P. 1). Federal and State laws (Office of Special Programs, 2000, Office of Special Education, 2017) mandate that students with IEPs have their classroom and related service needs met by their school regardless of age, disability, socioeconomic status, race, gender, and district geography. IEPs can not only prescribe classroom resources such as special education classes, teaching assistance, and small class size, they can also include related services like occupational, speech and physical therapies and mental and behavioral health treatment (James, 2017, Anderson Downing, 2004). Related services are essential to the execution of an IEP. Giangreco et al. (2000) writes, “By federal definition, a related service is any ‘developmental, corrective or other support service’ that is ‘required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education,” (P. 361). If executed properly, the educational supports and related services included in the IEP should markedly improve a student’s learning outcomes, social and behavioral outcomes, and future job prospects (Office of Special Programs, 2000, Anderson Downing,

The IEP is “a written statement of an educational program designed to meet a child’s individual needs” (Child Care, 2015). Educators and providers use this plan to learn how a special need child learn and how to measure and asset the child’s improvement in each area. During the IEPs meetings all team members should be on the same page. To fully advocate for children with special needs, everyone must be using the same terms. Therefore, it is important for the IEP team to agree and understand what is being convey during the writing of the plan. Everyone who works with special needs children should be given a copy of the IEP. They should be formula with the terminology that is used within the plan as well as how to implement the plan. The IEP plan can be used to specify if a child needs a specialist to work with them. An example of this is the deaf

Combine lecture power point slices and some studies, there are several key elements of EIBI have been noticed. Firstly, there is an empirical evidence that children who enter interventions at younger ages make greater gains than those children who interventions at older ages (Corsello, 2005). Howlin, Magiati and Charman (2009) also indicated that the intervention should begin as early as possible, ideally before the age of 3 years of children with autism. Secondly, most studies have showed that EIBI is delivered intensively, the intervention typically lasted at least 2 years and involved upwards to 40 hours of therapy each week (Reichow & Wolery, 2009; Love, Carr, Almason & Petursdottir, 2009). In 1987, Lovaas compared 40 or more hours a week and over at least 2 years of intensive 1:1 behaviour analytic treatment to a minimal treatment control group which was less than 10 hours of 1:1 instruction, and to a second group of children receiving non-behavioural services elsewhere. Among the intensive treatment children, 47% (9 of 19) were successfully completed first grade and scored in the average to above average range on standardized IQ tests (gain up to 30 points) and other measures (Weiss, 1999; Howlin, Magiati & Charman, 2009). In addition, the general aim of the intervention is to enhance or develop cognitive, communication, language acquisition, play, social and self-help skills while reducing autistic symptomatology and other challenging behaviors

• Providing guidance for transitional living circumstances. • Offering observable reports of client independence and guidance through assistance programs. ADMINISTRATOR-AUTISM Denver Public Schools; Denver, Colorado The Denver Green School 2006-2012 • Assisted teachers

The two videos we were required to watch for the assignment displayed some similarities and differences. The similarities were indicative of the two school psychologists that were both responsible for providing services for their respective districts in which they were employed by. Both school psychologists utilized various types of assessments that were age appropriate for the students they served.

If I were to be a psychologist when I grow up I would choose to become a School Psychologist. Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to be a teacher and help others. I always thought that school is so important and it shapes the lives of students. When reading over the different types of psychologists the School Psychologist really stood out to me. I have an IEP and have been tested to understand how well I do in all subject areas of school and know what is difficult for me. I do this testing with a School Psychologist. The job of a School Psychologist is to observe and assist students to develop a learning program individualized to that student to help them succeed in school. They also take into consideration the students behaviors,

The National Association of School Psychologists contends that school psychologists have successfully completed psychology programs with rigorous curriculum to acquire the skills necessary to which they may effectively conduct interviews and observations in a systematic manner

Projective assessments have been widely used by psychologists to evaluate the thought process of their clients (Cheramie, Griffin & Morgan, 2000). Particularly, School Psychologists are encouraged to use projective assessment to reveal a student’s thinking. The reason for this stems from the student’s inability to directly express complicated and mature conversation. For instance, if a third grader is dealing with the troubles of his parent’s divorce, he may not be able to directly express that. However, a kinetic family drawing might indicate that the student feels left out of the family dynamic. The drawing may showcase the child standing far away from the family, while the family engages

A learning support teacher may be a case manager who runs a learning support program or unit. A case manager’s primarily responsible is to promote and facilitate inclusion within the school. Case managers should be responsible for managing verification processes of students with special needs and developing and reviewing EAP (Educationally Adjusted Profiles). They need to collect and monitor detailed information about the progress and academic and behavior difficulties of the targeted students who may be referred by mainstream teachers and then create individual student profiles so as to have a holistic picture of students’ academic achievement, personal development and well-being. Theses student data can lay a foundation for further designing and implementing and reviewing an Individual Education Program (IEP), short-term or long-term intervention plan as well as support programs tailored to the needs of the individuals to help students integrate in mainstream class and engage in learning activities.

Impacting the lives of children must be approached from a team perspective to address all aspects of the child’s environment and relationships including caregivers, peers, teachers and school. Behavioral Counselors must collaborate with school counselors to understand the impact that school and teachers have on the child’s life. To appreciate School Counseling a review of the specialization’s history is important. School Counselors have evolved from vocational guidance and job-orientated counseling following World War I to educational guidance following World War II due to the passing of the GI bill as veterans were given right to education counseling (Minkoff, 1985). Today School Counselors support a wide variety of needs from a wide variety of student populations including but not limited to depression, college guidance, anxiety, oppositional disorder and developmentally delayed due to change in access to mental health care being more privatized (Lockhart & Keys, 1998). Lockhart states that because of the restructuring in access to care school counselors have been pushed to handle a wider variety of needs within mental health (1998).