NCSPA Membership,

It’s challenging to think of how to formulate an appropriate message during such a tragic time in our society, especially in the moments following the Parkland shooting. However, no matter how difficult it is to conceptualize such a tragedy, we must face the reality that it occurred and find ways as school psychologists to support our school communities. We are witnessing a myriad of emotions in ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities that we support every day. As school psychologists, many of us are trained crisis responders. Our school communities often look to us for resources and support during these difficult times. As difficult as it is for us, there is something to be learned from every crisis event, no matter how large or small. In the wake of the Parkland shooting, many requests are being made regarding how student support staff can support school safety, social-emotional learning, and mental health. As an experienced district crisis responder, I found my own emotions floundering for the past couple of weeks once I realized that, among such horror, school psychologists, social workers, and counselors may now be higher on the radar of our media, legislators, principals, superintendents, and school boards who are seeking ways to prevent crises. This reaction from stakeholders is what I believe may likely be a positive consequence of a terrible and horrible event. Perhaps this is an opportunity for you to be a small, medium and/or large “systems level change agent”?

We are working in our district to implement a framework for school based mental health and often stakeholders ask me directly, “Are you talking to us about ‘mental health’ or ‘social-emotional learning’?” I love that question because my answer to them is always a credible, “Yes.”

School and Advocacy Resources:

• NASP: Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Educators

• NASP: School Safety & Crisis Resources

• School Crisis Prevention: Guidelines for Administrators and Crisis Teams

• Social Media and School Crises

• NCSPA, (2018, February 27) North Carolina’s School Psychologist Shortage Leaves Many Students Without Mental Health Resources. Retrieved from http://www.ncchild.org/north-carolinas-school-psychologist-shortage-leaves-many-students-without-mental-health-resources/.

• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction School Based Mental Health Initiative.

• NCSPA Infographic: This infographic outlines North Carolina school psychology shortages

• NASP Shortages in School Psychology Infographic: This infographic outlines the national school psychology shortages and identifies strategies to remedy the problem.

• NASP Mental Health Infographic: This infographic describes the problem of unaddressed mental health needs in schools and how school psychologists can help provide services.

• NASP Trauma-Sensitive Schools Infographic: This infographic explains the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences, characteristics of trauma-sensitive schools, and the role of the school psychologist in providing early identification and intervention services, delivering mental health supports, and contributing to positive student outcomes.
  

  
  

• Every Student Succeeds Act: ESSA legislation utilizes the definition of “School Based Mental Health Services Provider”: “...includes a state-licensed or state-certified school counselor, school psychologists or social worker, or other state licensed or certified mental health professional qualified under state law to provide mental health services to children and adolescents.” ESSA utilizes the terminology of “specialized instructional support personnel more than 40 times in policies state and school improvement plans.
  

Heather Boling

NCSPA President

Latrise was born in Cincinnati, OH. When she was a baby, her family relocated to Charlotte, NC. They remained in Charlotte until Latrise graduated from high school. Latrise attended undergraduate at the best HBCU in the south, Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in the Non-Traditional Student Body Association and two different research projects. One research project investigated the impact of flip-method teaching in an introduction to psychology class at WSSU; the other research project investigated WSSU psychology majors’ awareness of the different subfields in psychology.

Latrise is currently a first-year graduate student in the specialist program at Appalachian State University (ASU). She went straight from undergraduate to graduate school. However, she took two years off during her undergraduate studies to work and gain real-world experience and discover her true passion. The two research projects that Latrise participated in during her undergraduate years at WSSU heavily influenced her decision to pursue a career in school psychology. Though both projects explored college students, Latrise found that she was truly inspired and uplifted by assessing difficulties and examining ways to best help younger students succeed. In addition, during her senior year she was able to take a fieldwork course where she was allowed to shadow a school psychologist. Her fieldwork course provided great real-world insight into the career and perpetuated her aspiration to be a future school psychologist. In Latrise’s program, students do not start practicum until the second-year; however, they have been able to practice implementing different academic interventions and benchmark assessments at the local elementary school, Hardin Park.

Latrise first became interested in school psychology when she joined a research project with a professor at WSSU, Dr. Griffin. Dr. Griffin was a practicing school psychologist before she received her PhD. Working on her research, Latrise was able to converse and learn about the different subfields in psychology. As a future school psychologist and a minority student, Latrise plans on getting involved with the issues schools are having with the disproportionality of minority students being placed in special education as well as emotional-disturbance disability qualifications.

At ASU, Latrise is a member of the Black Student Association and she is currently working in a research lab with Dr. Masland, investigating future teachers’ feedback before and after interventions on positive feedback. She also attended the 2017 NCSPA conference. Best of luck to you with your future endeavors, Latrise!

We cordially invite you to be a presenter at the

2018 NCSPA FALL CONFERENCE:

"School Psychologists: Systems Level Change Agents"

WHEN

Sunday, October 14, 2018 - Tuesday, October 16, 2018

WHERE

Hilton Charlotte University Place

8629 JM Keynes Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262, USA

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PRESENTATION PROPOSALS:

View Event Summary

By the North Carolina School Psychology Association (NCSPA)

Retrieved from the NC Child Blog

Matthew was struggling to keep up with his 2nd grade classmates in reading, was sleeping in class, missing school, and getting into conflicts with peers. Matthew had some unique behaviors that his teachers had difficulty managing, and repeating second grade was becoming a possibility. He even talked of hurting himself. Matthew’s school psychologist reached out to his parents, and then attended a parent conference with his teacher. After a thorough review and assessment, the school psychologist recognized that Matthew had symptoms of a genetic condition known as Tourette Syndrome. A parent interview also revealed that his family was experiencing some challenging life events that were further affecting him.

The school psychologist collaborated with a student support team at Matthew’s school, connected him with a psychologist to address the social impact of Tourette Syndrome, worked with his mother to link her to resources, and helped Matthew learn some better ways to deal with stress and conflict. Years later in high school, Matthew once again met with his school psychologist and worked on building his leadership skills while learning about colleges. Matthew now attends a community college where he is completing a certificate program with plans to transfer to NC State. His future goal is to start his own business. His school psychologist made a difference in Matthew’s life at some crucial times.

Just 740 school psychologists serve the NC public school child population of about 1.6 million children across the state. That’s a school psychologist to student ratio of 1 psychologist for every 2,162 students. While the traditional role of school psychologists has been that of evaluators, they provide students with comprehensive psychological services in school. They play other important roles too: School psychologists are educators who are deeply knowledgeable about public policy surrounding the rights for students with disabilities. School psychologists provide interventions for students who are struggling academically, emotionally, or behaviorally. They can help to identify students with thoughts of harm to self or others. School psychologists also play a critical role in our schools with prevention, response and recovery from traumatic events by providing emotional support and connecting students and families with resources for psychological and physical safety.

While there is consensus among parents, school administrators, school boards, and lawmakers that mental health issues in NC in 2018 are growing, as well as a rising student population and rising poverty rate, the number of school psychologists per student in NC is actually shrinking. There are currently 65 vacancies across the state for qualified school psychologists. Unfortunately, in 12 NC public school districts, struggling children do not have even one full-time employed school psychologist to reach out to.

Further, the current pay scale makes it even harder for the profession to recruit highly qualified and trained school psychologists at a time when NC children need us more than ever. While the licensing requirements for school psychologists are the highest for any employee licensed by the NC Department of Public Instruction, the current pay scale for school psychologists doesn’t reflect this licensing requirement, making it a challenge for NC to recruit. Stepping over the state line can yield a significant boost in pay, and NC school districts near state lines have lost highly trained professionals who can make a higher salary in SC and VA.

The recent announcement of a new House Select Committee on School Safety is a hopeful sign that the NC General Assembly recognizes the need for safety in schools. Fortunately in NC, school psychologists have the skills to help prevent traumatic events at school. In NC, just 740 dedicated school psychologists are helping 1.6 million children overcome stress, trauma, grief, mental illness and other challenges to stay focused in school and become productive members of society. When the next child in Matthew’s school needs support, let’s work together to make sure there’s a school psychologist ready to help.

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As you can see from above, employment shortages is a key issue for us to focus on. How can you help decrease the shortages of school psychologists in NC? How can we support each other in this effort? Send us your thoughts for a chance to win a prize! (ncspamembers@gmail.com)

February 14, 2018

NCDPI

SMHI link: http://bit.ly/SMHIpublic

Bill Hussey, NCDPI Exceptional Children’s Director, opened the meeting and summarized the history of work by the State Mental Health Initiative (SMHI). Approximately 40-50 people attended on behalf of school systems, Division of Public Health, education non-profit organizations, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Public Safety, Juvenile Justice, Public School Forum, and NCSPA, among other stakeholders.

In an effort to have SMHI reach its next levels of organization and action, attendees chose to serve on one of each of the following two groups (therefore, serving on a total of two committees):

8 Regional Groups – NCSPA assigned to North Central Region

4 Statewide Groups & Their Roles

1. Research and Evaluation – NCSPA assigned
1. Help SMHI use evidence-based recommendations
2. Feed relevant data to other SMHI Statewide Groups and 8 Regional Groups as necessary
3. Look at the date relevant to policy that has been/will be implemented in LEAs (e.g., show the difference that school mental health work is making)
2. Professional Learning
1. Identify what professional development is happening around the state & what can SMHI help create or support
3. Continuum
1. Get out to regional directors for Student Services & describe what SMHI has done; will do next
2. Have SMHI members serve as a resource for the School Improvement Plans at the LEA level
4. Communications & Visibility
1. Will draft SMHI template letter of introduction to other potential invitees
2. Investigate further free marketing opportunities

NCSPA’s Assignment to the Statewide Research & Evaluation Group

Stephanie Ellis, EC Director for Rockingham County Schools, presided as the informal Chair of the group. She will stay in touch with those present by email. Dr. Deni was noted as a formal member on behalf of NCSPA and enthusiastically welcomed to the next meeting in April. There were also members from Beaufort County Schools, EC Division; Guilford County Schools, EC Division; and Division of Public Health.

Research & Evaluation agreed to the following action items:

1. Use a Logic flow chart for its work
2. Confirm data entry into SHAPE for future research & evaluation
3. Obtain log in privileges to SHAPE for all members of the group
4. Consider a services inventory of those LEAs piloting SHAPE so that future LEAs will have a primer on how to best use SHAPE
5. Use SHAPE to create a baseline of data for LEAs to decide:
1. Tier 1 (e.g., suicide prevention training);
2. Tier 2 (e.g., self-esteem group work);
3. Tier 3 (e.g., child on suicide watch; one-on-one counseling)
6. Other stakeholders who can help with relevant data: MCOs, Head Start, Health Departments, Local social services departments, Hospital Emergency Rooms, etc.
7. Do a Resource Review Flow Chart (e.g., there are a host of resources in SHAPE and it can be overwhelming; therefore, a brief up-front overview for first-time users will be useful)

Next Meeting: April 11, 2018

Are you interested in going to a NASP training for FREE? The NCSPA Legislative and Public Policy (LPP) Committee is actively recruiting School Psychologists in NC interested in leading advocacy efforts within NCSPA through collaboration. If you have an interest in learning how to support advocacy and build on to the existing advocacy efforts within NCSPA, please consider joining. As an incentive, NCSPA will sponsor 2 current NCSPA members to attend the NASP Public Policy Institute (PPI) in Washington, DC in July 2018; this is a 3-day event. Sponsorship includes the PPI conference fee, hotel, meals, and transportation expenses. Please visit the NASP website for more information. Afterwards, you will have new skills and serve on the NCSPA board to continue advocating within your profession and be able to apply these skills directly to your work and within your school district. This position is applicable for NCSP certification and is applicable to your performance appraisal.

Please email Leigh Kokenes (leighkokenes@gmail.com) OR Mary Whitehouse (maryhwhitehouse@gmail.com) if you are interested in learning more details about this opportunity for leadership and advocacy.

Email: ncspamembers@gmail.com
Website: http://www.ncspaonline.com/
Location: PO Box 12661, Durham, NC 27709
Phone: 000
Facebook: facebook.com/NCSchoolPsychology/
Twitter: @NC_School_Psych

NCSPA Executive Board Contact Information

NCSPA Committee Contact Information