Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

"separate but equal," upholding racial segregation and justifying widespread discrimination

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

"separate but equal" unconstitutional

Hobson v. Hanson (1967)

tracking system based on standardized tests was discriminatory

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

students' right to free speech (and other rights) in schools

Diana v. State Board of Education (1970)

students be tested in their native language or with non-verbal assessments

PARC v. Commonwealth (1971)

children with disabilities have the right to free public education

Mills v. Board (1972)

students with disabilities have the right to public education, regardless of cost

Guadalupe Organization, Inc. v. Tempe School District (1972)

IQ tests alone were insufficient for placement decisions, requiring multiple assessment methods

Lau v. Nichols (1974)

schools must provide adequate support for students learning English

Goss v. Lopez (1975)

students must be given notice & an opportunity to be heard before being suspended

Tarasoff v. The Regents of the University of California (1976)

"duty to warn" standard

Larry P. v. Riles (1979)

IQ tests were culturally biased; discontinuation of these tests until validated as non-discriminatory

PASE v. Hannon (1980)

overall use of IQ tests does not discriminate; emphasizes the importance of context in assessing bias

Board v. Rowley (1982)

meeting free and appropriate education (FAPE) without needing a sign language interpreter

Debra P. v. Turlington (1983)

requiring educational disparities to be addressed before implementing such tests

Marshall v. Georgia (1984)

Allowed the percentage of minorities in special education to exceed their population percentage

Pesce v. J. Sterling Morton High School (1987)

Highlights the importance of adhering to protocols when reporting suspected abuse

Honig v. Doe (1988):

Students cannot be expelled for disability-related behavior without due process

Harper v. Poway (2006)

Schools can restrict speech, which impinges on the rights of other students

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against individuals in hiring

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Ensures that children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE); Students with disabilities are entitled to an Individualized Education Program (IEP)

Tatro v. Irving Independent School District

schools must provide medical services even if the child needs full-time attention from a nurse

Zero Reject

No child with disability can be denied a free appropriate public education (FAPE)

Child Find Law

Based on Public Law 94- 457, authorized early intervention for 0 to 3 years old

Stay Put Rule

Students must remain in their current placement during an ongoing due process proceeding

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

protects the privacy of students' educational records. Parents and students can review their records

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex or gender

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

For, students with disabilities, schools must:

-Provide accommodations to ensure provision of FAPE

-Prohibit exclusion solely on the basis of disability.

-Prevent harassment

-Ensure equal access to education & related services

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

Prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment and in other settings

Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

Meant to close the achievement gap between ELLs and native-English speakers

The First Amendment

Protects the rights of students and educational personnel to freedom of religion, speech, the press, and assembly

The Tenth Amendment

duty to educate is up to states, not the federal government

The Fourteenth Amendment

Provides for equal protection under the law and due process. Schools must provide equal access to educational opportunities and cannot discriminate based on race, color, national origin, disability, gender, or age

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965

Help educate children who are “economically disadvantaged”

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)

Notifies parents of student surveys and gives parents the option to review such surveys

Civil Rights Act of 1871

Prohibits discrimination against individuals

based on race or color

Perkins Act

enhance the quality of technical education; prepare students for the workforce

Rosa’s Law

replaced the term "mental retardation" with "intellectual disability"

Due Process

The state cannot take away life, liberty, or property rights without some sort of procedural fairness to safeguard citizens from unfair or wrongful infringement of rights

States must not require the use of

the discrepancy model and must permit the use of a response to intervention (RTI) model. IDEA may permit the use of other research-based procedures for identifying LD

    What is the initial timeline?

45 school days after parents’ consent, with 3 unexcused absences, giving you one extra day 

Remember the

15, 45, and 30 rule: 15 school days to respond to a parent, 45 school days to do an evaluation and report, and 30 calendar days to have the ARD

When must a child be evaluated for special education?

o   Initial evaluations

o   3 year re-evaluations

o   Changing eligibility categories

o   Terminating eligibility

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

Should only occur if the nature of the disability prevents satisfactory education in regular classes, even with supplementary aids

Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142)

The first special education law in the US. The name was changed to IDEA 

Manifestation determination Review (MDR)

determine if the student’s conduct was a manifestation of their disability or if it resulted from the school's failure to implement the IEP

When is a manifestation determination meeting required?

A student with a disability faces disciplinary action exceeding 10 school days

What can parents do if they disagree with a school evaluation?

-Give an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), which the district must pay for or dispute through a due process hearing

The three key elements of consent are:

o   fully informed,

o   competent, and

o   voluntary.

Consent is required for the initial evaluation, initial provision of services, and reevaluation

The three prongs of eligibility for special education are:

o   child has a disability,

o   disability has an adverse impact on educational performance,

o   as a result of the disability, child needs special education to benefit from the general educational system

When must a child be evaluated for special education?

o   Initial evaluations

o   3 year re-evaluations

o   Changing eligibility categories

o   Terminating eligibility

Procedural Safeguards

Rules that ensure the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are understood. A copy of the procedural safeguards should be provided once a year

Individualized Educational Plan/Program (IEP)

A written statement of an educational program developed for a child with a disability, according to IDEA requirements

Example of Accommodation

Allowing a student to do only half of the math problems.

Example of Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)

Changing the type of math problems to match the student's needs.

Difference between Accommodations and Modifications

Accommodations change how something is done without altering standards, while modifications change what is being taught and assessed, which can affect diploma eligibility.

G. Stanley Hall

An early psychologist who founded the first American psychology laboratory

Lightner Witmer

The father of school psychology. He lit the foundation of school psychology and clinical psychology.

Sir Francis Galton

Developed the normal curve

Binet-Simon scales

a method for classifying and sorting children who weren't successful in general education

Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon

Developed the Binet-Simon

Henry Goddard

Translated the Binet-Simon test and brought it to the US

Arnold Gesell

first school psychologist 

Gertrude Hildreth

coined the term 'school psychologist' and authored the first school psychology book

William Wundt

founding father of psychology and started the first psychology lab in Germany

Charles Spearman

developed the theory of intelligence tests that are based on “g”

Respect for the Dignity and Rights of All Persons

demonstrate respect for the autonomy of persons and their right to self-determination, respect for privacy, and a commitment to just and fair treatment of all persons

Professional Competence and Responsibility

School psychologists must practice within the boundaries of their competence. They should accept responsibility for the choices they make

Honesty and Integrity in Relationships

must be truthful and adhere to their professional standards; must be honest about their qualifications, competencies, and roles. They work in cooperation with other professional disciplines to help students and families. Avoid multiple relationships that diminish professional effectiveness

Responsibility to Schools, Families, Communities, the Profession, and Society

promote positive school, family, and community environments; must respect the law and encourage strict ethical conduct. One can advance one’s professional excellence by mentoring less experienced practitioners and contributing to the school psychology knowledge base.

Lewis Terman

studied gifted children; revised the Stanford–Binet cognitive test for American children

Components of multimethod assessment:

o   review of records,

o   interview,

o   observations, and

o   tests (standardized).

Remember the acronym RIOT

For Diversity in Development and Learning, it is important to know the

impact of culture on learning and individual characteristics

Effective teaching practices for diverse learners

▪ Individualized instruction

▪ Special accommodations for student disabilities

▪ Use of relevant technology to support learning

▪ High expectations and challenging but relevant curriculum

▪ Staff are personally committed to achieving equity for all students.

▪ Staff convey a genuine sense of caring and can bond with students.

▪ Classes are interactive and content is meaningful.

▪ Staff embrace a collaborative learning environment.

▪ Content includes various cultural perspectives.

▪ Staff use “scaffolding” to link content to cultural resources.

▪ Staff maintain the integrity of students by acknowledging students’ cultural pride.

▪ Staff encourage parent and family involvement in school.

Impact of disproportionality includes:

-lower self-esteem or expectations

-lower wages

-lower employment

-higher arrest rates

school psychologist should be aware of

biases that negatively impact children

There are possible biases in

assessments with English language learners (ELL) (ex: bias in test content and test construction foundations)

The use of interpreters is permitted for

English language learners (ELL) or different cultural differences

median

The best measure of central tendency to use when distributions are skewed, as it is not affected disproportionately by outliers.

Reliability

research results/scores that are consistent and stable across time

Reliability coefficient (r)

Is the consistency of a score or the stability of a result

Good reliability score for a screening instrument

r= .80 or above

Standard error of measurement (SEM)

The confidence interval. The higher the SEM, the lower the reliability. Tests results rarely provide the “true score” due to measurement errors

Methods to assess reliability (types of reliability)

▪ Test–retest, Alternate and parallel forms, Split half, Internal consistency reliability, and Interrater reliability

Test–retest

Measures the consistency of a test over time by administering the same test to the same group at two different points and correlating the scores. Both scores should be highly similar if the test is reliable

Alternate and parallel forms

two tests built according to the same specifications but composed of separate samples. Must take into account variation resulting from tasks and correlation between two test forms to provide the reliability coefficient

Split half

Take a full test and create two tests from it. Both tests are administered on the same day, and both scores are correlated

Internal consistency reliability

An estimate of the reliability of the total test is developed. Each test item is compared to the total set of items. This statistic is expressed in terms of Cronbach’s alpha.

Interrater reliability

reliability of people administrating the test. This is increased by increasing the number of raters or judges

Validity

degree to which a tool actually measures what it claims to measure

Methods to assess validity (types of validity)

Criterion-related validity, Face and content validity, Convergent validity, Divergent validity, Construct-related validity, Predictive validity, and Discriminant validity

Criterion-related validity

correlation between two measures that are designed to measure the same traits. If two tests measure the same trait, the correlation between the tests should be higher. If one of the two tests is not designed to measure the same trait, the correlation should be lower between the two tests

Face and content validity

whether a test appears to measure what it's supposed to

Convergent validity

determined when a test is correlated with another test that has a similar purpose and measures the same trait. For example, if a test that measures attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) correlates highly or “converges” with another well-known test of ADHD, then the test is said to have good

Divergent validity

is established by correlating two tests that measure two different traits. For example, a test that measures ADHD should have a low correlation with a test that measures depression.

Construct-related validity

whether a trait or construct is being measured

Predictive validity

a valid test of cognitive ability should be able to predict a student’s achievement in school (ex: a student with a standard score of 75 on a cognitive test is predicted to struggle in school and to perform below grade level on complex tasks)

Discriminant validity

discriminate among students who have the trait being measured and those who do not have the trait. For example, a student scoring high on an anxiety measure could be identified with an anxiety disorder and could be distinguished from those students who do not have an anxiety disorder

Internal validity

refers to the degree of confidence that a study's results are due to the manipulated variable (independent variable) rather than other factors