School Psychology Graduate Students at the University of Arizona
Spring 2006 Update
By Katy Straub
Hello from down south at the U of A. Both faculty and students all have worked hard to bring another academic year to a close. Before everyone scattered for last summer, there were several events that occurred last spring semester. One notable event was a two-day workshop, sponsored by our Spanish/English Bilingual School Psychology Project. This workshop presented five different assessments that can be utilized to meet the unique needs of students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and who are from a Spanish language background. The presented assessments included the Woodcock-Muñoz Batería III, the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT), the Bilingual Verbal Ability Test (BVAT), the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-Revised (WMLS-R), and the Battelle Developmental Inventory - Second Edition - Spanish (BDI-2 Spanish). The attendees consisted of students and professionals, some of whom had previous experiences with the assessments and some who did not. The presenter leading the workshop provided an extended overview of each assessment, highlighting the major features and utilities for working with ELL students from a Spanish language background. In addition, the presenter integrated video clips to demonstrate administration and often asked the audience about their own experiences and opinions of the assessments. For students, this workshop was informative and it was also helpful to hear other professionals’ insight regarding their personal experiences using these assessments in the field.
Another activity in which some of our students participated was a foster family appreciation picnic, organized by a La Paloma Family Services in Tucson. Held at a local community center, foster families and children attended the afternoon event that included a BBQ lunch, a guest speaker, and outdoor games. Our school psychology graduate students’ club, SASP, made a contact with La Paloma Family Services and was responsible for organizing our volunteers. Volunteers were in charge of the games such as the water balloon toss, fishpond, limbo, and bucket toss. The games operated outside under a patch of shade where the kids moved from game to game and collected prizes. The kids, who ranged from toddlers to teenagers, all appeared to have a good time and it was equally fun for the U of A volunteers! Our SASP club enjoys contributing to events such as these and will continue to plan more involvement in philanthropic activities.
Additional events to note last spring semester were a few local presentations. Arni Sveinsson, a school psychologist in Tucson and University of Arizona alumnus, presented to current students on the “The Dissertation Process.” Dr. Sveinsson’s presentation was very beneficial for students who are either getting ready to start or have already begun the dissertation process. He covered a timeline of the basic stages of the process, such as choosing a topic, literature review, the proposal, the institutional review board process, gathering and analyzing data, and of course, the defense. He also mentioned some hurdles he personally encountered during his own experience so that students could try to prevent them. At the end of the talk, there was also an opportunity for students to ask questions. Students who attended were pleased and we were very grateful that Dr. Sveinsson was willing to share his insight with us.
In another presentation, two of our students, Sara Glennon and Erin Matyjasik, presented together at the Arizona Council for Exceptional Children conference in Phoenix. Their presentation was entitled, “Tackling the Issues – Providing Services to Children with Autism.” Their presentation incorporated a discussion of the issues surrounding the provision of services to children with autism, including the quality of communication between professionals and utilizing evidence-based research in professional practice.
As the current fall semester is upon us, some students have secured a spot in our new externship class. For this course, students must have completed certain requirements from the first and second years in order to participate. This course will aim to provide students with additional enriching fieldwork experiences in different school-based contexts, including mental health and juvenile justice system placements and service deliveries. For those of us not participating on these externships, we look forward to hearing about the experiences and knowledge that will be gleaned from these externship opportunities. Most importantly and excitedly, our program has enthusiastically welcomed a new faculty member, Dr. Michelle Perfect. Dr. Perfect hails from the University of Texas-Austin and specializes in pediatric school psychology with an emphasis on early childhood. Her interests and expertise will complement our program nicely and we are all very excited to have her as a new addition to our team.
Some of us rested over the summer, although others continued to develop their school psychology expertise by taking classes on campus and a few earned some money this past summer by working. As part of our Spanish/English bilingual program, some of our students went to Mexico, where they learned about school psychology, special education, and assessment within the Mexican educational system and cultural contexts. Hopefully everyone is rested and is now enjoying the beginning of the new school year.
School Psychology Graduate Students at the University of Arizona
Summer 2006 Update
Greetings! This is a very exciting time at the U of A School Psychology program, as we begin a new school year eager to embrace a wide array of academic and professional development learning experiences. This past August, we welcomed/welcomed back our fellow graduate students and a new faculty member into our graduate training program. Additionally, the school psychology graduate students’ club we started last January, Student Affiliates in School Psychology (SASP), has garnered recognition by the University of Arizona and Division 16 of APA and has become increasingly active within the University of Arizona and Tucson community.
A new cohort of twelve students, hailing from within Arizona and across the country, were welcomed
by faculty, staff and returning students as they began their studies in the School Psychology program at the U of A. Second year students enrolled in the Spanish/English bilingual-track of the school psychology program returned to Tucson, sharing many exciting stories and learning experiences from the immersion and training program they completed this past summer in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Likewise, graduate students in our program have been excited about the training and research interests of Dr. Michelle Perfect, who joined the faculty of our program this fall. Dr. Perfect is teaching an Introduction to School Psychology class and a Cognition and Development class. Her research interests include pediatric and health psychology and also childhood maltreatment and trauma. She has worked with children of various ages with physical disabilities and chronic health conditions and has also conducted research on sleep. Dr. Perfect finished her doctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin and completed her clinical psychology predoctoral internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Scott & White clinic and additionally is a licensed psychologist.
Our newly formed graduate students’ club, SASP, has become increasingly active through community service projects and the creation of professional development opportunities for school psychology graduate students. One organization we have worked with is La Paloma Family Services, an organization that coordinates foster care for orphaned children. Dave Bradley, Director, Leslie Skoda, Assistant Director, and Mark McCord, Director of Foster Care, recently took time from their busy schedules to attend a SASP meeting where they presented our organization with a plaque and donation to share their appreciation for our volunteer, social service work.
Through extensive fundraising efforts by graduate students within our organization, more than $2,000 was raised to bring former NASP President Scot Poland to lead a workshop for professionals and graduate students in school psychology and related mental health and education fields. Entitled “School Crisis: Lessons from the Front Lines for Prevention and Intervention," this workshop will draw on Dr. Poland’s experience leading interventions in schools and communities in response to national disasters ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the 9-11 attacks in New York City, as well as his work shared through numerous publications and presentations. This event will be held between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm on Friday October 6, 2006 at the University of Arizona.
NASP and the Arizona Board of Psychological Examiners have approved this workshop for 3 continuing education credits. Our organization is asking for a recommended donation of $10, to partially offset costs associated with this workshop. If you would like a brochure with further information on the workshop emailed to you, have further questions, or would like to register to attend, please email us at: SASP_AZ@hotmail.com.
Catch the Waves!
By Carlos Dejud and Katy Straub
Graduate Students in the School Psychology Program, University of Arizona
Among the surf and the sand of Mexico’s beautiful western coast, twelve school psychology graduate students and practicing school psychologists from across the United States of America studied abroad in Mexico during the month of June through the University of Arizona’s summer program sponsored by the Spanish/English Bilingual School Psychology Specialization Project and the Study Abroad Office. The summer program classes were held at University of Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta campus (UGPV). The dynamic group of students was comprised of individuals with varying amounts of field experience and knowledge of Spanish/English bilingual school psychology issues, as well as Spanish language proficiency.
The University of Arizona's summer program was developed through the collaborative efforts between Dr. Pepe Gutierrez, chair of the Department of School Psychology at the University of Guadalajara (UG) and the University of Arizona's Spanish/English Bilingual School Psychology Training Project staff, Dr. Shitala P. Mishra, Dr. Elena Parra, and Carlos Dejud. Initially, the program started with a small group of participants at the UG main campus in Guadalajara, Mexico. In the summer of 2005, the program moved to the UGPV campus in Puerto Vallarta, a city which provided the perfect mix of rest and fun, activity and tranquility.
Students enrolled in 3-6 credits, with the first class component focusing on Contemporary Issues in Spanish/English Bilingual School Psychology, team-taught by Dr. Elena Parra and Carlos Dejud, Graduate Teaching Assistant. Several interesting topics were discussed, such as the importance of second language acquisition when assessing English Language Learners (ELL) who are children and youth, legal/ethical issues in Spanish/English bilingual assessment, non-discriminatory assessment of Mexican and/or Latin American students as well as other culturally and linguistically diverse children, culturally sensitive service delivery to students with Mexican and/or Latin American ancestry including prevention and intervention, cultural identity and academic achievement, Mexican history, and current changes in the educational systems in Mexico and various Latin American countries.
The summer course curriculum was primarily designed to provide participants opportunities to gain a comprehensive understanding of cultural and linguistic issues as they pertain to the delivery of school psychological services to children, youth, and families of ELL students with Mexican and/or Latin American ancestry. The curricular activities during the first week were aimed at providing intensive lab-based training for the purposes of acquiring and enhancing Spanish language skills for the course participants. The language experiences were designed to have particular emphasis on familiarizing program participants with the knowledge of Spanish terms that are frequently used in diagnoses, assessments, and placements of Spanish language background, ELL children in specialized instructional and remedial contents.
The remaining three weeks were spent on discussing issues and theories related to such topics as second language acquisition, relationships between culture and cognition, culture and learning styles, non-discriminatory assessments, and professional ethics in working with multicultural or ELL children and their families. The participants spent approximately half of their time each day visiting schools and local mental health organizations where they were involved in supervised direct and indirect service delivery activities such as observing classrooms, shadowing school psychological professionals, providing consultation services to teams, and participating in case conferences. These activities helped participants to afford additional opportunities for not only enhancing the understanding of language and culture but also to integrate didactic knowledge with school psychology practices.
Furthermore, the program placed a special emphasis on providing participants with multiple opportunities for interacting with local families, school psychology professionals working in the schools as well as other agencies and by interacting with local school personnel to gain an understanding of public school environment and culture. The participants were required to spend at least 40% of the time each day in activities such as observing classrooms recording and interpreting student's undesirable behaviors, working with the school psychologists, interviewing parents and school professionals, having conversations and socializing with families and professionals during opportunities such as lunch, dinner, and family celebrations as well as local festive occasions.
The program provided an opportunity for the acquisition of Spanish language skills which participants immediately used in interacting with local people and professionals in social and educational contexts. Through structured instruction on classes taught at the UGPV campus, participants were not only required to gain communicative and cognitive linguistic skills but also to acquire Spanish language knowledge equivalence of foundational school psychological terms and systems used in the delivery of school psychological services to Spanish language background, ELL children and youth. For this purpose, all course participants learned the basic psychological terms as expressed in the Spanish language. The basic Spanish class focused on grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, whereas the advanced class extended into translation of school psychological terms, report writing, and presentations in Spanish. This language option catered to the varying amount of students’ Spanish proficiency and proved to be helpful in and out of class.
A second avenue to acquire a higher level of interpersonal communication in Spanish as well as a cognitive element of language skills was an opportunity to work in formal, as well as informal settings with teachers, administrators, school psychologists, and related psychological professionals. Additional opportunities were also provided for participants to observe classrooms and interact with educational professional and work with classroom teachers to gain an understanding of students needs, discipline problems, and provide consultation, if needed, while at the same time interacting through the use of Spanish language skills at the level necessary for school psychologists in these settings.
Participants were also required to shadow school psychologists and other mental health professionals, observe meetings, counseling sessions, and observe assessment sessions being conducted by local school psychologists. Such experiences allowed students to interact with educational and school psychological professionals as well as compare the practice of school psychology in the two countries. The program hoped that these conditions of formal and informal learning experiences were an adequate benefit to the participants for developing linguistic and cultural competencies at sufficient levels to work with Spanish language background students and their families.
On days without class, students visited schools and community agencies to observe, interview, and assist school personnel and children. Students also were given the opportunity to do practice evaluations, using several different assessment tools deemed appropriate for this population. These hands-on experience were invaluable to understanding the educational system and culture from which a Mexican immigrant child might hail from and adds a potentially extra dimension to the evaluation of that student as they function in the United States of America.
The schools and government agencies in Mexico were courteous and welcoming to the University of Arizona group. An article about the group was featured in the Puerto Vallarta local newspaper, El Meridiano, as well as in the June issue of the NASP Communiqué. Both articles can be found at the Spanish/English Bilingual School Psychology (BSP) website by visiting http://www.ed.arizona.edu/bischoolpsych. For information about the 2007 Puerto Vallarta Summer Program, you can contact the BSP office at (520) 626-3795 or visit their website at the above mentioned URL.
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