School psychologists can enable children’s success

This year, National School Psychology Awareness Week takes place during the week of Nov. 12-16. So it’s a great time to provide information about what psychological services schools tend to provide. Each school has a school psychologist on staff. School psychologists receive specialized graduate-level training in the areas of both education and psychology. They usually have a master's degree with specialist-level training, but sometimes there are school psychologists with a Ph.D. working in school settings. School psychologists work as advocates for students, helping to improve their academic, social and behavior skills. Within schools, the school psychologist is just one of many educators who are working together as a team to facilitate learning, provide support, and solve problems when they arise.

If a child is experiencing behavioral or academic difficulties, a school psychologist can observe the child across different settings and help to develop interventions for that child and the teacher. When there are difficulties, there is often a mismatch between the child’s skills and what the child is being asked to do. For example, children may misbehave if the reading being assigned to them is too difficult for their reading level. The school psychologist can help analyze issues to narrow down exactly what the problem might be and then work with the teacher to develop solutions.

School psychologists are also trained to use tests of student achievement and ability (such as IQ tests). Often, the school psychologist’s work is predominantly made up of testing children to help determine whether they qualify for special education services. These tests can be quite lengthy, and involve a good chunk of time to complete. The school psychologist also performs observations and collects input from teachers and parents. Psychologists often do a lot of scoring, analysis of information and report writing. These in-depth testing and observation sessions can provide information about the child’s strengths and weaknesses.

In addition to these duties, school psychologists are key for providing crisis counseling when needed. They also form counseling groups to help kids who may be facing longer-term stresses like divorcing, ill or incarcerated parents. School psychologists are usually pretty flexible, fitting interventions in whenever they can. One psychologist I worked with ran a casual “lunch bunch” where groups of kids could eat their lunch in the conference room once a week. It was quieter than the cafeteria, and the teacher would send a handful of kids who could eat while working on improving social skills, and maybe even forming new friendships.

Public school districts in the United States should have at least one school psychologist on staff. Parents usually interact with the school psychologist when their child is experiencing academic, behavioral or emotional difficulties. If you have a child in school and do not know the school psychologist, look him or her up and introduce yourself. They can be a great resource if you have any educational, psychological or even parenting concerns.

The National Association of School Psychologists represents many school psychologists who work in schools and other settings. This organization also hosts conferences where school psychologists can keep learning about the latest research and techniques being used in the field. To learn more about the field of school psychology and to access resources for parents and educators, check out the NASP website at www.nasponline.org. On the site, you can find resources for a wide range of topics such as bullying, homework tips and coping with stress and anxiety in children.

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