Psychology

School psychologists are knowledgeable about child development, mental health, education, and learning.  Their training allows them to provide a broad range of services within schools.  Through collaboration with teachers, parents, and other professionals, school psychologists work toward meeting the individual socio-emotional and academic needs of each student.  School psychologists are active participants on support teams that use a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework to identify areas of concern, collect and analyze relevant information, and develop strategies and interventions to help all students be successful.

Psychological services include the following:

Consultation

• Collaborate with teachers, parents, administrators, and other professionals to identify students in need of support services.
• Assist with effective interventions to enhance learning.
• Strengthen home-school partnerships.

Evaluation

• Assist in conducting school-wide screenings to identify students at risk for academic difficulties.
• Evaluate students for entitlement to special education services.
• Examine the impact of various factors on learning and behavior.
• Section 504 Evaluations

Prevention

• Work with a team of professionals to design programs for groups of students who may be at risk for academic or behavioral difficulties.
• Promote a positive learning environment by sharing knowledge of programs that will benefit all students (e.g. classroom management strategies).

Intervention

• Work directly with teachers and families to design strategies to improve student performance.
• Develop clear student goals and evaluate progress toward goal attainment.
• Help manage crises at school related to illness, death, community trauma, or student behavior that may be dangerous.

Data-Based Decision-Making and Accountability

• Use data to identify students’ strengths and needs, and to measure progress toward academic or behavioral goals.
• Use multiple sources of data to define problems and inform instruction.
• Observe students in a variety of settings to help make instructional recommendations.

BPS101 currently has nine school psychologists supporting students across the district, through the following:

• Completion of case study evaluations and re-evaluations
• Participation in problem-solving and Response to Intervention
• Consultation with both general and special education staff
• Facilitating universal screenings
• Data collection via classroom observations
• Crisis interventions