Get School Psych'd

Hey there LSSPs,

As Tiana sings in one of my daughter's favorite Disney movies, we are almost there. Though, that's really more for y'all because working at Region 10 is a year round gig. But still, the end of the year is around the corner!

I imagine that for many of us, this will go down in the books as one of the weirdest years of our working lives. I hope in all the confusion and challenge of this year, Region 10 (and specifically me) have been able to be an effective support for you in getting your questions answered and your needs addressed. Those of you who know me are aware that I am a feedback junkie and take it very seriously, so if you have any ideas about how we can rethink our support and services of you, please know my door (inbox?) is always open.

This will mark the final edition of Get School Psych'd for the 2020-21 school year. We will have a summer edition that will come out around the middle of July (just to check in with you) and we will start back with our monthly edition in August. Be sure that if you are moving on to another position, you resubscribe to the newsletter with your new email address.

Thank you all for your hard work and dedication and enjoy your summer break. You have earned it!

Keep Being School Psych'd,

Keya Saleh, LSSP, NCSP

Region 10 Educational Service Center

The Harmful Ableist Language You Unknowingly Use

From the BBC: Some of our most common, ingrained expressions have damaging effects on millions of people – and many of us don't know we're hurting others when we speak.

Grownup Stress Is Hitting Kids Hard

Children dealing with their own issues also bear the frustration and fears of the adults closest to them.

Why Conversations Go Wrong

From the Hidden Brain podcast, this episode centers around an interview with linguist Deborah Tannen about how our conversational styles can cause unintended conflicts, and what we can do to communicate more effectively with the people in our lives.

As part of a new 'mini-series' in the Get School Pscyh'd newsletter, I will be featuring/sharing some information about the various statewide networks in Texas.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Technical Assistance Networks, they are supports from TEA designed to address major, thematic topics that are identified as critical technical assistance and support needs for the state. A network is comprised of:

• The grantee who implements the network under TEA's leadership
• Network members (At least 1 from each of the 20 Education Service Centers (ESCs) across the state)
• TEA special education program staff

This month: The Multiple Exceptionalities and Multiple Needs Network (MEMN)

The MEMN's mission is to support the unique set of needs of students who are being served by Special Education as well as identified in one or more of the following areas: English learners, Gifted and Talented, and Highly Mobile (migrant students, military connected students, students experiencing homelessness, and students in foster care).

The Network provides wonderful resources and free webinars in areas that impact students. You can view the network website here.

TEA has published a flyer with a collection of updates on the resources and supports recently made available across the various technical assistance networks.

You can find the link to the latest network resource update here.

The Child Find network has just launched a new free on demand webinar: Child Find Duty - Everyone's Responsibility.

This course is intended to provide participants with a fundamental understanding of the definition and purpose of child find and requirements for Local Education Agencies (or LEAs).

The training will address the topics of an overview of child find, the key child find populations, and LEA responsibilities, including:

• written board policies and special education operating procedures;
• public awareness programs
• coordination activities with other agencies
• notification to families
• targeted outreach to primary referral sources
• special education referral procedures, including screening
• maintenance and reporting of accurate data
• professional development and training for staff.

This professional development session is a self-paced online course that will be completed within the Region 4 Canvas here.

SEL4Texas is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a state network of SEL advocacy and support that focuses on promoting high quality SEL integration into all schools and communities across the state of Texas.

In this April newsletter from SEL4Texas, you will find updates about the organization, resources for districts, and training opportunities to support your SEL endeavors. SEL4Tx is also excited to announce their 1st state-wide conference on SEL. Mark your calendars now for September 15, 2021. More details are coming.

The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council has scheduled a regular meeting for May 4, 2021.

You may download the Council's agenda and public meeting materials by clicking here.

You may also watch the meeting online by clicking here.

WPS is hosting a free webinar on 5/6/2021,1:00-2:00PM with Dr. Patti L Harrison, author of the ABAS-3.

A comprehensive evaluation of children and adults with various disabilities should include an adaptive behavior assessment that focuses on everyday skills needed for self-care and social interactions. This webinar will summarize conceptual and research foundations of adaptive behavior, and it will present detailed information on the ABAS-3, including planning effective interventions and other services. You will learn best practices in norm-referenced, adaptive behavior assessment, a critical component to understanding many types of developmental, learning, and social-behavior problems.

Register for the WPS webinar here.

The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) has been hosting a series of Coffee Hours for topics related to visual impairments. On Monday, May 10th, Marnee Loftin will be offering a session on Collaborative Evaluations.

You can register for Marnee's session here. More information about the Coffee Hours series can be found here.

Have you ever wondered...

• How do school psychologists conduct evaluations of students with visual impairments?

• Should school psychologists administer tests with the teacher of the visually impaired (TVI)?

• What does the TVI evaluate?

• Should school psychologists administer standardized tests to students with visual impairments?

Learn best practices for psychoeducational evaluations of students with visual impairments from the California School for the Blind Assessment Center team. This free webinar will take place on 5/12/2021, 3:00-6:00PM CST.

You can register for the webinar here.

Sponsored by PAR, each month Dr. Peter Isquith hosts an assessment rounds presenting 2 case studies from both school and clinical perspectives utilizing PAR assessments. Attendees are able to submit cases that they would like to see highlighted and reviewed during future sessions.

The next webinar is on May 6, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

• Practical application of PAR assessments with complex cases
• How to select different assessments to pair together
• A deeper dive into school and clinical application
• Recommended best practices from top assessment experts

You can register for the PAR session here.

Region 4 will be hosting their 2021 Summer Evaluation Institute (SEI) virtually, June 9–11, 2021.

This annual institute provides the latest information and best practices to support the comprehensive and integrated evaluation of students.

In addition to some wonderful keynote sessions, this year’s SEI event will feature a tailored suite of asynchronous professional development sessions for participants to access through Whova (the event platform) until June 30, 2021.

You can register for the Region 4 SEI here.

The Hill Country Summer Institute 2021 is a two-day live broadcast virtual conference that addresses critical issues important to Educational Diagnosticians and Licensed Specialists in School Psychology sponsored by Region 13 ESC.

From Dawn Flanagan to Jim Walsh, the HCSI features an incredible line-up of speakers to provide amazing learning opportunities.

The HCSI will take place on June 14-15th, 2021. You can learn more and register for the summer institute here.

The Texas Association of School Psychologists will hold their summer institute over Zoom this summer. The conference will take place on June 23rd and 24th with live and on-demand sessions.

The Theme of the conference is Be Ready! Addressing Trauma, Crisis, and Suicide Prevention

You can check out the speaker agenda and register here.

I have always gotten a lot of questions about the books I am reading (mostly because approximately 84% of my sentences start with "you know I just read this book..."), so I decided to start sharing some of my personal favorites that I have recently read (or in some cases, reread).

This month: Without Conscience by Dr. Robert Hare

In many conversations about TV shows with school psychs, there will often be a Mindhunters/Dexter/Criminal Minds type show brought up. If you are one of those, you might find Without Conscience to be interesting. From the developer of one of the original assessments of Psychopathy, Dr. Hare shares his experience and research in a fairly quick read. While some of the book is a bit dated, overall there is some fascinating material to reflect on.

One of my biggest goals of GSP is to get information about our Region 10 LSSPs. I know your time is valuable and I don't want to ask you to spend half a day filling out tons of information, so I have settled on what I am calling the Two-ish Question Quiz. Every so often, I humbly ask for you to answer two questions about yourself to help us get a better picture of the LSSPs in Region 10.

If you have any questions or need support in your campus/district, give me a shout!

Email: keya.saleh@region10.org
Website: www.region10.org/programs/evaluation-special-education/overview/
Location: 904 Abrams Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Phone: 972-348-1598
Twitter: @getschoolpsychd

TASP has opened the call for Posters and Mini-Skills sessions for the Fall Convention, scheduled for November 4th-6th in Georgetown, Tx. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a poster or mini skills session for the TASP 2021 Fall Convention, you can submit your proposal here.

Posters are designed to highlight empirical research, innovative programs, or theoretical analysis of previous studies. The presentation should represent original work. Students, researchers, and professionals may submit individually or as part of a research group.

Mini-Skills Sessions are designed to provide skills and information that will be immediately applicable for practitioners (“tools to use on Monday morning”). Each proposal will be for a 120-minute presentation with a maximum of 4 presenters.

Your submission must include a formal proposal. The content of the proposal should consist of the following components:

1. COVER PAGE:

a. Title of the proposed work

b. Names, titles, and affiliations of editor(s)/author(s)

c. Date of submission

2. ABSTRACT

The abstract should be on a separate page and be no more than 150 words in length. It should summarize the focus of the presentation, including the learning objectives of the presentation/poster. Please do not use any personal identifying information in your abstract.

3. SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT

The summary should be no more than 800 words in length. This section should include a summary of the purpose, research-based content, and learning objectives of the presentation/poster. It should also discuss how the proposed work will contribute to the field, emphasizing its relevance to school psychology and NASP’s practice model. Please do not use any personal identifying information in your abstract.

4. TARGETED AUDIENCE

To match the presentation to participants’ specific needs, please indicate the skill level of your submission: Beginning Skill – Level I; Intermediate Skill – Level II; and Advanced Skill – Level III

Submissions are due by 5 P.M. on June 1, 2021, so submit your proposal today.