TRAINING SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

ADAPTING TO A CHANGING WORLD

ANNUAL MEETINGTRAINERS OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

FEBRUARY, 2015

George M. BatscheProfessor and Coordinator

Graduate Programs in School PsychologyDirector

Institute for School ReformUniversity of South Florida

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Access PPT

• The presentation’s on the website. The PowerPoint file can be directly accessed at http://floridarti.usf.edu/resources/presentations/2015/nasp/tsp/TSP_NASP_Final.pptx 

• or by going to the Presentations page at http://floridarti.usf.edu/resources/presentations.

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Factors Influencing Teaching, Research and Service

• Politics of Change in Education• Changing Population• Recruitment of Quality Students• Funding• Working Smart: Linking Teaching,

Research and Service• Structuring Your School Psychology

Program for Success

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Politics of Change in Education

• Increasingly, the political process is using education both in campaigns for election and in the focus of legislative actions– Common Core State Standards

• Adopt/Do Not Adopt• Assessment Systems (e.g., PARCC, Smarter Balanced))

– School Safety and Violence• Increased Focus on SEL (Sandy Hook)• Consequences for Bullying

– Content of Curricular Materials– Educator Evaluation Systems linked to student outcomes– Legislated Practices

• Early Warning Systems• Grade Retention• Focus on Low Performing Schools

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Politics of Change in Education

• Paying Attention to the Landscape– School Reform is THE political agenda– Sustainable changes in schools require intelligent leadership,

proven practices and relentless pressure gently applied by those in positions to do so. School psychology has a significant role here.

– The relationship/communication between training programs and school districts and these fluid patterns of change must be dynamic and on-going

– Pre-service and In-service training and professional development must be synergistic to maintain the balance between the innovative and the pragmatic.

– Changes in training curricula must lead and be responsive to changes in the field.

– Fundable research is linked often to these political focus areas– We must always consider the needs of the house in which we live.– You are not leading a parade if no one is behind you.– Improving systems for All children is NOT done one child at a time.

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So….. Greater emphasis in teaching, research and service on….

• Systems change—schools, family, community• Tier 1 instruction- integrating academics and behavior• Rigorous use of problem-solving, but at levels beyond that of

individual students• Greater understanding of core curriculum,

district/school/classrooms as systems• How to integrate Tiers 2, 3 and SDI into core instruction• The “reality show” of education is NOT Tiers 2/3—rather it is

Tier1. • School psychology cannot survive if it is the “net” that

catches students one at a time. • School psychology will be indispensible if it can change the

water the in fish tank—for all students.• How to use problem-solving, evidence-based practices and

program evaluation (accountability) with broader units of analysis.

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Influences on the Content of Our Curriculum

• Impact on the K-U-D for Training Programs– Common Core State Standards

• Knowledge-higher order thinking, student engagement practices• Assessment

– Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports• Greater emphasis on Tiers 1,2

– New Data Systems• Relational, not siloed• Tier 1,2 based• Early Warning Systems

– Problem-Solving at the Systems Level– SIPs in addition to IEPs– School-Based Mental Health

• Greater Emphasis on Prevention and Early Intervention- SEL• Accountability System

– Changes in criteria for special education eligibility– The relationship between student engagement, instructional planning

and and positive student outcomes– Systems Change– Educator Evaluation Systems tied to student outcomes

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What is the Focus of Training and Research in School Psychology?

• Is the focus of our agendas, curriculum, and research on the NOW or….

• Is the focus of our curriculum, research initiatives and preparation of student on the “time” that they will enter the field—3-5 or more years from NOW

• We should be training students to go to a place NONE OF US HAS EVER BEEN.

• If our training is based on a perspective driven by the past, we will never be able to prepare our students to be successful in a place that is yet to be.

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IMPACT OF CHANGES IN THE POPULATION ON SCHOOL

PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING, RESEARCH AND SERVICE

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Changes in Populations

• Changing demographics of the United States• Uneven changes in population growth by

geographic area• Lack of relationship between changes in

population growth and changes in school psychology

• Implications for research that focuses on and follows both changing demographic distribution as well as the changes needs of those demographic groups.

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Population ShiftU.S. Census, 2010

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Differential Growth RatesU.S. Census, 2010

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Spoken LanguageU.S. Census, 2010

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Gender Shifts in School PsychologyCurtis, Castillo & Gelley, 2012

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Do Changes in School Psychology Mirror National Demographic Trends?

NASP

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Trend Comparisons

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Focus of Practice-Level of Relevancy?Curtis, Castillo & Gelley, 2012

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Successful School Environments for a Changing Demographic(Center for Public Education-NSBA)

• The U.S. is “growing older”-Hispanics youngest• We are growing more diverse• We are growing older AND more diverse

– The population that schools educate is increasingly made up of children of color and Hispanic origin.

– The population that schools depend on for financial support is increasingly older, non-Hispanic, and white, and does not have school-age children

– Achievement gaps between student groups will have ever-more-serious economic implications. Minorities have historically been under-represented in such professions as science, medicine, and engineering. With the non-Hispanic white population shrinking and the entry-level workforce increasingly made up of minorities, thenation could face serious shortages in many critical professions.

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Successful School Environments for a Changing Demographic(Center for Public Education-NSBA)

• Minority populations are growing much faster than the population in general.

• Hispanics represent the majority of the foreign born population

• 79% of ELL students have Spanish as their first language

• It takes 4-7 years for ELLs to become proficient in language used in text books.

• What are the implications for assessment and instructional planning training for school psychologists?

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Successful School Environments for a Changing Demographic

(Center for Public Education-NSBA)

• Minorities—especially Hispanics-benefit greatly from high-quality preschool education.

• All students who are learning English as a second language need help to succeed in school.

• School-wide focus on English language development

• Effective curriculum aligned with state standards and assessments that incorporate higher order thinking

• Reading instruction that focuses on the 5 big areas.

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Successful School Environments for a Changing Demographic(Center for Public Education-NSBA)

• Pay close attention to the transition grades– 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

• On-going, comprehensive and personalized attention from student services

• Keep curriculum focused• High School Reform Programs– E.g., 9th grade Success Academy

• Use of good data for planning and evaluation

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Recruitment of Quality Students

• How do we recruit high quality students who mirror the demographic distribution of the population 3-5 years from now?

• How do we recruit high quality faculty who do the same?

• How does the “system” change to be welcoming and comfortable for individuals from diverse backgrounds?

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Recruitment of Quality Students

• Have a diverse student body—even if you have to begin one student at a time.

• Ensure that a process exists to evaluate the degree to which the environment is safe and healthy to support courageous conversations with diverse groups.

• Attract high quality students to an environment that is relevant, engaging, has rigor and high expectations and has opportunity to both personal and financial rewards.

• Create partnerships with groups that can serve as recruitment and retention partners

• Seek a wide range of funding sources—formal and informal—to ensure support for students from diverse backgrounds.

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Retention of Quality Students

• As the student population becomes more diverse, supportive relationships become increasingly important to sustain that diversity.

• Time to engage and bond, in a positive supportive way, is important

• Linking students with support systems outside of the “program” is important

• Socially relevant, community focused, opportunities will support sustainability of a diverse student body

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Funding—Ah, Funding

• Really, it IS important….• Be Creative• Treat is like your personal retirement portfolio…

REALLY• Don’t put all of your money in one place.• Its not all about the money…it can be about

cash equivalents• What are our priorities for funding—student

support? (and they support us) or support for our research activities—or our egos?

• Financial resources should support BOTH at the same time—students and research

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Let’s Not Start with the Funding…Start with the Mission

• How can we link funding to teaching, research and service?

• Linking funding to research that is relevant to the needs of stakeholders (NOT US!) AND can support students in the program is the “coin of the realm.”

• In this political world, politicians are controlling purse strings in a way to meet their priority agendas.

• That’s OK to do as long as those agendas are legitimate and we do not have to sell our souls to get the money!

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Funding Sources-Our Philosophy

• Diversify the portfolio• Be shameless!• Think outside of the box• Create funding sources• Link applicant/student profiles to

existing funding sources• Funding increases the potential to

secure highly qualified students from diverse backgrounds

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Sources

• Grants• Assistantships• Fellowships• Partnerships• Private Foundations• Researcher Accounts• Creative, local options

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Grants

• Federal– U.S. Department of Education• Leadership (Partnership)• IES-4 Assistantships; Faculty, .3FTE• School Transformation (Partnership)-• Discretionary Dollars-State Flow Through

– SAMHSA• Project AWARE-Now is the Time (Partnership)-

2 Assistantships; Faculty, .2FTE

– Centers for Disease Control

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Grants

• State Level-Department of Education– Faculty, .5 FTE, 2.0 FTE Summer, .25 FTE– IDEIA Flow Through

• Florida MTSS (Partnership)- 8 Assistantships• Student Services Project- 4 Assistantships• Universal Design for Learning• Medicaid Tracking• HIV/AIDS Education• PreK

– Race to the Top• Continuous Improvement Monitoring System

– School and District Improvement Plans

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Grants

• State Level-Department of Education– Office of School Improvement

• Differentiated Accountability- 3 Assistantships• PD to Practice Evaluation Project-4 Assistantships

• Internal University Grants– New Researcher– Partnerships with other Colleges in the

University– Seed grants

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Fellowships

• University-Based– Presidential-1 Fellowship– Diversity-2-3 Fellowship– Graduate-2 Fellowship– Specialized

• Research Completion Fellowship• Special Foundation Endowments

– Teaching – 2-3 Year• Sometimes local, e.g., Community College• Other universities in the area

– Research• Faculty outside of the Program who have grants• Faculty in other universities who have grants• Research Centers in the Area (e.g., Rothman Center)

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Private Foundations

• Family Foundations– 1 Assistantship

• Community Businesses/Partnerships– 1 Assistantship

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Researcher/PI Accounts

• Fund assistantships, particularly summer, with PI set aside dollars

• Secure funding from the Dean/University from faculty “buy out” dollars from grants and other sources (for us, that can be up to 2+ FTE equivalents) to fund assistantships

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Creative Thinking

• School district partnerships–Mental Health Project

• Community Agencies– Children’s Cancer Center Evaluation

Project

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Funding Summary

• Traditional– Federal and state grants– University Fellowships– Internal University Grants

• Non-Traditional– Partnerships

• Totally based on relationships that faculty have with clinical and/or research relationships with local schools, agencies, other colleges

– Research Consortia• Internal and External

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Funding Matrix

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Actual

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Linking Teaching, Research and Funding

• Teaching and Research Interests are linked at our university.

• Some faculty like writing grants, are good at it and secure funding on a regular basis.

• Although we have “course development” releases, we do not have “grant development” releases.

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Linking Teaching, Research and Funding

• Funded grant proposals, in general, receive similar weight to publications—based on proposal format (e.g., similar to journal article) and the rigor of the review and accept/reject levels.

• Non-funded grant proposals, given the above constraints, are viewed similarly to journal articles submitted but not published. This reflects positively on evidence of an organized research plan and activity/productivity.

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Functions of Funding to Support the Integration of Teaching and Research

• Best Scenario– Research funding that aligns with teaching

interests and can support assistantships.– Faculty are conducting research that is related to

teaching, have graduate assistants to support research infrastructure and who have an interest in the research agenda (complete thesis and/or dissertation requirements.

– Considerable evidence of expertise and accomplishments in the research area is required to secure funding.

– This is the most efficient and effective scenario

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Functions of Funding to Support the Integration of Teaching and Research

• Good Scenario– Research activities aligned with agenda of

partners and/or external agencies. You are meeting their needs and they align well with your interests.

– Support assistantships to help get the work done, aligns with interest of students and supports completion of student research requirements.

– Usually less control over the work but can accomplish integration of teaching, research and student support needs.

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Functions of Funding to Support the Integration of Teaching and Research

• Good Scenario– University early researcher and seed

grants– Build capacity for expertise to secure

funding that is of longer duration and greater funding levels.

– Time limited, limited opportunities to support graduate students

– Usually a good link between research and teaching

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Functions of Funding to Support the Integration of Teaching and Research• Difficult Scenario

– Research and teaching activities are aligned and integrated.– Student support comes from other sources (e.g., other

faculty, agencies)– Works well for students if their assistantship/support is

aligned with their interests.– Facilitates completion of research requirements– Difficult for faculty because they do not have the graduate

assistants support to conduct/complete research activities– Without funding, often creates an imbalance in time

management for teaching (higher load) and research activities

– Even with “research release time” from course load, the lack of graduate assistants to support the work creates significant burdens.

– Solution: research partnerships, collaborative grants (they have the money, need your expertise)

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The Conundrum

• The more funding a faculty member has, the more time is “assigned” to those funding sources.

• The more time assigned to funding sources, the less time for teaching.

• A balance must exist. If it does not, students suffer.

• Faculty tenure and promotion is tied to teaching and research efforts—generally not service.

• At USF, you must have an “outstanding” rating in teaching or research and a “strong” rating in the other area.

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Structuring School Psychology Programs for Success

• Develop an overall philosophy and way of work around the integration of teaching, research and service.– Strategic Planning, Goal Setting and Accountability– Annual Retreats to monitor the plan– Internal evaluations to monitor the “health and wellness” of the program.

• Provide new faculty with the release time and supports to develop the capacity to work “smart.”– Released time for research– Research mentors– Include them on grant development activities– Support their networking to develop mutually beneficial relationships and

partnerships– Released time in first 2 years to secure supervised experience for

licensure, if appropriate

• Set expectations for faculty to engage in and create activities that provide as much program support as professional support.

• Senior faculty must accept a greater workload when junior faculty are hired.

• Balance load of faculty based on preferences– Greater teaching load for faculty who do not secure funding or create

assistantships through collaborative work.

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THANK YOU!