SDSU School Psychology Program - Field Experiences and Collaborating Schools 
 
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Continuum of Field Experiences

In Support of Program Outcomes

 

I. Professional School Psychology
II. Research and Program Evaluation
III. Social and Cultural Foundations
IV. Educational Foundations
V. Psychological Foundations
VI. Assessment-for-Intervention

VII. Interventions

The SDSU School Psychology Program embraces a broad model of ecosystemic, comprehensive and multifaceted psychological service delivery for ethnolinguistically diverse schools.  We have articulated seven outcomes essential to beginning the effective practice of school psychology consistent with our vision.  Each area is developed over your tenure in the program (i.e., from the first year through the end of internship) through course and field experiences.  This Continuum assists your design of individual goals and activities to be pursued in your field experiences. Sample activities for each phase of field experience follow.

 

Overview of Program Outcomes for New Graduates
 
I. Professional School Psychology V. Psychological Foundations
Awareness of the field Human development
Critical analysis of service delivery models Biological bases
Legal and ethical practice Learning and cognition
Self-awareness and personal qualities Individual differences
II. Research and Program Evaluation VI. Assessment-for-Intervention
Scientific method in practice Assessment of situations
Research-based service delivery Psychoeducational evaluation
Critical analysis of research Broad repertoire of tools
Program evaluation and applied research Results linked to interventions
Documented validity and reliability
III. Social and Cultural Foundations Effective communication
Understanding of own culture
Breadth of multicultural knowledge VII. Interventions
Depth in culture other than own Assessment-based, goal-directed, theoretically-informed interventions 
Limits of cultural and linguistic competence Counseling
Ecosystems, social, cultural, societal influences Mediated learning
Collaboration
IV. Educational Foundations Consultation
School as system and culture Staff and program development
Educational programs Systematic implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of effectiveness
Effective teaching and effective schools  

 

Area I: Professional School Psychology
 
Outcome: New SDSU graduates will be aware of and identify with the field of school psychology. They will be able to critique models of service delivery for appropriate application to multicultural school populations. They will be aware of themselves as evolving professionals who practice consistent with the standards, laws, and ethics of the field. They will possess the personal and interpersonal characteristics to support their professional effectiveness.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Obtain a Certificate of Clearance and take CBEST prior to field experience.
  • Obtain professional liability insurance prior to field experience.
  • Develop and maintain program portfolio.
  • Read and discuss ethics codes of NASP, CASP, APA. Relate to practice in the schools.
  • Conduct all professional activities in accordance with all legal and ethical guidelines and standards.
  • Attend professional conferences and workshops - discuss with partner and supervisor.
  • Read professional journals and newsletters and relate to professional practice - have ongoing discussions with partner and supervisor.
  • Read and discuss professional standards (APA-NASP-CASP-CTC). Relate current professional issues to on-site situations.
  • Attend colloquia and presentations of visiting practitioners and scholars, discuss with supervisor.
  • Observe and discuss diverse roles of supervising school psychologist.
  • Discuss time and resource management and establish priorities to balance service delivery and learning needs.
 
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Renew professional liability insurance prior to experience.
  • Identify specific goals for each semester in consultation with field and university supervisors.
  • Begin to perform comprehensive role, to include consultation, counseling, interventions, assessment and research activities.
  • Implement a time management plan to develop competencies in each of the 7 areas. Evaluate and modify as needed.
  • Develop strategies to identify and use resources available in schools and community.
  • Investigate and discuss legal mandates which guide development of special programs available in the schools.
  • Articulate process of decision-making in resolving on site ethical and legal dilemmas.
  • Begin to articulate your model of service delivery.
 
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Obtain professional liability insurance prior to internship.
  • Engage in a comprehensive service delivery model of school psychology, which includes consultation, interventions, assessment and research.
  • Articulate your service delivery model in the context of the history, needs and perimeters of the school; for example, defining access to your services, negotiate priorities with administrators and supervisors, prioritize activities and services to accomplish comprehensive role.
  • Apply ethical standards of research and evaluation to the applied research or program evaluation you conduct.
  • Demonstrate strategies to maintain currency with legal mandates, state department directives and professional standards.

 

Area II: Research and Program Evaluation
 
Outcome: New SDSU graduates will approach practice using scientific methodology, raising systematic hypotheses, and using research to guide program and service delivery. They will be competent consumers of research and be able to conduct program evaluation and applied research in multicultural school settings.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Employ hypothesis-driven approach to counseling.
  • Identify and share journal articles which you consider to be essential to the practice of school psychology in multicultural settings.
  • Discuss such articles with supervisor, emphasizing appropriateness of methodology and implications of results for practice in the school setting.
  • Share with supervisor research papers & projects developed for courses at the University.
  • Become familiar with the means by which psychological services are evaluated in your school.
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Employ hypothesis-driven approach to service delivery.
  • Read and discuss with supervisor the most recent report of the effectiveness of school psychological service delivery in your district.
  • Identify the preliminary procedures prerequisite to conducting research in the schools.
  • Become familiar with the range of research projects being conducted in the district.
  • Interview researchers conducting projects in your district. Learn about the process of research from conception to current status.
  • Identify factors which enhance and impede the process of research in the schools.
  • Begin to use research methods to analyze your own services.
  • Conduct an evaluation of a program in conjunction with CSP 745.
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Design the procedures by which you would want your services to be evaluated; compare and contrast with district procedures in the context of their latest evaluation report.
  • Identify programmatic, policy and practice issues in your district; discuss research hypotheses, strategies, or methodologies as intervention options.
 

 

Area III: Social and Cultural Foundations
 
Outcome: New SDSU graduates will understand their own cultures and how their own value and belief systems influence service delivery to diverse populations. They will be familiar with the cultural themes of the primary ethnic groups and have depth of knowledge in at least one culture different from their own. They will recognize the limits of their cultural and linguistic competencies and call upon cultural advocates, translators and interpreters as needed for delivery of appropriate services. They will have an ecosystemic understanding of social, cultural, and societal influences on individual and group behavior.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Learn about different world views of various cultures and discuss their implications for counseling in the educational environment.
  • Learn about use of interpreters/translators in school settings.
  • Begin articulation of your own values, beliefs, preferences, and biases based on your cultural influences as they impact interpersonal relationships and counseling.
  • Formulate counseling strategies appropriate to children from diverse ethnolinguistic groups.
  • Understand the role/impact of family issues from various ethnic groups. Visit homes and interact with parents of the students you are counseling.
  • Counsel individuals and groups ethnically different from yourself, discuss with your partner and supervisor.
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Apply appropriate assessment and evaluation procedures with students of diverse ethnic and linguistic groups.
  • Engage in consultation and other intervention activities which involve diverse ethnic/cultural/linguistic students, parents, educational issues.
  • Continue articulation of your own values, beliefs, preferences, and biases based on your cultural influences.
  • Conduct all direct and indirect services with attention to cultural appropriateness.
  • Use an interpreter/translator in service delivery to clients who speak a language you do not understand.
  • Observe and investigate (e.g., interview director of bilingual education) educational programs, classrooms and issues for second language learners (e.g., investigate assessment practices, entrance and exit criteria for programs, type and range of services, language proficiency testing).
  • Construct a demographic profile of the students in the school you serve, then compare and contrast the needs of these students with the services provided, and describe interface of school psychological services for these students.
  • Become familiar with community resources and centers which serve culturally diverse groups. Establish relationships.
  • Explore service delivery and involvement of parents in school planning for ethnically diverse groups. Formulate hypotheses.
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Continue intervention activities (e.g., counseling, consultation, behavior management) which involve ethnically diverse individuals, groups and issues within the school as a system.
  • Support others in understanding how their own values/beliefs/preferences/biases based on one's understanding of one's cultural influences.
 

 

 Area IV: Educational Foundations
 
Outcome: New SDSU graduates will be familiar with and able to utilize knowledge of the school as a system and as a culture to effect educational equity for all children and youth in both opportunities and outcomes. To this end, they know the bases for educational programs in the schools. They will be aware of the elements that support effective teaching and effective schools.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Get to know different people in the school, and ask for their input and perceptions about the operation, organization, and issues of the school.
  • Read organizational and operational manuals available at site.
  • Discover decision making processes, both formal and informal.
  • Assess your impact and interaction within the ecosystem.
 
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Conduct an ecological assessment of the school.
  • Become familiar with general education programs and instruction - visit, observe, participate.
  • Become familiar with supplemental instructional opportunities and techniques (e.g., reading specialist, GATE, migrant education).
  • Attend/participate in school meetings (e.g., school board, faculty, SIP, SST, IEP).
  • Explore and be able to articulate nature of interactive components of school as a system.
  • Examine school curriculum (e.g., link with learning, development, individual and group differences); raise hypotheses about the relationships between curriculum, instructional approaches, and learner needs.
  • Become familiar with the governance, budgeting, bargaining units, etc.
  • Observe teaching styles and strategies in those classes. Formulate questions and discuss with special education and resource teachers.
  • From your observations, identify and interview at least two teachers who are using different educational strategies: pursue the reasons for their choices.
  • Compare official mandates (State and Federal regulations) for entry and exit processes to categorical programs. Compare this to the interpretation and implementation into practice in your school site.
 
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Expand your participation and assume increased responsibilities in school meetings (e.g., take leadership, propose educational options).
  • Develop your entry strategies based on Phase II experiences.
  • Reexamine your impact and interaction within the ecosystem.
  • Establish your role as a change agent with the school system.
  • Learn variables which can impact the process of educational change.

 

 
AREA V: PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
 
Outcome: New SDSU graduates will apply basic psychological principles in human development, biological bases, learning and cognition, and individual differences to guide their hypothesis-driven practice of delivering appropriate services in multicultural schools.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Become familiar with the personnel who address biologically based issues (e.g., roles of physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, adaptive P.E. teachers).
  • Articulate the non-intellective, affective influences present in your counseling cases.
  • Counsel across age levels: articulate the impact of developmental and social variables on the process.
 
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Participate with students (tutor/counsel) in classes for exceptional learners (may involve visits to consortium sites other than assigned schools).
  • Describe the developmental and socio-cultural issues for all "key players" (e.g., student, parent, teacher) in assessment, evaluation, counseling, and other interventions.
  • Explore how schools meet biologically based educational needs through programming and adaptations (e.g., low incidence classes, adaptive PE, and developmental disabilities, medically fragile).
  • Integrate dynamic assessment and mediated learning in your service repertoire.
  • Develop and implement interventions which are psychologically based.
  • Integrate concepts of learning in your evaluations of individual achievement; for example, task analyses, learning styles.
  • Assess instructional strategies of at least two teachers in relation to knowledge of learning theory (e.g., transfer anxiety, motivation, mediation).
  • Demonstrate your knowledge of learning, development, and biological bases in your service delivery reports.
  • Use knowledge of development, learning theory, and biological bases in consultation and interventions.
 
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Demonstrate knowledge of psychological foundations related to student learning and behavior throughout service delivery.
 

 

 
Area VI: Assessment for Intervention
 
Outcome: New SDSU graduates use assessment to inform the development of appropriate interventions. They will select and apply appropriate procedures from a broad repertoire of tools consistent with authentic, behavioral, developmental, dynamic, ecological, and psychoeducational models; linking results to indirect and/or direct interventions. They will document the validity and reliability of their assessments, and effectively communicate findings and plans for the collaborative development of interventions with key players.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Become familiar with the ecosystems concept and approach to assessment and apply that knowledge to assessment-for-counseling via record review, observations, and interviews.
  • Engage in hypothesis formulation based on the information you have gathered; discuss implications for counseling with partner and supervisor.
  • Become familiar with key components of a cumulative folder search; learn to select relevant information in evaluation of a student's situation.
  • Develop clinical interview skills.
  • Integrate developmental assessment in your approach to assessment-for-counseling.
 
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Use assessment to define the nature of problem situations, from individual to systems level.
  • Assess the situation before developing intervention plans and strategies.
  • Apply ecological, dynamic, developmental, authentic, behavioral, and psychoeducational assessment approaches to the limits of your competency.
  • Contribute to meeting the assessment and evaluation case load of your supervisor.
  • Conduct reevaluations with students who have been previously identified as having mild disabilities. When conducting reevaluations, focus on the effectiveness of the program and examine the appropriateness of previous evaluation techniques in responding to the original referral and the relationship between evaluation results and the IEP.
  • Conduct at least one comprehensive special education evaluations from referral through placement or intervention decisions.
  • Develop intervention plans as an integral and necessary component of the assessment process.
  • Assess at least one problem situation; clarify nature of the problem, and proceed accordingly.
  • Conduct assessments and evaluations consistent with legislative and judicial mandates and professional ethics.
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Conduct at least one comprehensive special education evaluation of a student with a low-incidence disability.
  • Conduct at least one comprehensive evaluation of a student previously identified or suspected of having a serious emotional disturbance.
  • Conduct special education evaluations of at least three students from ethnolinguistic cultures different from your own.
  • Conduct assessments of problem situations involving children from a variety of age groups.
  • Conduct an assessment of a school-wide or systems problem situation.
 

 

Area VII: Interventions
 
Outcome: On the basis of assessment findings, new SDSU graduates provide appropriate direct (e.g., individual and group counseling, mediated learning strategies) and indirect (e.g., consultation, collaboration, staff and program development) interventions to enhance effectiveness of environments, interactions, and systemic functioning of individuals and learning communities. Their interventions will be theoretically informed, culturally appropriate, goal directed, and systematically implemented, monitored, and evaluated.
 
Suggested Field Experience Activities in Support of Outcome
 
Phase I: Fieldwork
  • Observe individual and group counseling processes.
  • Learn and practice the clinical interview process.
  • Attend consultation (or SST) team meetings.
  • Observe consultations of supervisor.
  • Discuss dynamics and outcomes of team meetings with partner and supervisor.
  • Observe and discuss role and participation level of parents and students in team meetings.
  • Formulate goals and methods for counseling sessions.
  • Evaluate effectiveness of counseling in relation to the goals established through assessment-for-counseling.
  • Engage in supervised individual and group counseling in preventive, developmental and crisis contexts.
  • Integrate appropriate evaluation tools as appropriate to level of training.
  • Begin to articulate a theory-practice counseling model consistent with your philosophy.
  • Develop awareness of community resources.
  • Communicate effectiveness of counseling in both written and oral form.
Phase II: Practicum Continue and expand on Phase I activities and --
  • Develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate assessment-based, goal-directed, theoretically-sound interventions (e.g., counseling, behavior interventions, consultation).
  • Integrate MLE theory in individual and group interventions.
  • After integrating consultation assignment in the Fall, make consultation a central part of your service delivery.
  • Evaluate effectiveness of educational placement as an intervention for a student: read qualifying reports, IEP, observe placement and discuss relationships.
  • Design, implement, and evaluate individual, whole class, and school-wide interventions.
  • Assess and discuss your own participation in team meetings.
  • Engage in several on-site consultations: articulate your model, analyze your interactions, and evaluate your effectiveness.
  • Begin to explore the use of a variety of models of consultation (e.g., behavioral, instructional, ecosystems, mental health).
  • Link with and discuss scope of community resources in context of needs of school.
  • Identify a target for potential change. Identify the sources of support and resistance (force field analysis). Plan strategies for overcoming resistance and embracing support.
  • Develop and practice a repertoire of direct interventions.
  • Develop and practice a repertoire of indirect interventions.
Phase III: Internship Continue and expand on Phase I and II activities and --
  • Provide intervention-based services in response to assessed situations.
  • Collaborate with teachers, parents, administration, and other school staff and outside agencies in an effort to provide effective comprehensive services.

 

Phases in the Field Experience | Continuum of Field Experiences | Policies and Procedures | Field Experience Evaluation Forms | | Supervisors and Partners