The leader has the capacity to imagine a preferred future –
articulate and clarify that image and mobilize others toward making it a
reality.
“Of all the things we could do, what must we do? If not now, when?” – Consider these
questions. What are your first thought
when you read this statement? Of all the
things school psychologists can do, what must they do?
Reply to at least one other person.
Reply to at least one other person.
I think that all the things we must do as school psychologists sometimes get in way of what we could do. We are often the glue that holds our teams together in terms of facilitating the evaluation process. When we contribute to our reports, we often give our teachers a model of what is expected by HPEC in reports.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer to focus on the broader vision of how we view individuals with disabilities in our society. The students we work with are often included in regular classrooms, not because a law tells us that they should be, but because we view them as having a right to be there, to be included with their peers. Because of this right to inclusion, we also know that their teachers, their schools, and their teams have the responsibility to differentiate for these students. Every student deserves opportunity for success, but also deserves opportunity to avoid being overwhelmed. To the extent that we can provide this opportunity, it is our responsibility as educators to do so.
I would also prefer to focus on the broader vision of how we view families who are raising students with disabilities. Many of our parents are overwhelmed by this task. Our willingness to include them in the process hopefully makes a difference in letting them know that they are an important part of their child's team; that their input is important to us and is valuable in helping their child be successful.
When we look back over time, we can appreciate that we have been part of a movement in education that brought children who were not allowed to be in the school setting, who were often in rooms at home with no future, into the public setting of our schools. We are, hopefully, giving them a better future and opportunity for equality. Thomas Jefferson's "All men are created equal and are endowed with unalienable rights" and that "Among these are are rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" take on new meaning when applied to the "different" in our society. We work with children who are somehow "different." I think that the attempt to include them in our schools makes us stronger and, as Martin Luther King, Jr. might say, is an example of our nation rising up and living out "the true meaning of its creed."
Alan, I too agree that there is so much more were are able & capable of doing.
DeleteI think school psychologist must advocate for the students who receive special education services, but must also advocate for the low average student. It seems no one is sure what to do about these students or how to service them. Everyone recognizes they are struggling. Teachers lack the resources or knowledge to support them, so they want special education to support them. Special educators are overwhelmed with the number of students they are currently serving and can be heard saying "These are not our students."
ReplyDeleteAnother area I think we must support and acknowledge is mental health. More and more students are coming to school without the mental stability needed to learn. We are also seeing more students with increased behavioral needs. Many psychs were trained in the education department and did not receive as much training on mental health. Even psychs who were trained through the psych department and received more of a mental health background need support and a vision on how to make this a bigger portion of our jobs. We have focused so much on assessment, interventions, reading, and academics the past few years with No Child Left Behind, Common Core, etc. that other aspects of our jobs and training have been forgotten or become rusty.
I agree Jan that mental health in the school setting should be a priority. There are so many times that I hear a teacher say "that kid is just being naughty and he can control his behavior." In many situations, that kid isn't just being "naughty", there is an underlying mental health issue. I also feel with the funding cuts, it isn't as much as a priority now.
DeleteI like your thoughts on helping & targeting those low average students. You are correct, resources are limited so they look for special education to fill the gaps. One of my buildings is notorious for referring the low average student because they don't have a strong Title or remediation program. Then we're back to square one with relationship building, so it doesn't become "us" verses "them".
DeleteI like your ideas in regards to coming up with ideas for the low average students. These students often fall through the cracks and no one really knows what to do with them. I am also a big supporter for mental health in the school system. I feel like there is a lack of understanding regarding this issue.
DeleteCatherine-
DeleteI get so frustrated when teachers tell me that students could behave better if they just chose to, wanted to, tried harder, etc. I'll ask the teacher, when do they act like this??? Is there ever a time they don't act like this??? Typically the response is that they're always bad (Which is another thing that frustrates me, but could be an entire post on it's own). Well, let's think about this... If the student always acts abnormally under normal circumstances, and has truly never 'chosen' to behave appropriately, then the desired behavior is likely either developmentally inappropriate, or there is some other factor outside of the kid's control that's influencing how they act. Why is this such a hard concept to understand???... I wish everyone could be as smart and as intelligent as the people in our psych group :-p ;-)
P.S.-
I completely understand that there are kiddos out there who can just be naughty, but those aren't the ones I'm referring to, obviously, haha!
As school psychologist’s I feel one of things that we “must” do is be an advocate for students’ needs. We are part of the team that helps develop a plan for students to be more successful in school. Without the team advocating for the student the education for the child could look a lot differently.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that we must be available as a consultant for not only special education teachers but also general education teachers. Many of the general education teachers haven’t been trained in data collection, progress monitoring, interventions, ect. Without our support, some of the lower achieving students wouldn’t be the help and resources that are needed in order for them to be successful.
I agree, in our training umpteen years ago, to graduate from a NASP approved program, we had to log equal amounts of time in special education and general education prevention/intervention efforts. I worries me when I hear more restrictions being proposed for our time in regular education interventions.
DeleteI am going to take a slightly different tack to this one. I believe in dreams and visions for the future. Dream big! Have your head in clouds but keep your feet firmly planted on the ground. "if you don't go after what your want, you'll never have it. If you don't as, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward you're always in the same place." So dream big, but have a plan as to how you want to accomplish it. Write it down!!! Don't just think it, make a plan, set goals and deadlines and get it done. (Has anyone read "The Secret"?) I believe we can all do great things.
ReplyDeleteI agree dreaming big is something we should all do. The key to that dream is exactly what you stated is you must have a plan so your dream can become a reality.
DeleteMarcy, I agree that our dreams and acting on our dreams help make us, not only who we are, but who we want to become. I think that looking at ourselves or our organization critically in an effort to reach self-actualization is a life-long journey we each must undertake. If for some reason we choose not to take the first step, we may end our lives or careers with regret. Sometimes, we need to reinvent ourselves to continue the journey.
DeleteI agree with Catherine and have the same view. We MUST with no questions asked advocate for our students and do what is best for them. If we do not put them first we are not doing our job. If we do not advocate for them who will. I believe the same for our Special Education teachers. At times I feel like they are not given the same respect as general ed. teachers and I know it has to hurt their feeling. It would hurt mine.
ReplyDeleteA School Psychologist must make themselves available. What I mean by this is that we have to be available to work with students, teachers, administrators and support staff on a daily basis. This is one of the things that makes our job unique. Along with making ourselves available we must be able to adapt to multiple personality types and how to get along with them.
Advocating for students is a must! After all, helping our students is why we got into this field in the first place. Go get em!!!
DeleteOf all the things we, as school psychologists CAN do, I believe we MUST help. We help students be more successful in school. We help them understand how they learn best. We help challenge those students who need instruction beyond what the general curriculum is providing. We help teachers, general ed and special ed, in a variety of different ways-instruction, planning, data collection, goal writing, and just listening at times. We help parents understand the strengths and weaknesses of their child, and guide them with strategies. We help principals understand special education law. We help colleagues survive the trenches (ha ha) and support each other. We help!
ReplyDeleteI believe our job as a school psychologist is very broad and our role in each building and district may look different, depending on the specific needs. I know I don't utilize all my training and knowledge as far as counseling and mental health. Those are areas I would like to dive deeper into, but more often than not, the daily "have to"s become the priority. I am hopeful with a little lighter caseload next school year that I will have, or make, time and opportunity for these areas.
I agree with your entire post 100%!!!!
DeleteI think we all have the heart and desire to help others. That is why we chose the profession we did:) I like how you outlined the many ways we do and can help others within our profession.
DeleteWhat must we do? That is a hard question. Of all the things that we need to do or really even have to do, to weed out what we MUST do takes some thought. It is our sole responsibility to do what is best for each student. Every student is an individual and may need more supports than others. We have to advocate for everyone (especially the difficult ones that no one seems to like). We MUST stand up for them and ensure that they obtain the best education they can get. Another must is building relationships within the school district. The door has to be open to you before you can do anything. After building relationships, we should assess each school to determine what their specific needs are and address those needs.
ReplyDeleteI like and agree with your statement that the door must be open before we can accomplish anything.
DeleteOh gosh… My first thought was “Wow… I’m stuck.” Of all the things we could do… School psychs are trained to do a LOT of things. We are a very valuable asset to our districts, students, etc., and we can contribute a LOT. Sometimes I feel like I’m completely stuck because a lot of the things I’m required to do take away from other things I’d rather be doing and adding to. On the other hand, I also hear of psychs who ARE doing everything, and I’m amazed at how they’re able to accomplish it. Maybe I just need to suck it up and work on my time management skills. One more thing to add to the list I guess…
ReplyDeleteSummer To Do List:
-Refinish end table
-Get a tan
-Start running again
-Reevaluate my entire life :-p
-Figure out how to turn 24 hours into 36 hours
It is going to be a BUSY summer… ;-)
"I think that all the things we must do as school psychologists sometimes get in way of what we could do." So true Alan. This is what concerns me the most - are we spending our time and energy on things that matter most?? First things first. I think one of the most important things school psychs do is support emotional and social needs of students and peers they work with. I think we can bring supports for mental health. I also think we can bring ideas to help teachers make appropriate accommodations. I think we can help new teachers provide best support services to children. I know we have been talking about assessment a lot - but to me assessment and paperwork - although necessary are probably not the most important skills we bring to this game!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many things we could do, it is a shame they get lost in the day to day business of staying compliant. Personally, I believe we must do whatever we can to help students. I wish I could initiate system wide mental health programs, write and get grants to support them, find the magic to hook in the kids (and parents) who come to us disengaged in education, and help society learn to accommodate for and employ people with disabilities, all while doing a hundred or so evaluations, not spending anything for professional development, and not alienating my family. Maybe Brittany is right and some psychs. can do all that, maybe we just need to follow Stephen Covey's advice and prioritize differently. All food for thought. For now, at different times, there are different positive initiatives to support. For example, my first instinct with MTSS would be to jump in and add behavior to our MTSS process as a whole, but as a district we've prioritized, reading, then math, then behavior, with the assumption that meeting more students needs will lead to fewer behavior concerns to begin with. So..., we address behaviors through SIT or individual work using a PBS tone and wait a year, while supporting MTSS efforts with reading wholeheartedly.
ReplyDelete