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SCHOOL
PSYCHOLOGY NEWSLETTER
University
of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Spring 2003
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Inside
Supervising Practicum Students
Looking into the Future of School Psychology
by Rob Dixon
There are several things that I would like
to update you, our alumni, on the School Psychology Program and the changes
that have occurred in the past year.
First, you may be wondering what happened
to Dr. Milt Dehn and why isn’t he writing this article. Milt resigned as the
program director effective January 2003. He withdrew from program
administration responsibilities so that he could focus more on graduate
teaching, research projects, and professional service and leader-ship. Milt is
also in demand as a consultant and presenter on new tests and assessment
practices, such as new cognitive tests and assessment of information
processing. I’m sure that you will join me in thanking Milt for his years of
leadership and guidance in the School Psychology program.
While there may be some minor program
changes that have occurred in the past year, the essential core expectations of
the program will remain the same. This past year, we have undertaken two
curriculum projects. First, the portfolio requirements were changed to reflect
national accreditation objectives. It seems that it is not sufficient to
document what we teach, but now students need to demonstrate that they have
learned what we have taught them. This is a good change in educational
accreditation philosophy in my opinion. To meet this expectation we have
adopted the NASP 11 training standards and have students write a reflective
piece on each standard as well as choose a few permanent products that
demonstrate their proficiency. We also had the opportunity to realign some of
the classes changing from a variety of 1, 2 and 3 credit classes to create a
program with all 3-credit classes. The intent of both of these changes is to
meet the educational needs of the students and to reduce the overlap between
classes. Both changes have been well received.
There were two major “appearance” changes
in the past year. The first is the swap between Betty DeBoer and Susan
Waubunsee. I know that Tasha Schmidt wrote an article that goes into more
depth, but just let me say I think it was an excellent experience for all, including
those of us on the periphery. I want to
thank Susan for stepping up to the challenge of graduate teaching and doing a
wonderful job. I also want to welcome Betty back for the fall semester. The
other major appearance change over the last year has been a redecorating (or
overhaul) of the office area. Those of you that fondly recall the orange carpet
and beige paint dating back to the early 80’s will be pleasantly greeted with a
soothing blue in new carpet and freshly painted walls. We were considering
selling the orange carpet in square foot sections as a “Trip Down Memory Lane”
fundraiser, but somehow that never materialized.
Looking ahead to the end of this year and
into the fall, there are two opportunities to come back and see the campus. The
first opportunity will be during the May 9th “Roundtable” where the
focus of the professional development will be the new Wechsler tests that are
coming out including the WISC-IV and WPPSI-III. During the associated social
activities, I’m sure there will be a push to rename the spring conference to
the “Squaretable,” but that is a story I will let Susan Waubunsee relate. The
other opportunity to visit La Crosse will be during the Fall WSPA convention where
we will be featuring two national speakers and a host of local and state talent
to compliment our entertainment capabilities. A reunion gathering is being
planned for Wednesday night.
I want to thank you for the support that
the alumni provide, in both areas of finance and expertise. It is hard for me
to travel anywhere in the state without Teresa Znidarsich informing me that we
have alumni in the area. We have managed to significantly add to that number
this past year as all of our internship students found positions in Wisconsin.
It feels nice to have such a large and supportive extended family. I look
forward to the time when our paths will cross.
by Tasha Schmidt & Milt Dehn
Here in the school psychology program we
work very hard, but we know how to have fun too! Recently, the school psychology roundtable went through a name
change; mainly due to lunchtime conversations that eventually led to a Sponge
Rob coloring contest among other things.
Here are the top ten reasons why it should be renamed:
10 - The table was never round.
9 - If
the pants are square – the table has to be square!
8 - Sir Arthur and the knights of the
roundtable are no longer around.
7 - Learning how to color and stay in the
lines are a training must for future school psychologists.
6 - We don't have swords but most of us could muster a sponge.
5 - How else is a sponge going to soak
anything up?
4 - The Sponge Bob mascot makes a great
travel companion to WSPA.
3 -
When the table is square, it is always clear who is at the head of it.
2 - The
Sponge Rob Squaretable is more child-friendly.
1 - Going to a square table will make sure
“no school psychologist is left behind”.
by Tasha Schmidt
The following questions were asked to both
Betty Miller and Susan Wabaunsee about their jobs and roles during this past
year.
1.
What do you feel you have gained from this experience?
Betty – 1) A million
stories that will supplement my “words of wisdom.” 2) A feel for the day-to-day realities of being in a school. 3) A
better understanding of the challenges of dealing with different expectations
for your role as a school psychologist, by administrators, teachers, parents,
etc. 4) An understanding of how much
respect people have for experience, and for school psychologists. and 5) I have ideas on how to restructure
classes, refocus a few topics and add detail in areas that are covered more
broadly.
Susan – 1) I have been very impressed by the commitment of
the faculty to supporting the academic success and professional growth of
each student in the school psychology program. 2) I now have an
appreciation of the amount of time and thought that it takes as an instructor
to prepare for every class session. 3)
I have enjoyed the opportunity to read in depth on a
variety of school psychology topics. 4) And I have a
renewed enthusiasm for working in the schools with students, parents, and other
school staff.
2. How will this experience affect you when you return to your old
job?
Betty – I THOUGHT
this would make me relax about some of the criteria I use to evaluate student
performance. I think it actually
REINFORCED my perception of how important a high level of understanding (not
just “passing” the class) is critical in order to be able to establish and
maintain a well-rounded role as a school psychologist.
I will likely use more case scenarios on a
regular basis to demonstrate my points.
I will come back more excited than I ever
felt about the field of school psychology.
It is an extraordinary profession.
I am more excited about teaching in school psychology now than I ever
was… and I have loved it from the start!
I got some great ideas from Susan about how
to modify my classes to challenge my students in more creative ways. She also
came up with activities and learning experiences that supplement what I did in
the past. I plan to integrate many of her ideas into my classes when I return.
Susan – I
have a renewed appreciation and energy for the challenges of being a
school psychologist as well as an expanded knowledge base.
3.
What advice can you give students now that you have both trained school
psychologists and been a school psychologist?
Betty – Take your classes
seriously. People in the schools expect you to know your stuff. Even though practicum is where it all comes
together, the classes really still provide the foundation of knowledge that you
will need to consistently do a competent job.
Also, ongoing training and professional development is essential.
Get everything you can out of graduate
school. Look to the classes as opportunities to take risks and to maximize your
learning, not just hoops to jump through.
Susan – You
will be very busy in your new jobs, but reserve time for
reading on school psychology topics so that you can build your
competencies and expertise. Keep your
sense of humor, your sense of wonder, and a sense of skepticism.
4.
Other comments or unique experiences you would like to share?
Betty – I want to thank the students for their support and interest in this exchange. My theses advisees have been very good at carrying the ball with their theses as well as students with on-campus thesis advisors. I want to thank Betsy Morgan (Chair, Psychology) and John Magerus (Dean, CLS) for making this incredible opportunity possible for a full year. I want to thank Milt Dehn and Rob Dixon for all their support in making this a smooth year for me and carrying the extra load (advising, theses, etc.) while I am gone. I want to thank Teresa Znidarsich and Lois Stuhr for helping me with administrative things long distance! I want to thank Susan Wabaunsee for being a risk taker and saying “yes” to this exchange. I attribute the success of this year to her support and to her competence and commitment to do an excellent job. School psychologists Heidi Horton and Rochelle Rusch and Pupil Services Director Pam Pager Green gave me endless support at the school on a daily basis. The Pupil Services staff - especially Kay Banasik, Mary Wittenburg and Laura Lee - have been extremely patient and kind during the year. Other staff and administrators have all added to my high level of satisfaction.
Susan – This has been an incredible experience! I
very much appreciate the willingness of the Onalaska School Board to approve
such an exchange as well as the support of the Onalaska School District
administrators. The welcome and support given to me at UW-L have
been extraordinary. And I now have a very special
interest in the careers of 23 school psychologists.
by Rob Dixon
This past year the Coulee Region
Association of Psychologists in the Schools have been busy planning for the
WSPA State conference at the end of October in La Crosse. Titled, “Intelligent
Interventions: What Will They Think of Next?” this conference should attract a
number of school psychologists to the Coulee Region.
There will be a pre-convention workshop
and keynote address by Dr. Bill Jenson from the University of Utah on
research-based interventions for youth with problematic behavior. Dr. Jenson is
the author of “The Tough Kid Book” and has presented at numerous conferences
around the state. There will be a second keynote at the fall conference that
will take place on Friday. "No School Psychologist Left Behind: Advocacy
Issues in the Era of Reauthorization" will be presented by Dr. Alan
Coulter who was a member of the President’s Commission on Special Education.
Interspersed with these two keynotes will be numerous workshops presented by
local and state experts. I have been developing a website to update everyone as
the program develops at http://www.uwlax.edu/faculty/dixon/WSPA03/program.htm.
Of course a conference in La Crosse would
not be complete without the opportunity to network and socialize with other
school psychologists and alumni. There will be an alumni reception on Wednesday
evening. The following night we will be having a hospitality event on a
riverboat and dancing back at the hotel for the rest of the evening.
by Teresa Mosher & Dan Seaman
Currently, UW-La Crosse has 23 school
psychology practicum students reeking havoc across Wisconsin and
Minnesota. We wanted to see what the
supervisors had to say about their experiences working with graduate
students. The practicum students are
placed in a wide variety of schools in Wisconsin and Minnesota within a 50-mile
radius of La Crosse. As students, we
feel the practicum classes are the most important and valuable part of the
school psychology program.
So, what did the supervisors think? Is it as beneficial for them as it is for
the students? Or, does it just add work
to their busy schedules?
Among the supervisors we spoke with, they
generally felt that having practicum students has been a positive
experience. In schools where the ratios
between students and school psychologists are quite high, the ability to have an
extra set of hands to hold on to the Object Assembly Screen is seen as very
beneficial. Additionally, having a
practicum student who has time to implement interventions or provide tutoring
allows for more comprehensive services to be provided for students. Practicum students also help the assessment
team to move through the referral and assessment processes more quickly. On a personal level, supervisors also felt
that having a practicum student was a good way of keeping them up to date with
the latest research and familiarizing them with new tests.
Supervisors felt that having a practicum
student did not necessarily increase their workloads; rather it just changes
it. Current supervisors reported that
when they have a practicum student they spend more time orienting the students
to the district, answering questions, and discussing cases, but in return they
are able to spend less time on assessment, consultation, and intervention.
Supervisors also see having practicum
students as having a positive impact on other school staff. They felt that practicum students’
requirements help other staff see the many different roles school psychologists
are trained to do, but that their busy schedules may not allow them to do in
their everyday practice. It also provides
an extra set of ears to listen to staff concerns and to consult with in order
to resolve them.
Overall, we have found that supervising a practicum student can be an excellent way of building life long friendships and maintaining a connection with the UW-La Crosse School Psychology Program. So, if you have never supervised a practicum student, maybe it would be worth considering.
by Dan J. Seaman
The National Association of School
Psychologists held their second conference about the future of school
psychology this past November 14th and 15th in Indianapolis, Indiana. There were nearly 70 on-site participants in
the conference, most who were in academia or graduate students. The conference took full advantage of
technology; incorporating more than 50 remote access sites across the nation
where the speakers and presenters were broadcast over the internet for school
psychologists to listen in. The
conference's website also provided the PowerPoint slides, important articles,
and research summaries of the presenters for downloading.
The second year students, Dr. Dixon, Dr.
Dehn, Ms. Wabaunsee, and a few local school psychologists and practicum
supervisors were able to attend most of the presentations at UW-La Crosse. We were able to observe a number of
interesting presentations from the leaders of our profession.
Dr. Deborah Crocket of the Fayette County
Board of Education in Fayetteville, Georgia spoke on the "Critical Issues
Children Face in the 2000's."
These issues include:
Poverty-37% of children live in low income families and 6% live in
extreme poverty; Violence-Homicide is the second leading cause of death for all
15-24 year olds and the leading cause of death for African Americans; Bullying and
Harassment-One of every seven students reports being bullied in school and one
third of victims indicate having plans for retaliation; Teen Pregnancy / Sexual
Behavior-70% of teens report their first sexual encounter between 6pm and 10pm
and 56% report having their first sexual encounter in their or their partner's
home; Alcohol and Drug Abuse-50% of teen motor vehicle accidents involve
alcohol and/or drugs; Mental Health Services-12% of school age youth complete
suicide and only 36% of those at risk for suicide received mental health
services; Technology-Home internet use for Whites and Asians is twice the rate
for African-Americans and Hispanics.
Dr. Robert Sternberg, the president of APA
presented on his theory of Successful Intelligence which is "the ability
to achieve success in life, given one's personal standards, within one's socio-cultural
context; in order to adapt to, shape, and select environments; via recognition
of and capitalization on strengths and remediation of or compensation for
weaknesses; through a balance of analytical, creative, and practical
abilities." He emphasized the
importance of the three components of his Triarchic View of intelligence: Analytical, Creative, and Practical
intelligences. With regards to
teaching, Successful Intelligence assessment balances the use of instruction
and assessment which is Memory-Based, Analytically-Based, Creatively-Based, and
Practically-Based.
Dr. Sandra Christenson presented on
"Families, Educators, and the Family-School Partnership: Issues or Opportunities for Promoting
Children's Learning Competence?"
In her presentation she emphasized the importance of facilitating and
fostering increased involvement and partnerships between families and schools. In recent years, the social distance and
communication between schools and families has decreased. She emphasizes that the situations in which
the parents visit the school or hear from the school are typically negative
reactions where they hear about their child's problems or failures. If a school would be able to create more
positive interactions between schools and families it would help improve family
and school relationships.
As a student, I felt that this was a
tremendous opportunity to learn more about school psychology and listen to a
number of prominent figures on the horizon for the profession. My fellow classmates and myself particularly
enjoyed Dr. Sternberg's presentation on his Successful and Triarchic theories
of intelligence.
For additional information about the
Futures Conference please check their website at:
http://www.education.indiana.edu/~futures/.
You can download background readings and recommended readings from the
Resources section on the site.
UW-La Crosse
Cleary Alumni & Friends Center
615 East Avenue
North, La Crosse, WI
Friday, May 9,
2003
8:00 -
8:30 Registration. Coffee and rolls served (Compliments of UW-L
Foundation)
8:30 – 2:45 Introduction
to the WISC-IV, WISC-IV Integrated and WPPSI-III
This presentation will introduce
the revised and newly standardized fourth edition of the WISC and the WISC-IV
Integrated: A Process Approach, which represents the integration of elements of
the processing approach to assessment and interpretation of the WISC-IV,
including additional diagnostic subtests.
Psychometric characteristics of the WISC-IV and WISC-IV Integrated will
be briefly discussed. Emphasis will be
placed on new interpretive frameworks for the WISC-IV, especially the four
index model and the process-oriented approach to interpretation of performance
on individual subtests. A brief
introduction to the WPPSI-III will be provided in the afternoon session.
12:00 - 1:15 Lunch
on your own
About the Presenter:
George McCloskey, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Director for
The Psychological Corporation. He is
currently supervising the development of the WISC-IV as a Processing Instrument
(WISC-IV PI) and acting in the capacity of Clinical Advisor to the Wechsler
Test Development Group for the WISC-IV.
He has an active private practice as a clinician and/or consultant for
individual clients and institutions such as school districts, state Departments
of Education, and universities. He is
an adjunct faculty member of the Clinical and School Psychology Graduate School
Programs of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine where he teaches
courses on cognitive assessment. Dr.
McCloskey frequently presents at national, regional and state meetings on the
use and interpretation of assessment instruments and linking assessment with
interventions. Dr. McCloskey has been involved in test development and
publishing activities for the past eighteen years and was formerly the Associate
Director of Test Development for AGS.