Consider your position as a school psychologist/leader, what
are some areas that we might need to consider having “deeper conversations” regarding
our practices? Prevention? Intervention?
Inclusion? Instruction?
Reply to at least one other person.
Reply to at least one other person.
Our psych meetings are our best time to have deeper conversations about how we conduct our practices. They were the vehicle that elevated High Plains to be a cutting edge organization in the past. Gary Burkhart, after hearing the same complaints each time the group met, asked the group what they would like to do differently. Grass roots input from the bottom up started High Plains down the path that led to deeper conversations.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, our meetings are highly organized, tightly scheduled, and the topics have been selected for us. While we cover a lot of ground, we may cover several topics only briefly before moving on to the next. For example, we've talked about math assessment for the last two meetings with maybe 45 minutes available. It seemed that we would barely get started and it was time to stop. At times, we did not have all of the information or tools needed to get started and so spent time trying to understand what we were expected to do.
Something done in a hurry may not be remembered next week, while something done well may last for years. When we've truly focused on a topic of interest to the group and when we've been in smaller groups where voices might be heard and thoughts shared, we have typically been able to reach consensus and create products that were useful to all of us.
The conversation on math might start with a group discussion of how we want to use math assessment; if standardized assessment , such as the KeyMath of which there are several available in HPEC inventory, might suffice and, if so, what does it miss in the Common Core; if we could find an adequate curriculum-based measure; if we feel we would have time to create a measure that was appropriate; and if our schools would have buy in should we try to create a CBM-like product and needed their support to do so. After the discussion, we might have assignments to explore various options. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
Questions to ask ourselves might include What are the priorities for most of the group, Do we need to change or are we fine with what we are already doing, Should we be addressing larger questions of assessment in general (Standardized or Curriculum-based), Where is intervention working in our schools and why, How do some schools have a higher degree of inclusion while others do not, Should we have a Bring a Principal Day and what might be gained in doing so, What are our best stress relievers, etc. If we want to have deeper conversations, we might pair up and practice our counseling skills.
I love many of the points you brought up about our psych meetings. You are correct in that our meetings are tightly scheduled and topics are selected for us. Probably not the best method to encourage visionary thinking at an inspired level.
Delete"Something done in a hurry may not be remembered next week, while something done well may last for years." Alan this statement is great and I am going to write it down. I agree that I seem at times the topics that we are asked to talk about it are rushed. At times I feel like when we are getting down to the nitty gritty of a topic we are rushed on and it is truly not discussed/resolved.
DeleteI enjoyed your comments Alan! Glad I typed my response before I read your post! :)
DeleteAlan, this post is a very accurate reflection of our psych meetings. I think we should have those deeper conversations. It seems as though we do get started on a topic and when it gets heated or deep, it is time to change it. I wonder what our day would look like if we had a few ideas of things to address, but went with the flow of the discussion. Would we accomplish anything? I bet so!
DeleteAlan-
DeleteI love your idea of Bring a Principal Day! To be honest, I don't know if we could swing having them there for a full day (At least when I think of mine, I know they'd want to cut out by noon, haha!), but I don't know how many times I've sat in a meeting thinking, "Man... I WISH my principal, reg ed teacher, parent, etc. could be listening to this right now!"
Really interesting points Alan. Bring a Principal Day -- that's really interesting. I love the ideas coming out of this blog!!
ReplyDeletePriorities areas for deeper discussion for me would be prevention, intervention, and assessment. Prevention would be a priority, as it just makes the most sense to prevent a problem instead of reacting to a problem. I believe there are ways to provide good support for students with the resources schools have, but first someone has to change the vision of how support is provided. As budgets are cut, I think teachers and districts are searching for effective interventions. Teachers have grown used to additional para support and other resources. As these resources have been cut, they are struggling to find alternative methods to support students.
ReplyDeleteEven though having "deep discussions" about assessments seems boring and could lead to some strong differences of opinions within our group, I think it needs to occur. HPEC and our psych group does not have a common vision regarding assessment and assessment practices at this point in time. I believe if provided with an intentional and inspired environment where everyone's voice is heard the organization can reach a shared vision that everyone can work towards. I don't see assessment being either all standardized or all non-standardized, but rather something visionary that changes the way we currently think about determining student placements.
My priority would be assessment. At the last meeting I don't feel like we came to a conclusion about how we should each test students or maybe it's ok if we all do things a little different. I agree with Jan that assessments don't need to be all standardized or all non-standardized, but for some reason it still concerns me that a child could be gifted/SPED in one school district and not in the other.
ReplyDeletePriorities areas that I feel would benefit me would be in prevention, intervention, and also assessment. I have found that many of the general education teachers are not aware of how to implement interventions and collect data on those interventions. Especially schools that have not fully implemented MTSS with tiered intervention groups greatly struggle with collecting intervention data.
ReplyDeleteAs a school psych group I know we have avoided the deeper discussions regarding assessment practices in fear of hurting others feelings. However, when you look at where we are as a psych group, we continue to do things differently across the coop. We all have a “voice” about how we assess students. I think if we had a deeper discussion about our assessment practices, everyone would have to keep an open mind. I don’t feel we should avoid a topic for fear of hurting others feelings.
The chapter of "Voice" reminded me of a powerful workshop I attended a few years ago - Janice Fialka, The Dance of Partnership. Her message pertained to the parent/school relationship, but I also believe her message rings true in any leadership position or situation in which there is a working relationship between two people. Sometimes we aren't listening to the same song or keeping the same beat, or we're stepping on each others toes during the dance. In any relationship, we may have those moments of differences, but the dance is part of what we do!
ReplyDeleteAs our school psych group, I think we are beginning the process of "deeper conversations" regarding assessment. And I think it's a necessary one we need to have. I applaud the administrators for viewing this as important and encouraging us to become innovative and more universal as a group.
As far as intervention, I feel that is a continual need depending on each school. In the schools I serve, I have seen positive changes with intervention, but there is still room for improvement. I think it's difficult to discuss intervention as a psych group as each school district and building are in different places.
I often find myself falling back on my Psych/Counseling background when listening to others. I think we have almost lost the art of listening. We seem to get so caught up in moving and moving fast that we forget to slow down and really listen. Sometimes you have "mine the silence" to really get at what someone is trying to tell you. Don't make assumations (We all know where assume gets us.) Deep conversations often takes time and time seems to be a commodity there is just not enough of.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Marcy. Voice, as part of communication, requires someone to hear what has been said and is part of a collaborative relationship. To truly be effective, we have to be good listeners. In being a good listener, it helps to care about the person who is speaking. Our counseling classes have paid dividends--not only are we better listeners, but in my opinion, better people as well. It's great that we get paid to be school psychologists, but it may be greater still that being a school psychologist has made us better people.
DeleteI bet that workshop was very interesting. I like how you related dancing to dealing with deeper conversations. I would have never thought of it that way.
DeleteI feel that there are many areas where deeper conversations are needed within the school districts that I work. Providing interventions to students is an area in which we are building, but still an area that needs lots of work. Utilizing interventions as they are supposed to be used is a conversation that really needs to happen. Another hot topic issue is differentiation of curriculum. It seems as though anytime a teacher needs to differentiate lessons based on the student’s ability, that student is automatically referred for special education testing. I admire and respect teachers. I would not want their job that’s for sure. I understand that differentiating the curriculum means that they have to do something different for “that one student” who is behind or lacking in skills. I understand that takes more time and effort that they do not really have. However, not all students who are lacking in some skills are special education students. I really feel that there is a large gap in communication regarding this issue.
ReplyDeleteWithin some of my districts, I feel like there might need to be some deeper conversations regarding intervention because, to me, it seems like some of them think that putting a student in special education is the ‘intervention.’ I don’t know if it’s because teachers are unsure of how to collect data or what to do with it once they get it, or if because of budget cuts, etc., they don’t feel like they have the time/resources to implement interventions. Maybe it’s a combination. Maybe it’s none of those things, but regardless, it’s definitely lacking.
ReplyDeleteRegarding our school psych group, I agree with a lot of the others who mentioned our assessment practices. I feel like we’ve definitely started having those conversations at our categorical meetings, but once it starts getting to the ‘deep’ part, we tend to just shut things down. And I can appreciate if this is occurring to avoid hurting others’ feelings or whatever. I mean, I dislike conflict as much as the next guy, but sometimes it also feels like we really haven’t gotten too much accomplished at the end of the day either.
Yikes, we are all sounding like we are up for deeper conversations and more meaningful and thorough topics at our psych meetings. This scares me! Weird huh? So, the June psych meeting is already planned and it is purposely planned to be light and airy. So.... meaningful discussions in 2016-17...here we come???!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds good to me.
DeleteI'd be "up" for some deeper conversations on any of the above, but my personal focus is on prevention and intervention. I always prefer to gather the information to head off a problem then have to react to it. I'm in a district where the MTSS process is progressing well for reading, and I'm excited where it may take us. I'd like to build on that foundation for intervention with math and behavior. I, like Alan, remember the deeper conversations the psych. group had with Gary Burkhart at the helm. A few "non-negotiables" were outlined, then the group was free to discuss openly, brainstorming and evaluating solutions and ideas. He reinforced the idea he was working with some of the "best" in the business :), and his faith in the teams efforts. It was invigorating. Of course we don't have waivers and grants now, so the list of non-negotiables might be longer, but the discussion keeps you moving.
ReplyDelete