Unlocking the Mystery: MISINTERPRETATIONS OF COGNITIVE TESTS...

We can all agree that the interpretation of cognitive test scores mostly leads to decisions concerning the diagnosis, educational placement, and types of interventions used for children. Knowing this fact, it is absolutely necessary for us, as future school psychologists, to administer and score cognitive tests without any errors.

A recent study published in Psychology in the Schools (Graduate students’ administration and scoring errors on the Woodcock-Johnston III Tests of Cognitive Abilities, vol.46, issue 7, pgs. 650-657, July 2009) looked at the frequency and the types of errors that occurred during administration and scoring of Woodcock Johnston III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III COG). Data from 36 graduate students across 108 test records revealed a total of 500 errors across all records!!!! Three frequently occurring errors included the use of incorrect ceilings, failure to record errors, and failure to encircle the correct row for the total number correct.

Can we avoid making scoring errors on cognitive tests and if so how? Are these errors more likely to occur on WJ III or they happen regardless of the test used? Are we properly trained to administer cognitive tests? Do you think that wrong scores may result in some children being placed in the wrong settings?

And finally…What can our graduate programs do to ensure that we are all properly trained to administer cognitive tests?

Posted by Tjasa Korda.

Breaking away from Traditional Assessments...

As school psychologists, one of our primary roles will be assessing children to determine eligibility for special education services. The question of what constitutes an appropriate evaluation is a controversial topic that school psychologists often disagree on. Traditional assessment focused on standardized test scores of intellectual ability to determine eligibility of services. Standardized norm-referenced measures are a necessary and important part of assessment, but do scores alone give you enough information to define a problem behavior, implement an intervention, and see if there is a positive outcome? Alternative assessment methods such as FBA’s have become more popular in creating successful interventions. As future school psychologists’ shouldn’t our goal be to develop recommendations that will have positive outcomes for the child? How do we break away from traditional practices and incorporate new methods of assessment that will guide us in the evaluation process?

This blog was created by Melissa Picariello

Understanding Section 504

Section 504 of the rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects students with handicaps from discrimination, requires schools to take reasonable action to prevent harassment and requires schools to make accommodations to ensure that students with handicaps have equal opportunity to programs and activities. Section 504’s definition of handicapped is any mental, physical or emotional impairment that limits one or more life activity, such as learning. This article provides more information on ADHD and Section 504:

http://www.helpforadd.com/educational-rights/

Children with ADHD who do not need special education are eligible for special accommodations under 504. Schools must provide students with handicaps equal opportunity in the most integrated setting appropriate and those students must remain in the regular educational environment.

How do you feel this might affect other children in the class? Also, some parents might object to this because they feel that the children who need special accommodations might be receiving more attention than their children. How can the teacher balance everything while still giving each student what he or she needs?

This blog was created by Susan Bartolozzi and Laura Martino

Why has Testing and Assessment Gotten Such a Bad Rep?

The common job description of a school psychologist looks something like this: "Administer diagnostic assessments and evaluate student performance. Develop, implement and monitor goals and objectives of the school and program. Work with parents in the development of each student."

As most of us know, not only will we be testing, assessing and working with parents and teachers to help school children, but at times we will be called on for crisis interventions, therapeutic counseling, etc. There is no question that working as a school psychologist can be both rewarding and challenging. But our jobs shouldn't just stop there.

When discussing the primary role and function of a school psychologist, all agree that testing and assessment has A LOT to do with it. And if done correctly, assessment can help the client benefit from the many special services he/she may need. So if the tests are designed to get the child the help they need, why does the help only occur if assessment is done correctly? Why are so many kids, failed by misdiagnosis? In my opinion, assessment is a collaborative process and can only be done correctly if there is parent, teacher, and of course student cooperation. We can't assess on testing alone. In addition to using tests in the decision making process, we need to examine:

Day-to-Day Observation

Essays

Interviews

Performance tasks

Exhibitions and Demonstrations

Portfolios

Journals

Teacher-created tests

Rubrics

Self- and peer-evaluations

By using all of this in addition to having the involvement of parents and teachers, we as school psychologists can truly make an accurate assessment. One question remains however, is this too much to ask from the teacher and parent? And is going "beyond the test" asking too much of the school psychologist?

This blog was created by Tahina Reyes.

IDEA: Falling Short of New Ideas

Within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it is required that students with special needs be placed within least restrictive environments (mainstreaming) to ensure that both disabled and non-disabled children receive an appropriate and non-biased education. This principle applies only when children of special needs are capable of functioning and benefiting from these environments.

Let's suppose Billy is a very low functioning SLD student whose IEP states that he should be receiving in-class support within an inclusion based setting. Do you feel that this setting would be beneficial for Billy? Or would a resource setting be more appropriate? Being a low-functioning SLD student, what would be some of the issues or problems he would face within these settings? As the school psychologist, what would you do if Billy's parents refused to comply with the IEP? How would you as the psychologist ensure the necessity for special education?

This Blog was created by Tamara Filangieri and Angelica Cunha

Addressing the Professional Minority Gap

There are disproportionately few minority and bilingual school psychologists available to serve both regular and special education students.

Ethnicity of School Psychologists

Source: 2004-05 NASP membership survey (69% response rate)

Ethnicity - Percent %
White/Caucasian 92.55%
Hispanic/Latino 2.99%
Black/African American 1.94%
Asian-American/Pacific Islander 0.94%
American Indian/Alaskan Native 0.82%

The United States is hastily becoming more and more culturally diverse. As is seen in the above chart there is an overwhelming amount of Caucasian school psychologists. In urban districts, such as Jersey City, there is a very diverse population in schools. What challenges do we as future psychologists face in dealing with children from other cultures? How can we become more culturally sensitive to their needs and the way that we assess them? How can the field of school psychology make a proactive effort to recruit different ethnicities into this field?

"The greatest distance between people is not space.

The greatest distance between people is culture."

Jamake Highwater (Native American choreographer, author and lecturer, 1932-2001)

This Blog was created by Desiree Antas and Melissa Picariello.

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!

The No Child Left Behind Act allocates special monies to high poverty areas, like Jersey City. In 2007, the average money being spent per student in Jersey City was $16,000. In Glen Ridge, a very affluent, mostly white community, and the #5 ranked district according to New Jersey Magazine, the average spending per pupil was $12,000.

Money seems to always be the problem and MORE money tens to fix everything...

Why isn't money the answer this time?

This blog was created by Jessica Szybowski

No Child Left Behind...Left US all Behind

When President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind act it was deemed to have a positive affect on narrowing the educational achievement gap between students. Is the NCLB act truly having a positive affect on closing this gap?

I personally, along with many others including President Obama, see the NCLB as ineffective. NCLB forces schools to teach children material in order to raise standardized test scores, rather than teaching basic fundamental principles of education. Then, if test scores are poor, schools as well as students are labeled as “failures.” Another issue with NCLB is inadequate funding of schools which does not allow NCLB to work effectively.

Who and what is NCLB helping? By all means, help me see it differently because I've yet to see who hasn't been left behind...

This post was created by Tamara D. Filangieri

Graduate School Separation Anxiety

For many of us, it is the close of the semester and we have hashed out all of our likes and dislikes for the field. Some of us have cried, some have revealed our insecurities, while others continue to struggle within themselves. The operative word here is WE. We have had each other for support, brainstorming and the like.

But what do we do when we get out there in the big bad world when WE becomes I? It is easy to say, attend conferences or call a colleague, but in the real world when life just gets in the way, how will we keep our selves in check? How will we know that we REALLY are doing the right thing working OUTSIDE THE BOX (which is in direct opposition to most practitioners)?

This blog was created by Christen Sylvester

The Impact of Globalization on Education

The flattening or globalization of the world has significant implications for education. For one, we have already begun to use workflow software in-place of humans in many industries. In fact, on-line learning has become increasingly more popular. Students can easily opt for home schooling, thus on-line curriculums, lesson plans, teaching resources and media are readily available and easily accessible by most people today. Another important implication comes from outsourcing. Friedman (author of The World is Flat) writes about the ever increasing option for manufacturers to find unskilled, cheap labor outside of the U.S. Those who are unskilled in the U.S. will have greater difficulty finding jobs in the U.S. as a result of this trend. As a result, the importance of education in this country can not be emphasized enough. In order for Americans to survive in this country, they will need to learn a skill and continue to become educated. Further, globalization has increased competition and has raised the bar for creativity and ingenuity.

It appears that American children of today will be facing greater competition for jobs in the future. So what happens to our special needs children in this growing global economy? Special education has not proven to restore cognitive functioning and academic achievement; in fact quite the opposite appears to happen to children in special education. These students grow increasingly further behind their average age peers and often drop out of high school all together. Jobs that were once available in this country for uneducated and unskilled Americans appear to be disappearing across the seas at an alarming rate. What is not being outsourced is being taken over by technology. Interestingly, Friedman in his book mentions that some McDonalds in the United States have outsourced the drive thru position to overseas!

What are we doing to ensure the futures of our special needs children? In your opinion, has the special education curriculum taken into consideration globalization and the impact it will have on its students? In your experience, have you seen special needs children improve academically or do they appear to fall further behind? How do you think this will affect their ability to secure employment? If you had the power to change special education, what would you change and why?

This blog was created by Rosa DeAngelis