|
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Two years ago, the director of the American Psychological Association's
Center for Psychology in Schools and Education sat in on a panel
discussion on school reform given by the American Educational Research
Association (AERA). Listening to the experts offer their views on
what was needed to help bring the American educational system up
to par, Rena Subotnik, Ph.D., found it strange that no one mentioned
the immense contribution that psychology had to offer.
Psychologist Stephen A. Rollin, Ed.D., executive associate dean
in the College of Education at Florida State University, was with
Subotnik that day. When he mentioned the oversight to the panel,
they replied, "Sorry, we never thought about psychologists."
Rollin and Subotnik looked at each other thinking, "This is crazy."
"So we brought the information back to the APA," she says, "and
to the director of the Education Directorate. We told her that we'd
like to identify people who are interested in school issues and
work together across APA divisions."
The result is the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education,
which got its start shortly thereafter with the combined participation
of three divisions, Educational Psychology, School Psychology and
Counseling Psychology. Today, the coalition includes input from
11 of APA's divisions.
With the body of knowledge that the profession has amassed over
the years, psychologists have information that addresses key issues
for educators including assessment, professional training, interventions
for behavioral and emotional difficulties, literacy, resilience,
student learning and achievement. It only makes sense to work with
those educators to share that information, according to Coalition
members.
To that end, the group's stated goals include: improving the quality
of teacher preparation and professional development; collaborating
with other professions that address the needs of children in schools;
serving the needs of parents to improve the learning conditions
of their children in schools; and making education more central
to APA's agenda.
The coalition has developed several projects that focus on assisting
with academic achievement and influencing policy at the national
and state levels.
The first is an awareness campaign aimed at getting psychologists
recognized as alternative professionals for a little-known provision
of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In this provision,
schools can call on outside, supplemental assistance when that school
has failed to meet their state's standards for improvement for two
years running. The coalition plans to work with psychologists across
the country to help them, in turn, work to petition their own states
for inclusion on the approved lists of professionals.
A second project attempts to address in-service training for school
teachers and provide them with the tools they need for their own
education. Working with a grant from the APA's Board of Directors,
the coalition has developed a needs analysis that will go to instructors
across the U.S.
"The goal is to find out what, if any, clinical training they are
getting in classroom management, working with parents, etc.," says
Subotnik. "and then to get an idea of what they feel they need."
The coalition is working to develop several online courses for
teachers. The first, expected to be ready by next spring, will offer
interactive instruction on classroom management. The next will provide
instruction on assessment and the last of the proposed three-part
series will work with ways to individualize instruction for students'
varied abilities and backgrounds. The second two courses should
be online by the end of 2005.
"It's about providing schools with access to psychological science,"
says Rollin, who was named chairperson of the coalition.
Rollin has addressed many of these issues in presentations including
one for the AERA at its 2004 annual meeting and another series of
presentations at the APA's annual convention.
It's all about being at the table when research agendas and innovations
are discussed, Rollin says in an article in the APA's Monitor.
|
