The National Association of School Psychologists: An Organizational Overview

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The National Association of School
Psychologists An Organizational Overview

• Angela B. Christy, B.S.
• Marcy R. Maus, B.A.
• Edward M. Levinson, Ed.D.

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OVERVIEW

• Mission and Values
• Key Areas of Work
• Strategic Plan
• Program Areas
• Organization of the Association
• Membership Benefits
• Current Initiatives

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MISSION STATEMENT

• The National Association of School Psychologists
  represents and supports school psychology through
  leadership to enhance the mental health and
  educational competence of all children.
• Mission Statement from www.nasponline.org

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ASSOCIATION VALUES

• School Psychological Services for all Children
• Personal and Professional Competence
• Volunteerism
• Diversity
• Empirically Based and Data Driven Practices
• Cultural Competence
• High-Quality Professional Development

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KEY AREAS OF WORK

• Professional Competency
• Advocacy
• Member Support
• Diversity
• Operational Excellence
• External Relations Communication

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STRATEGIC PLAN

• Mission
• Values
• Key Areas of Work

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PROGRAM AREAS

• Advocacy
• Information Services
• Professional Development
• Professional Standards

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Advocacy Committees Work Groups

• Child and Profession
• Multicultural Affairs
• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Issues
• Government and Professional Relations
• International Affairs
• National Emergency Assistance Team (NEAT)

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Information Services Work Groups

• Communiqué
• Interest Groups
• Listservs
• Communications
• Publications
• Research
• Website

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NASP WEBSITE
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Professional Development Work Groups

• Convention
• Convention Site Selection
• Awards
• Student Development
• Professional Growth
• Leadership Development
• Online CPD Credits Task Force

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Professional Standards Committees

• National School Psychology Certification
• Respecialization Project Team
• Training, Program Approval and Accreditation
• Ethics/Professional Practices
• National and State Credentialing
• School Psychology Futures Task Force

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GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
President
Executive Director
President- Elect
Past President
Secretary
Treasurer
Delegate Representatives
Program Managers
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MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

• Professional Publications
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Discounts
• Members Only Area of Website
• NASP Career Center
• National Mental Health and Education Center for
  Children and Families
• Access to Other Special Services
• Advocacy Efforts
• NASP Announce

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NASP Recommendations

• IDEA reauthorization and
• LD identification

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Rationale (based upon research)

• Most referrals are at the elementary level and
  pertain to reading difficulties
• Most children at high risk for reading failure
  can be successfully identified in kindergarten
  and first grade via school-wide screening
  programs
• There are interventions that have been
  demonstrated to be effective at remediating or
  preventing reading difficulty if implemented
  early enough

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Rationale

• If children are still struggling with reading in
  fourth grade, they are likely to still be
  struggling with reading in high school
• Special education is not as effective as wed
  like to think it is
• Ability-achievement discrepancy analysis is
  flawed and unreliable
• Etc., etc., etc.

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Core Concepts

• Maintain the current definition of LD in the law,
  but change the eligibility criteria in the
  regulations.
• Eliminate use of the scientifically unsupported
  ability-achievement discrepancy requirement
• Replace the ability-achievement discrepancy
  requirement with a dual-discrepancy model,
  whereby a student must demonstrate a) low
  achievement (as defined by individual states or
  school districts), and b) insufficient
  responsiveness to intervention (interventions
  demonstrated to be effective via research
  interventions administered within general
  education lack of responsiveness not being due
  to lack of effort or attendance).

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What might things look like?

• There will be school-wide screenings in
  kindergarten and first grade designed to identify
  children who are at high risk for reading
  failure.
• Children who are identified will be targeted for
  group-based interventions within general
  education (Tier 1). Progress will be monitored
  using CBA.
• Children who are identified as non-responsive
  will receive intensive, individually based
  interventions targeted to their needs (Tier 2).
  Progress will be monitored using CBA for at least
  one year.

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What might things look like?

• Children who meet the dual discrepancy criteria
  (low achievement and insufficient responsiveness
  to Tier 2 intervention) will be referred to a
  multi-disciplinary team for an evaluation (Tier
  3) which will include direct observation,
  indirect sources of information, individual
  assessment as prescribed by the evaluation team
  (which may or may not include formal/informal
  measures of cognition and achievement), and
  responsiveness to intervention using a
  systematic, individualized data-based
  problem-solving process.

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What might things look like?

• Children would be identified as LD if, at Tier 3,
  despite receiving appropriate instruction at
  their instructional level and having been
  provided with a series of instructional
  interventions proven to be effective via research
  at remediating their problem, they still fail to
  make educational progress at the rate expected
  given their cognitive abilities, instructional
  history, and other environmental factors such as
  attendance, language background, and motivation