Data, Data, DATA!

The number of parent referrals for special education make me think that someone has written my email on the bathroom stall of every single establishment within the ten mile radius of my school. Better yet, there may have been a mailing or TV commercial.

As our latest cycle of SRBI interventions has begun, report cards are around the corner, and the 100th day of school came and went, I have had an influx of teacher requests for meetings to discuss testing. Often these students are behind academically and do present with some concerns. However, how do we triage to meet the needs of students in our building and on our caseload?! How do you "pick" which child gets tested first?!

My team is working to ensure that we have data to back up a referral, especially when you review eligibility guidelines (!), but often what teachers say is: 

They have been in Tier 3 since October and haven't made much progress!

This raises some red flags: (1) are they being provided with intensive, individualized instruction with fidelity?, (2) October was 4 months ago and since then we have had two vacations and 7 snow days, (3) what is "much progress?" how much? what's the trendline? do you have graphs (!), (4) have we changed up the intervention if they are not making expected gains to ensure we are pinpointing the correct skills?

My school leans towards two measures of progress monitoring data: DIBELS ORF and Cloze Maze. I have concerns with this. Interventions are not always targeting student needs. Not all teachers are doing Tier 1 probes beyond the Fountas and Pinnell and rely heavily on the ORF and Cloze Maze to track progress. What about the Core Phonics Survey? Developmental Spelling Assessment? ANY OTHER CBM MEASURE!!??

Please check out this resource from Elmbrook Schools on progress monitoring: here. 

After you have done your diligence to collect some data, these kids are often trumped by parent requests that come through. I am required to schedule a Planning and Placement Team meeting within a reasonable time (i.e., 5 days). This may bump kids down the list until our staff is more available to be able to meet testing demands. However, as we enter into Annual Review season, I do not forsee my schedule freeing up any time soon. #lesigh

So...what's a first year school psych to do? 

This young professional has been seeking supervision and attempting to keep her supervisor apprised of all the referrals coming through and where our testing load is at. However, this is not necessarily a building-based issue; our entire department is struggling. 

I really feel that there is a systemic change that needs to occur, even if in our building alone. I have been probing to start the conversation about examining our tiered supports and see if we need to strengthen Tier 1, as well as our Tiers 2 and 3. We also need to educate staff and parents about the types of data we need to collect and to ensure that the interventions we provide are targeting skills. Moving between tiers should be based on DATA not on the length of time spent in an intervention, especially when jumping to special ed. Some kids might just need tiered levels of support; doesn't make them special ed!

Does anyone have any advice to share about how to deal with this issue or the system you have in your schools?

Until next thyme, 

Erika

Supporting Students in Grief: Elementary School

It is with a heavy heart that I compiled a list of resources for working with students dealing with loss. My school community has experienced two losses in a very short amount of time. As we prepared for the return of two students following the loss of a parent, I was asked to compile resources to share with the staff and others who needed guidance. Additionally, we have a few students who we consider at-risk as they have experienced a significant loss recently and would need additional support. 

Thankfully, I had the resources of the National Association of School Psychologists at my fingertips. It is an incredible resource and worth every penny spent on a membership. They have handouts, position statements, and information available on a wide range of topics at the click of the mouse.

• Death & Grief: Supporting Children and Youth 
• Helping Children Cope with Loss, Death, and Grief: Tips for Teachers and Parents
• Death and Grief in the Family: Providing Support at School
• Death and Grief in the Family: Tips for Parents
• Books for Children Coping with Loss or Trauma

New York Life has developed resources for parents and educators working with children dealing with loss. I provided these to my administrator as well. 

• Death and Loss: Helping Children Manage Their Grief
• Grief Journey of a Child
• Students and Grief: Dealing with Loss in School (webcast)

I hope that some of these resources are helpful in the case that you also have to support students during a time of loss and grief. 

Until next thyme, 

Erika

How I Feel About Snow Days.

Until next thyme, 

Erika

#CTedchat

This year I was welcomed to the Connecticut Association of School Psychologist (CASP) Executive Board as a Co-Chair of the Social Media Ad-Hoc Committee. As part of this position I work alongside a fellow school psychologist to help manage our social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. As part of the upcoming issue of "The Connecticut School Psychologist" I wrote a blurb about one of the newest education Twitter chats: #CTedchat.

As professionals we are always working to expand our skill set and engage in much needed professional development. Since beginning graduate school I have developed a large group of educator professionals with whom I have corresponded through blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. Their support and expertise helped to expand my understanding of school psychology and education beyond the experiences I had in my textbooks and classes. I was able to share thoughts, ideas, tips, and tricks with the members of my own professional learning network (PLN) and learn from their daily experiences as a school psychologist.

In the ever-growing world of social media there are a variety of ways to develop and get involved in your own PLN. One specific way to expand your PLN is through Twitter chats. A Twitter chat is when a group of individuals come together online to engage in meaningful discussions on a specific topic or interest area. These chats are flagged using hashtags, which is recognized on Twitter by using the pound key (#). Moderators help to guide the discussion during the hour long chat in order to encourage participation and learning. Questions and answers are also identifiable by using a “Q1, A1” format. A steady stream of dialogue, discussion, and learning happens, which are all linked together using the specified hashtag.

Given the increasing popularity and convenience of Twitter chats, a new education-based chat has emerged with a focus on bringing together educators in Connecticut: #ctedchat. Conversations take place on Thursday nights from 8:00-9:00 and are co-moderated by Tom Brant (@TomBrant) and Charles Dumais (@CharlesDumais). Tom Brant is a school psychologist at Newtown High School and President of CASP. Charles Dumais is the current Newtown High School principal and incoming Region 5 Superintendent as of March 1, 2014. Members of the education community are encouraged to guest moderate a chat in their area of expertise. Invited Twitter chat participants range from school psychologists, principals, and teachers to students, their parents, and others interested in discussing education.

The inaugural #ctedchat took place on December 12, 2013 with the focus question of “what is the appropriate amount of pressure for students?” Since the inaugural chat topics have included student leadership, final exams, school vacations, school climate and global education. Over the next two #ctedchat sessions, participants will cover social-emotional learning and teacher evaluations. Both of these are hot topics in education. We hope to see you there!

To join the conversation, check out this how-to guide created by Thomas Murray (@ThomasCMurray), the co-founder of #edtechchat and the Director of Technology and Cybereducation in the Quakertown Schools. For more information on other education Twitter chats, check out the following links: weekly Twitter chat and 13 Twitter Chats Every Educator Should Check Out.

I hope to see you there for conversation and professional development! See you Thursdays at 8 EST!

Until next thyme,

Erika