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School psychologists are school-based mental health
professionals trained in both psychology and education.
School psychologists are committed to ensuring that
every child learns in a safe, healthy and supportive
environment
At a minimum, school psychologists complete a master's
degree and specialist's certificate of at least 60 graduate
semester hours and participate in a year-long 1,200
- 1,500 supervised internship. School psychologists
are certified by the Maryland State Department of Education
and may become nationally certified (NCSP) by the National
School Psychology Certification Board (NSPCB).
School psychologists training and course work provides
them with the knowledge, skill, and ability to apply
psychological, mental health and child development approaches
within the schools. School psychologists are uniquely
skilled in psychological assessment, learning strategies,
behavior management, social skill development, motivation
systems, and the identification of exceptionalities.
School psychologists use many different approaches to
provide these core services: Consultation, Assessment,
Intervention, Prevention, Education, Research and Planning,
and Health Care Provision. They tailor their services
to the particular needs of each child and each situation.
- When consulting school psychologists
help problem solve in order to provide healthy and
effective alternatives to teachers, parents, and administrators
about problems in learning and behavior, help others
understand child development and how it affects learning
and behavior, and strengthen working relationships
between educators, parents and community services.
- Assessment activities vary and
can include a wide variety of techniques at an individual,
group, and systems level to evaluate academic skills,
learning aptitudes, personality and emotional development,
social skills, learning environments and school climate,
and eligibility for special education.
- Prevention activities help families
and schools to identify potential learning difficulties,
design programs for children at risk of failure, provide
parents and teachers with the skills to cope with
disruptive behavior, help foster tolerance, understanding,
and appreciation of diversity in the school community,
and develop school-wide initiatives to make schools
safer and more effective.
- Intervention approaches include
direct contact with children, families and school
staff to help solve conflicts and problems in learning
and adjustment, provide psychological counseling for
children and families, provide social skills training,
behavior management, and other strategies, and help
families and schools deal with crises, such as separation
and loss.
- School psychologists educate families
and staff through workshops and staff training activities
that include but are not limited to the following
topics:
- effective problem solving
and conflict resolution
- teaching and learning strategies
- social skills development
- classroom management techniques
- working with students who
have disabilities or unusual talents
- working with diverse populations
- substance abuse
- crisis management
- School psychologists actively
seek information about the results of their efforts
and how they benefit students by research. They evaluate
the effectiveness of academic programs, behavior management
systems, and other services so as to generate new
knowledge about learning and behavior. They use the
results of their research to help schools continue
to improve.
- School psychologists focus on
Health Care Provision through collaboration with school
and community-based personnel. They advocated for
a comprehensive model of school-linked health services
that will provide access to community supports and
emphasize psychosocial wellness and health-related
issues. They foster partnerships with parents and
teachers to create healthy safe and supportive school
environments.
Every school has access to school psychological services
but individual school psychologists may be responsible
for providing these services to more than one school.
Psychological services are available to all students.
Each school can provide contact information for you
to get in touch with the school psychologist assigned
to your child's school or program.
- Suspicion of an educational disability
- MCPS school psychological evaluation may be recommended
during the IDEA IEP evaluation process or as part
of a 504 determination.
- Review of psychological evaluations
conducted privately - MCPS school psychologists review
and comment on psychological evaluations that have
not been conducted by an MCPS school psychologist
and recommend next steps (often referral to IEP or
504 teams).
- Expulsion and the Hearing Process
- As a result of a hearing when a student has been
suspended and recommended for expulsion, MCPS psychological
evaluations are occasionally requested.
- Threat or Risk Assessment - Determining
whether a student is a threat to him or herself, or
threat to another is done through referral to the
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
and often coordinated with MCPS school psychologists.
First, consult directly with the school psychologist.
Share your concerns honestly and request detailed explanations
of the results and the measures that were used to obtain
the results. You can ask for the school psychologist's
supervisor to participate in that discussion. On rare
occasions, agreement can not be reached. According to
the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) you
may challenge the results of any school record (psychological
evaluations are considered part of school records) if
you find the information to be inaccurate, misleading
or a violation of a student's civil rights. A letter
detailing why the information is inaccurate, misleading
or a violation of a student's civil rights should be
sent to the director of psychological services. A review
of the material will occur and indicate action steps
to resolve the disagreement. If the outcome of the review
is still not satisfactory, parents can appeal (see BOE
regulation on Parent Complaints).
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