The Specialist in School Psychology (SSP) program at LSU Shreveport was recently granted the highest accreditation available to trainers of school psychologists. The program director, Dr. Kevin Jones, was informed in January that the program received full approval by the National Association of School Psychologists for the next seven years, passing national standards on 92% of quality indicators.
The evaluation report commended the program on its rigor and “use of assessment data to modify the program so that skills are developed more sequentially.” School psychologists provide an array of assessment, intervention, and counseling services to schoolchildren who are experiencing learning, social-emotional, and developmental challenges. With this designation, graduates of the 72-hour program are automatically eligible for state and national certification.
For more information about the Specialist in School Psychology program, please contact .
Media Contact: Dr. Kevin Jones at (318)-797-5043 or kevin.jones@lsus.edu
Reposted from: http://www.lsus.edu/news-and-events/lsu-shreveport-school-psychology-program-receives-seven-year-accreditation
Twice within the past few days I have run across the concept of Learning Styles. The first encounter occurred while reviewing completed student evaluations for special education eligibility. In nearly every evaluation the assessment team had included a single statement that the student was a visual, verbal, or kinesthetic learner. The statement was based upon a brief checklist of preferences for activities or behaviors. They included this data, presumably, to help in the design and delivery of special education instruction. The second encounter occurred while watching the morning news. NBC News Education Nation is kicking off its second annual focus on education in America. Now I like much of what Education Nation does. We need to have a dialog about what works and doesn’t work in our education system. When I saw that Education Nation had built a pavilion on the Today Show’s plaza to showcase their activities and that it included learning styles that disturbed me. For Education Nation to be effective they need to be credible. Of course, credibility is much broader than including one outdated concept in your platform, but still, when you can only showcase a few ideas why pick one that is not accurate?
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Perhaps one of the most pervasive myths of education is that we have specific learning styles that should be attended to in instructional design. Every semester I asked my students about their experiences with learning styles and most, if not all, identify a personal learning style. Being a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner and not getting instruction in their learning style has become a major excuse for poor academic performance.
The myth is perpetuated by the plethora of learning styles inventories you can take to identify/confirm your learning style. After all, if there is a test for learning styles there must be learning styles, right? Backed by evidence from their high school teachers and a score from one of these inventories students often approach me with requests for more attention to “my learning style.”
To learn more about the facts of learning styles check out NPR reporter Patti Neighmond’s story and interview with Dan Willingham. For a more academic approach read:
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and Evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105 – 119.
They concluded that “. . . at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice. Thus, limited education resources would better be devoted to adopting other educational practices that have a strong evidence base, of which there are an increasing number. However, given the lack of methodologically sound studies of learning styles, it would be an error to conclude that all possible versions of learning styles have been tested and found wanting; many have simply not been tested at all (p. 105).”
Jennifer Cook, LSUS Media Relations
The LSU Shreveport School of R.O.C.K. (Reading and Organization for Cool Kids) held its commencement ceremony today for 12 local second graders. The three-week program is a partnership between the School Psychology Program at LSUS and the Caddo Parish School Board.
The School of R.O.C.K. provides three hours of tutoring per day by advanced psychology majors and graduate students. The focus of the program is building reading fluency and comprehension, primarily through intense, individualized instruction.
“Classroom teachers rarely have the luxury of working this closely with individual children,” explained Dr. Kevin Jones, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, and supervisor of the program. “Our psychology majors try to build positive relationships quickly, while substantially increasing the amount of active learning time.”
According to Jones, research indicates that achievement gaps tend to widen during the summer months, so it is important that the community provides its children with structured literacy experiences. The School of R.O.C.K. specifically targets children who are entering the “age of accountability,” due to the high stakes testing and increased curriculum demands that begin in third grade. In addition to reading, daily exercises also address written expression, math concepts and strategies, and self-management skills.
This year’s School of R.O.C.K. was funded through a competitive grant awarded by the Community Foundation of North Louisiana and other private donations. Over the past three years, more than 65 students have graduated from the program. For more information on School of R.O.C.K., contact Dr. Kevin Jones.
I hope you all had an opportunity to read Kathy Minke’s President’s Message in the March/April issue of the NASP Communiqué. Her anecdote about “being at the table or on the menu” during paradigm shifts is important to all school psychologists, but particularly so to those of us in Louisiana. Kathy was addressing a critical need for our participation in the current paradigm shift in the professional assessment of educators. Laws requiring Performance Assessment, or as we will know it the Louisiana Value-Added Assessment Initiative, are becoming broadly adopted.
Value-Added Assessment is now the law in Louisiana. Last year Louisiana’s Legislature adopted ACT 54, which requires a redesign of performance assessment systems for teachers and other certified personnel. The most salient part of this change is the requirement for an individual “measure of effectiveness” component of which 50% shall be based on growth in student performance. How this will be done for administrators, teachers, and other certified personnel must take into account the different ways in which we each contribute to student outcomes. The task of determining how to generate reliable and valid measures of performance was given to the Board of Secondary and Elementary Education (BESE). The date for implementation was set as the 2012-2013 school year.
Models of performance assessment adopted in some early implementer states have not adequately considered the variability of professional roles in schools when designing accountability measures. In some states school psychologists will be assessed in some part (30% – 50%) on how students perform on high-stakes tests like the LEAP21. Clearly this is not a good fit to our role and function within the school system. Fortunately, the outlook for developing a meaningful measurement system in Louisiana is good. School psychologists in Louisiana have an opportunity to come to the table and contribute to the design of a meaningful performance assessment for their profession.
A joint effort by the LA State Department of Education and Louisiana School Psychological Association has generated a proposed model for assessing the performance of school psychologists that is sensitive to our roles and consistent with research and other professional practices. The proposed model fits school psychologists well because it allows us to demonstrate effectiveness across the spectrum of our skills and with individual, group, or system level practices. Using a case study approach, similar to NASP’s NCSP certification model, school psychologists can demonstrate professional skills and positive child outcomes using a meaningful measure of performance.
Such accountability, while presenting challenges, offers opportunities to demonstrate our positive impact on students, systems, and communities. We must all embrace an opportunity to demonstrate the value of our services, but we must also ensure that the measures used are reliable and valid. Poorly designed measures will lead to poor decision validity and potentially disastrous effects. No other members of the school system are better prepared to approach performance assessment and data-based decision making than school psychologists. Our unique skill set affords us an opportunity to become leaders in school accountability.
I want to encourage each of you to become familiar with the proposed assessment system and to pull up a seat at the table. Think about this topic, talk about it with your colleagues, and offer your ideas and support for implementing a sound model of assessment. Our future includes some form of value-added assessment, let’s make it the best model possible. School psychologists are valuable members of the school community and we can prove it.
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) held its annual convention in San Francisco last month. The convention was very well attended. Our LSUS contingent was the largest ever thanks to great participation by our graduate students. I enjoyed some very good sessions, co-presented on NCSP issues with some great colleagues, and even got a few opportunities to see a bit of San Francisco.
The National School Psychology Certification Board (NSPCB) is seeking volunteer portfolio reviewers to evaluate applications of Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) candidates. It is anticipated that each portfolio will require several hours to review, and that approved volunteers will review approximately three (3) portfolios per year.
Volunteer reviewers must hold a current NCSP, be a current NASP member, and be willing to attend a training session at the NASP convention in San Francisco on Friday, February 25, 2011 from 1:00pm to 3:50pm at the Hilton Union Square; 4th floor, Tower 3 (Sorry: reimbursement for travel, lodging, or convention registration are not provided, nor is remuneration for the training.) This is a great way to participate in an important NASP leadership activity, support the profession, network with colleagues, and earn 2 NASP-Approved CPD hours for each portfolio reviewed.
Please contact Eric Rossen at erossen@naspweb.org with questions or to RSVP to the training session.
Thank you!
Once again US News and World Report has identified School Psychology as one of the best careers.
School psychology is a great career. One reason this is true is that you have a chance to make a difference. School psychologists are a leading force in changing student outcomes in America’s schools. The historical paradigm of being the “testing specialist” who confirms what teachers already know, that a child is not successful, then serving as the “gate-keeper” to special education is waning. The historical “Wait-to-Fail” model of special education is finally in decline and school psychologists are shaping the next model, a model based in prevention and problem-solving.
Leaders in school psychology are moving our field from a passive role to a proactive problem-solving force. School psychologists are leading the effort to bring a new paradigm of data-based decision making and problem-solving to schools. Increasingly, school psychologists provide consultation and student services by operating proactively at the convergence of psychological science and education to promote academic and behavioral success.
If you like to solve-problems and want to make a difference in the lives of children and the future of our nation you should consider a career in school psychology. Visit the National Association of School Psychologists to learn more about the field. If you’ve decided you do want to pursue a career as a school psychologist visit the Specialist in School Psychology Program at Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSUS). LSUS offers a 3-year (72-hour) NASP approved Specialist level degree developing the knowledge and skills needed to become tomorrow’s problem-solver.
Best Careers 2011: School Psychologist – US News and World Report
I am frequently asked by my students for an opinion on all the baby media they see advertised. These products appeal to every parent’s desire to do good things for their children, making them very attractive. Fortunately, I can offer more than an opinion because there is a body of research on this topic. Here is the latest research I have seen on the topic.
Caddo Parish Pupil Appraisal professionals visited with LSUS school psychology students to share their experiences and answer student questions about professional practices in Louisiana schools. The guests represented the disciplines of school psychology, school social work, and educational diagnosticians. They brought perspectives of school-based personnel, a supervisor, and a school psychologists working in a special role as the district RTI Coordinator. Students learned about multidisciplinary teams, case coordination, and school-based practices that define the typical practice in this school system.
Shreveport Reg., LA