The Obstacles and Opportunities in Advocating for NCSP Parity in Indiana Indiana Association of School Psychologists October 16, 2006, 1:30-3:00pm Indianapolis, IN Presenter: Stacy Kalamaros Skalski, PhD Director of Public Policy National Association of School Psychologists [email protected]
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The Obstacles and Opportunities in Advocating for NCSP Parity in Indiana
Indiana Association of School PsychologistsOctober 16, 2006, 1:30-3:00pmIndianapolis, IN
Presenter:Stacy Kalamaros Skalski, PhDDirector of Public PolicyNational Association of School [email protected]
Advocate NCSP Parity/Skalski 2
Agenda for this Session
Overview of NCSP Parity Developing an advocacy strategy
for NCSP Parity Understanding the obstacles and
opportunities for Indiana Crafting Indiana’s advocacy
message using existing data Planning for the future
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What is NCSP Parity?
Most states and many local school districts award stipends to teachers holding national board certification.
NCSP parity refers to the need for school psychologists holding national certification to be treated equally to other educational professionals holding national certification.
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Indiana’s School Academic Plan
Public Law 221 established a grant system through the Indiana Department of Education to fund school improvement plans with the goal of improving student learning. The school improvement plan must include a professional development component and monies may be used for National Board Certification for teachers.
See Indiana Code 20-20-31-12
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Comparing the NBPTS and the NCSP
A comprehensive table comparing national certification across school professionals is available at http://nasponline.org/advocacy/certcomparison.pdf
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General Goals of the NCSP
To ensure a consistent level of training and field experience among school psychologists who hold the designation
To promote uniform credentialing standards across state education agencies and other bodies who credential school psychologists
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General Goals of the NCSP continued
To link national accreditation of training programs (NCATE-NASP Approval) to a national credential (NCSP
To promote Nationally Certified School Psychologists as those who have met national levels of training and who are committed to ongoing professional development and to following NASP ethics.
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National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Proposition 1: Teachers are Committed to Students and Learning.
Proposition 2: Teachers Know the Subjects They Teach and How to Teach Those Subjects to Students.
Proposition 3: Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning.
Proposition 4: Teachers Think Systematically about Their Practice and Learn from Experience.
Proposition 5: Teachers are Members of Learning Communities.
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Pre-Requisites
To qualify for national certification candidates must have a bachelor’s degree, a state teacher certification, and 3 years teaching experience.
To qualify for national certification NCSP candidates must have completed a minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate study in “School Psychology,” culminating in a MA, Ed.S., Ph.D. or other recognized post-baccalaureate degree.
Supervised internship and a culminating 1,200 clock-hour supervised internship.
All other applicants must provide documents of having met these pre-requisite standards.
NBPTS NCSP
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Certification Requirements
Complete a portfolio which may include videotapes of classroom interactions or discussions, and collections of certain kinds of student work.
An analysis of the teaching reflected in the videotape or student work is also required.
The portfolio also documents teachers’ work outside the classroom with families, colleagues, and the community.
The second component involves a written assessment which is comprised of four, 90-minute sessions.
NASP Standards require that school psychology candidates demonstrate competency in 11 domains of professional practice as part of their formal training.
Candidates must complete a NCSP Case Study.
Complete a 1,200 clock-hour supervised internship of which 600 hours must be in a school setting.
Achieve a passing score (660) on the National School Psychology Examination, administered by the Educational Testing Service (Praxis II: NTE Test #10400)
NBPTS NCSP
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Renewal Requirements
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification is good for 10 years.
Renewal includes identifying areas for professional growth and demonstrating how growth has occurred. Demonstration of Professional Growth Experiences (PGE) may be accomplished with written responses to specific prompts, videotape demonstration, and/or submission of student work samples as evidence of direct impact on learning.
NCSPs must engage in activities designed to maintain, expand, and extend their professional training and skills
Specifically, each NCSP must be renewed every three years with 75 contact hours of continuing professional development (CPD) activities
The hours must be fulfilled through a variety of NASP, state affiliate, or equivalent programs.
NBPTS NCSP
What is commonly heard about how NBPTS and NCSP compare?
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NCSP Challenges to Parity
3-year pre-requisite practice requirement
“Entry level” Licensure Grandfathering
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Arguments for NCSP Parity with NBPTS
Graduate level training requirement. Specific coursework training components Supervised practice requirements are
more extensive. Highest level of certification currently
available. Ongoing professional development
maintains high standards of practice Significant benefits to states with NCSP
parity
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Focus on the Benefits to States
1. Salary stipends for NCSPs attract more highly qualified school psychologist applicants
2. Salary stipends demonstrate that the state or school district recognizes and acknowledges the importance of hiring school psychologists who meet nationally recognized standards for training and supervision.
3. Salary stipends promote higher levels of knowledge and competency as NCSP school psychologists must engage in ongoing and meaningful continuing professional development. (NOTE: NCSPs share burden with district for professional development by active pursuit of the 75 CPDs required for renewal.)
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Where are you more likely to get board policies?
Districts with a current or future shortage of school psychologists
Districts where teachers and administrators are awarded a stipend for NBPTS
Districts where employment competition between school districts exists
Districts with a good relationship between school district bargaining entities (i.e. union) and school mental health professionals.
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Where are you more likely to get board policies? continued
Districts where school psychologists are serving on district-level committees
Districts where the benefits of school psychologists are well known
Districts with a School Psychologist Coordinator/ Supervisor in Central Administration
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Where are you more likely to get board policies? continued
Districts where school psychologists have specific data supporting the cost-benefit of their services within the mission of schools.
Districts interested in broadening the role of school psychologists from diagnostician to intervention/prevention specialist (Example: RTI)
Districts where employee contract language refers to all certified employees as “teachers.”
Top 10 Advocacy Tips for Achieving NCSP Parity
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Tip 1: Convene a group of school psychologists interested in
pursuing this issue.
Key Question:Are you willing to commit to this process
long term?
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Tip 2: Begin your committee discussions
by evaluating what your assets and obstacles are in getting NCSP
parity passed.
Key Question: What do we need?
(State Laws? School Board Policies? Both?)
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Tip 3: Collect and Evaluate Data
Key Question:What do you have and what do you
need?
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Tip 4:Know who your allies are and be willing to build and nurture other
essential relationships.
Key Question:Who will be the champions of your
cause?
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Tip 5:Determine where there is “fertile
ground” for NCSP Parity.
Key Question:Are there existing school districts that
support this cause or should support this cause due to a shortage or narrowly defined professional
practices?
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Tip 6:Prepare materials that clearly and simply explain why NCSP parity is
essential and important for schools.
Key Question:What existing data, resources, and
materials supports our cause?
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Tip 7:Talk to leaders who have tackled
NCSP parity successfully and unsuccessfully in their state or
local communities.
Key Question:What are the major “lessons learned” about how to manage achieving NCSP
parity?
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Tip 8:Build a “grassroots” movement of
practitioners committed to getting the message out and
talking to key decision makers on the local and state level.
Key Question:What infrastructure support (who, what,
where, when) do you need to actively campaign for NCSP parity?
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Tip 9: Teachers, students, and families need schools to recruit the best professionals and maintaining
the highest standards for school psychological practice.
Key Question:Can you show how NCSP parity
promotes high quality services, the mission and purpose of schools, and
the goals of NCLB?
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Tip 10:Be resilient and patient in your quest. Alter your course as necessary with the
expectation that you will achieve your goal.
Key Quote:“Success is the ability to go from failure to
failure without losing your enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
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NCSP Parity in State Law
Louisiana Nevada Oklahoma Delaware
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NCSP Parity in INDIANA Data
References:
Charvat, J. (2005, March) NASP Study: How many school psychologists are there? Communiqué, 33, 12-14.
Curtis, M., Lopez, A., Batsche, G., & Smith, J. (2006, March) School Psychology 2005: A National Perspective. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Anaheim, CA
Curtis, M., Lopez, A., Batsche, G., & Smith, J. Unpublished and unofficial results of the 2004-2005 NASP Membership Survey. Final results are expected soon! Stay tuned….
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Average Salary of School Psychologists
52630 50174
5895561857 60581
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Illinois National
Dol
lars
Series1
Advocate NCSP Parity/Skalski 33
Average Number of Special Education Assessments Completed Annually
6457
37
23
4735
4438
111
9281
61
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Illinois
Num
ber
of E
valu
atio
ns
Initial Evaluations
Reevaluations
Total Assessments
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Average Number of Students per School Psychologist
2179 2192
1541 1439
1037 1000
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Num
ber
of S
tude
nts
Series1
Advocate NCSP Parity/Skalski 35
Number of Nationally Certified Training Programs
3 3
98
0
2
4
6
8
10
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Illinois
Series1
Advocate NCSP Parity/Skalski 36
Average Number of Individual Counseling Cases
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Illinois
Num
ber
of C
ases
Series1
Advocate NCSP Parity/Skalski 37
Average Number of Consultation Cases Annually
19
3641
33
05
1015202530354045
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Illinois
Series1
Advocate NCSP Parity/Skalski 38
Skill Utilization of School Psychologists in Indiana