Best Practices in Supervision of School Psychologists: Perspectives from the Field and the University Setting

1. Best Practices in Supervision of School Psychologists:Perspectives from the Field and the University Setting Ashley Arnold, MA, LSSP, NCSP Jennifer L. Schroeder, PhD, LP, LSSP, NCSP

2. Objectives • Review legal and ethical guidelines for providing supervision • Review effective techniques for supervision of practicum students, interns, and first-year LSSPs

3. NASP Principles for Professional Ethics • Standard IV.4.2 “School psychologists who supervise practicum students and interns are responsible for all professional practices of the supervisee. They ensure that practicum students and interns are adequately supervised as outlined in the NASP Graduate Preparation Standards for School Psychologists. Interns and graduate students are identified as such, and their work is cosigned by the supervising school psychologist.”

4. NASP Principles for Professional Ethics • Standard IV.4.3 “School psychologists who employ, supervise, or train professional provide appropriate working conditions, fair and timely evaluation, constructive supervision, and continuing professional development opportunities.”

5. NASP Principles for Professional Ethics • Standard IV.4.4 “School psychologists who are faculty members at universities or who supervise graduate education field experiences apply these ethical principles in all work with school psychology graduate students. In addition, they promote the ethical practice of graduate students by providing specific and comprehensive instruction, feedback, and mentoring.”

6. Supervisor Qualifications • TSBEP Rule 465.38(5) • Supervision may only be provided by a LSSP, who has a minimum of 3 years of experience providing psychological services in the public schools of this or another state. To meet supervisor qualifications, a licensee must be able to document the required experience by providing documentation from the authority that regulate the provision of psychological services in the public schools of that state…

7. Supervisor Qualifications • TSBEP Rule 465.38(5) (continued)… …and proof that the licensee provided such services, documented by the public schools in the state in which the services were provided. Any licensed specialist in school psychology may count one full year as an intern or trainee as one of the 3 years of experience required to perform supervision.

8. Supervision Rules TSBEP Rule 465.38(4)(A)(i-iv) (4) Supervision. (A) Direct, systematic, face-to-face supervision must be provided to: • Interns as defined in §463.9 of this title • Individuals who meet the training requirements of §463.9 of this title and who have passed the National School Psychology Examination at the Texas cutoff score or above and who have been notified in writing of this status by the Board. These individuals may practice under supervision in a Texas public school district for no more than one calendar year. They must be designated as trainees.

9. Supervision Rules TSBEP Rule 465.38(4)(A)(i-iv) (continued) (4) Supervision. (A) Direct, systematic, face-to-face supervision must be provided to: (iii) LSSPs for a period of one academic year following licensure unless the individual also holds licensure as a psychologist in Texas. This supervision may be waived for individuals who legally provided full-time, unsupervised school psychological services in another state for a minimum of 3 academic years immediately preceding application for licensure in Texas as documented by the public schools where services were provided and who graduated from a training program approved by NASP or accredited in school psychology by APA or who hold NCSP certification.

10. Supervision Rules TSBEP Rule 465.38(4)(A)(i-iv) (continued) (4) Supervision. (A) Direct, systematic, face-to-face supervision must be provided to: (iv) LSSPs when the individual is providing psychological services outside his or her area of training and supervised experience.

11. Supervision Rules TSBEP Rule 465.38(4)(B) (B) Nothing in this rule applies to administrative supervision of psychology personnel within Texas public schools, performed by non-psychologists, in job functions involving, but not limited to, attendance, time management, completion of assignments, or adherence to school policies and procedures.

12. INTERNSHIP AND TRAINEE REQUIREMENTS

13. Internship RulesTSBEP 463.9 (c) • (c) Minimum of 1200 hours, of which 600 must be in a public school • Must be provided through a formal course of supervised study from a regionally accredited institution of higher education • Supervised by an individual qualified in accordance with Board rule §465.38 of this title (relating to Psychological Services in the Schools). • Internship which is not obtained in a public school must be supervised by a licensed psychologist. • No experience with a supervisor who is related within the second degree of affinity or within the second degree by consanguinity to the person, or is under Board disciplinary order, may be considered for specialist in school psychology licensure.

14. Internship RulesTSBEP 463.9 (c) • Internships may not involve more than two sites (a school district is considered one site) and must be obtained in not less than one or more than two academic years. • These individuals must be designated as interns. • Direct, systematic supervision must involve a minimum of one face-to-face contact hour per week or two consecutive face-to-face contact hours once every two weeks with the intern.

15. Internship RulesTSBEP 463.9 (c) • The internship must include direct intern application of assessment, intervention, behavior management, and consultation, for children representing a range of ages, populations and needs.

16. Who Can Practice in the Schools?TSBEP Rule 463.9 (g) (g) Provision of psychological services in the public schools by unlicensed individuals. An unlicensed individual may provide psychological services under supervision in the public schools pursuant to section §501.004(a)(2) of the Act. Services may be provided if: (1) the individual is enrolled in aninternship, practicum or other site basedtraining in a school psychology program in aregionally accredited institution of higher education, OR

17. Who Can Practice in the Schools?TSBEP Rule 463.9 (g) (g) Provision of psychological services in the public schools by unlicensed individuals. An unlicensed individual may provide psychological services under supervision in the public schools pursuant to section §501.004(a)(2) of the Act. Services may be provided if: (2) the individual has completed an internship in a school psychology program in a regionally accredited institution of higher education AND has an application for licensure as an LSSP pending before the Board AND the Board has not notified the applicant that he or she does not meet the training requirements for this licensure,

18. Who Can Practice in the Schools?TSBEP Rule 463.9 (g) (g) Provision of psychological services in the public schools by unlicensed individuals. An unlicensed individual may provide psychological services under supervision in the public schools pursuant to section §501.004(a)(2) of the Act. Services may be provided if: OR (3) the individual has been issued a trainee status letter by the Board.

19. Trainee Requirements TSBEP Rule 463.9 (f) • Trainee Requirements. An applicant for the specialist in school psychology license who meets all requirements, prior to taking and passing the Jurisprudence examination, may, in accordance with Board rule §465.38(4) of this title (relating to Psychological Services in the Schools), practice under supervision as a trainee for not more than one calendar year.

20. Qualifications and ObligationsSite Supervisors • Meet the NCSP credentialing requirements • Complete a minimum of 3 years’ supervised experience as a LSSP • Helpful if employed full time in the district • Knowledge that supervision takes considerable time • Possesses significant interpersonal skills • Familiar with basic ethical and legal responsibilities and requirements for field work

21. Qualifications and ObligationsUniversity Supervisors • Ensure university and state requirements are met • Serves as liaison between training site and university program • Develop a relationship with the site supervisor • Monitors appropriateness of site • Ensures the student is sufficiently competent to warrant licensure

22. Qualifications and ObligationsUniversity Supervisors Formal opportunities for students to compare notes, ask questions, and formulate conclusions Makes site visits If a student encounters difficulty, serves as both mediator and problem solver

23. Clinical vs. Administrative Supervision

24. Supervision Competencies (Dunsmuir & Leadbetter, 2010)

25. Clinical Supervision Clinical Supervisors: • Demonstrate and teach techniques and skills • Examine student work with supervisees • Help supervisees conceptualize cases • Assist supervisees as they design intervention strategies • Assist supervisees as they disaggregate and interpret data

26. Clinical Supervision Clinical Supervisors: • Ensure that supervisees practice only within areas of professional competence • Help supervisees learn how to work with different types of people • Debrief supervisees after difficult or crisis situations • Provide second opinions

27. Clinical Supervision Clinical Supervisors: • Help supervisees address their blind spots resulting from personal experiences • Provide training and professional development opportunities • Encourage induction into the profession via membership in professional organizations

28. What to expect…the development of competence • Supervisee Experience and Developmental Model (Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003) • Expertise requires 5-7 years of corrected experience to develop • Lifelong, slow, continuous, erratic • Relationships have most impact on development, not workshops

29. Supervisee Experience and Developmental Model (Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003) • Six stages of professional growth • Lay helpers – sympathetic, advice giving, low emotional regulation • Beginning student – rely heavily on supervisors, highly anxious • Advanced students/interns – Excessively thorough, conflicts during supervision are common due to trying to assert themselves • Novice professionals – Explore their roles, become disillusioned • Experienced professionals – lack of interest in professional development • Senior professionals – increased sense of reality in terms of what they can accomplish

30. Developmental Stages Model (Benner, 1984; Stoltenberg et al., 1998) • Focuses on cognitive changes with the practitioner • Five stages • Novices – Rule-governed, “know about” not “how to,” anxious, focus on skill acquisition • Advanced beginners – Begin to take into account context, concerned with learning and mastering techniques • Competence – Less preoccupied with own performance, engage in planning and goal setting • Proficiency – Reflect and integrate • Experts – Intuitive, efficient

31. Developmental Supervision • ALL school psychologists are novices when they encounter situations with which they have no experience • Need to match style with stage at which supervisee is • Novice – needs close supervision, encourage, suggest, integrate • Advanced beginner – give more autonomy, introduce alternative views, provide comments on processes, use tapes, role plays, etc. • Competent – let supervisees lead supervision, case-based • Proficient and expert –supervision helps maintain and upgrade skill, supervising supervisors

32. Administrative Supervision Administrative Supervisors: • Provide leadership • Recruit and hire • Delegate assignments • Conduct formal personnel evaluations • Design corrective action • Take ultimate responsibility for services provided by supervisees

33. Can a person be both clinical and administrative supervisor?

34. Example of MOU between University and School District

35. Rationales for Supervision • Skill Maintenance • Skill Improvement and Expansion • Professional Development • Reduced Stress • Enhanced Accountability

36. Challenges in Supervising School Psychological Services • Evaluation Procedures • Supervisory Structures • Lack of Supervision Training • Only 11% of supervisors have supervision training (Ross & Goh, 1993) • What kinds of things would training need to include (develop an idea of what you might need)?

37. Training Supervisors • Workshops, Informal Self-Study, and Peer Supervision Networks • NASP has an online forum for supervisors • University-Run Training for Field Supervisors • Formal Coursework in Supervision or Administration

38. Supervisor Characteristics • Personal Characteristics • Integrity • Secure Attachment Styles • Sufficient Cognitive Development • Mentally healthy • Sensitive and responsive to multicultural issues • Motivation • Leadership Skills • Delegation Skills

39. Theoretical Orientation and Supervision Models • Psychodynamic – focuses on developing relationships • Person-centered – focuses on developing UPR, congruence, empathy and warmth • Behavioral and cognitive behavioral – focuses on teaching appropriate skills and behaviors • Constructivism – construction of stories that influence future behavior • Discrimination model – focuses on matching supervisee needs and supervisor skills • Integrative approaches –combines multiple approaches

40. Supervisor Role and Style (Hart & Nance, 2003) High Support Low High Direction Low

41. Learning Principles • Provide experiential learning • Provide collaborative and interactive learning • Focus on important information • Tie new information to known information • Space and repeat learning trials • Incorporate corrective feedback • Encourage the monitoring of learning • Ensure comprehension • Foster self-regulation and self-appraisal of learning

42. Supervision Goals • Reconcile your goal with the supervisee’s goals early • Write it down (may include in supervision contract) • Treat similar to treatment goals • Begin each supervision session with a working agenda

43. Supervision Format • Individual • Individual within a small group • Group (4-8 supervisees) • Peer • Collaborative work • Mixed format

44. Technology & Supervision • Email • Ensure confidentiality • Watch nonverbal cues (e.g., ALL CAPS) • Telephone • Videoconferencing

45. Helpful Tips • Have LSSP call parent prior to testing and review informed consent, including informing parent of training status • Sign in blue ink • Maintain copy of trainee letter • Field Supervisor Evaluation

46. Helpful Tips • STRUCTURE!!! • Regular intervals of evaluation • Scheduled time weekly for supervision • Same day, same time • Documentation of supervision time • App: Hours Tracker • Structured Forms

47. Helpful Tips • Develop a handbook for new supervisees • List materials you would want to include • Set goals based on personal interests and developing competencies • Proactive interns are persistent with their supervisors • Adapt with flexibility • Think critically

48. Helpful Tips • Handout 1.1 Field Supervisor Competencies • Handout 2.1 Supervisory Strategies to Meet Supervisees’ Psychological Needs • Handout 2.2 Strategies to Reduce Supervisee Anxiety • Handout 14.8 School Psychology Position Interview Questions • Handout 15.15 Intern Evaluation of Internship • Handout 15.17 Supervisor Evaluation

49. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Who’s responsibility is it to ensure the practicum student/intern/trainee can practice? Licensees ensure that their supervisees have legal authority to provide psychological services in adherence to Board rules. TSBEP Rule 465.2(b)

50. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Do I have to document the supervision in writing? Yes! Licensees shall document their supervision activities in writing. TSBEP Rule 465.2(e)