Exam 1 School Consultation

List and describe the 6 desirable interpersonal skills

(Acronym: Fat Cats Obviously Fall Down Trees) Forging positive relationships: immerse yourself in the district in which you work. Don't be just a "face" or a "guest" in the school. Make it known you are a positive, outgoing individual that others are willing to work alongside with. Conveying competence and confidence: truly utilizing your knowledge and expertise. You are a helper, so be prepared by having: evidence-based interventions and adaptable evaluation methods Protecting the idea that the situation is going to improve: be optimistic about the situation at hand not a "Debbie downer". Convey the situation is amenable to improvement. Following through with enthusiasm: Don't just deuce it, nag or "pop-in" and "pop-out" Follow up regularly with the consultee and demonstrate commitment until the consultee decides that they want to let it develop on their own Developing and maintaining trust: be honest and dependable in dealing with others. Treating consultees as adults: relate to the consultee as an adult learner-collaborator. Adults prefer self-direction instead of being told what to do unless they asked for said assistance

What were the 4 key results found in the article "School Psychologists' Perceptions of Social Power Bases in Teacher Consultation?"

(a) 4 factors summarize school psychologist-teacher consulting: position and personal power, impersonal sanctions, and credibility; (b) soft-harsh power base distinction is meaningful within school consultation; (c) using soft power bases has effective influence, thereby supporting the study's central hypothesis; and (d) the psychologist-teacher relationship is more similar to the professor-student relationship than the supervisor-subordinate relationship.

List and explain the stages of the behavioral model

1. Problem identification: behavior is operationally defined. a tentative identification in terms of the antecedent, situation, conditions as well as strength of the behavior (occurrence and severity). 2. Problem analysis: further information gathered through observing behavior directly (FBA) to determine the function the behavior serves, clarification, and brainstorm interventions 3. Plan implementation: plan put into place. the goal is to maximize efficiency of plan via training and monitoring of the consultee 4. Plan evaluation: evaluate whether goals were achieved and the treatment plan's effectiveness. Discuss continuation, modification or termination of the plan as well as post-implementation.

List and describe the following communication skills: attending, active listening, being empathetic, being assertive, questioning.

Attending: is external and internal. - external attending skills are characterized by good facial expressions such as good eye contact, head nods, and squinting or lifting of the eyebrows. - internal attending skills are characterized by listening, pairing with experience and theories and not interrupting, judging or rushing to a conclusion Active (reflective) listening: - Shows the speaker you have heard the subject and emotional content of the conversation - Reflects back/paraphrases the speaker's words = speaker knows you heard them Being empathetic: - The act of listening to concerns and understanding them at a greater level than just the words alone. It is, per se, walking in the speaker's shoes. Being assertive - using assertive body language conveying that the referral problem will be solved and that quitting is not an option; relates to decision making, being confident in diagnosis, and intervention plan and what needs to be done to help the client. Questioning: - Can be either threatening or inviting - Can be open/closed, direct/indirect and/or single/multiple - Direct and closed = straight request for info - Open and indirect = more of an elaboration over a broad scope - Better to ask single question in order to not bombard consultee - The primary purpose is to gain information - Helps clarify the problem - Serves 3 main purposes: gather information, seek opinions, and detect attitudes

List and describe the 4 functional models of school consultation

Conjoint behavioral consultation: a consultant facilitates a collaborative partnership designed to recognize the interconnections between the home and school settings. - The CBC process is implemented via four stages: problem identification and analysis as well as plan development and evaluation Instructional consultation: a dual focus on content and process - Content: includes assessment methods that guide instruction, evidence-based academic and behavioral interventions, fidelity assessments, and decision-making rules. - Process: problem-solving steps, developing consultee-centered working relationship, emphasis on collaboration - The distinguishing feature is IC its focus on improving student outcomes in order to reduce inappropriate referrals or eligibility for special education. Eco-behavioral consultation: refers to an approach to consultation guided by an integration of behavioral theory and ecological theory. - EBC helps consultees and consultants understand how ecological factors contribute to potential problems for a student in and from a variety of settings/environments. - Focused on system wide prevention efforts and modifiable conditions rather than a child's SES, ethnicity or neighborhood etc. Consultee-centered consultation: is a non-hierarchical problem-solving process involving shared decision-making and emphasizes mutuality in all stages of the process as well as in the consultant-consultee relationship (by which the problem solving occurs) - Overall goal: expand the consultees skills and improve the consultant-consultee relationship.

What are the key activities that are common to both consultation and collaboration and how do they appear different?

Consultation and collaboration are closely related processes that engage in cooperative relationships with other adults. Both involve two or more persons addressing a problem, sharing resources, stimulating change or improvement, and using specialized information to achieve a common goal. In schools, the common goal directly or indirectly involves student success. Although these processes are not interchangeable. Consultation is often an "add-on", it encompasses one-to-one interaction between consultant (generally the expert) and consultee (learner), with the purpose of finding ways to assist children to function more effectively. In collaboration, all individuals involved are seen as equal participants and experts in solving a specific problem.

How do you deal with resistance?

Facilitate Assist in consultees' thinking and plan building Communicate both support and ideas Interpersonally relate Live in consultees' shoes Inquire Teach Acknowledge consultees' effort Tolerate consultees' discrepant views but don't allow inappropriate practices Evaluate your collaborative efforts (acronym = FACILITATE)

What are some potential difficulties in communication?

Interruptions: consultant intervenes in conversation when consultee is speaking Misdirected questions: asking questions to fit the consultant's agenda and in turn disregarding the consultee's needs and not focusing on the situation at hand False reassurances: this is when the consultant minimizes the situation and resolve quickly in order to relieve stress from the consultant. Wandering interaction: similar to misdirected questions, this is when the consultant rambles off on a tangent that is not pertinent to the client/student/situation/conversation

What are the four lacks of a consultee

Knowledge: consultee needs to know more about a targeted students or about techniques that can be used to assist the student Skill: the consultee doesn't know how to apply knowledge successfully Confidence: consultees may not have confidence because they may think it will be ineffective (for having tried it before), or may be fearful of trying something and failing at it. Objectivity: consultee struggles with the ability to understand that every child is different, responds differently, nor can they approach any given child without preconceptions or biases.

How does the No Child Left Behind Act effect consultation in the school?

NCLB is the main law for K-12 general education in the United States. The law holds schools accountable for how kids learn and achieve. The law penalizes schools that don't show improvement. It requires annual testing in reading and math from grades 3-to-8 and @ least once in grades 10-12. Schools that do not meet the goals, are sanctioned, affecting the funds the school receives. As a result, the need for consultation increases because proper instruction is lacking, as evidenced by the school failing to meet NCLB goals. Therefore, teachers need to be more competent in their abilities to educate their students, so practitioners/professionals build upon their skills, through consultation, in order for a school to meet the needed requirements under NCLB.

What are the manifestations and causes of resistance?

Refusal, active or passive Expectations too high Skill inadequacy I did it; it didn't work System lack of support, real or imagined Threat to existing ecology of classroom Anxiety over being watched Non Reinforcement for efforts Confidence, lack of Easier to insist that someone else do it (acronym = RESISTANCE)

List and describe the 6 original bases of social power from the article "school psychologists' perceptions of social power bases in teacher consultation."

Reward: Person A is able to bestow benefits, valued praise, or awards on Person B Coercive: Person A can either dispense or withhold benefits form person B or can legitimately confront Person B Legitimate: Person B believes Person A has legal or an authoritative ability to control Person B Referent: Person B sees Person A as similar to himself or holding like values and may therefore comply with suggestions from Person A Expert: Person A is perceived as having knowledge or expertise not possessed by Person B Informational: the information has the power, not the person (A)

Compare and contrast the behavioral and mental health model

The behavioral model encompasses contingencies of reinforcement, modeling and self-reinforcement, whereas the mental health model stresses inter and intra-psychic feelings and their effects on interpersonal relationships and accounts for environmental influences. The MH model differs from the BH model in that its focus is on the consultee rather than the client, with a primary objective of increasing the capacity of the consultee. The overarching comparison/similarity between each model is that the inevitable recipient of services is the student, the MH model is just a "trickle-down effect".

Consultation

a helping relationships that is interpersonal and has a problem solving focus to assist a client system It has four characteristics: - problem solving - indirect service from the consultant - involves 3 parties: consultant, consultee, and client - goal = improve client system and consultee

Collaboration

emerged as an alternative to consultation taking on a more proactive approach. It involves two or more parties working together to directly assist a client system towards a desired outcome

What are the 4 roles of school-based consultants? (list and describe)

information delivery: consultant gives consultee information, ideas, facts and opinions about students' learning and behavior adjustment problems coordination/facilitation/coaching: consultant facilitates planning for targeted students, are known as habit-changers as well as instructional coaches indirect service provisions: consultant acts indirectly in the service of students by working directly with teachers who directly assist the student assessment: consultant constructs observations, reviews records, and interviews teachers, parents and (maybe) students.

What are the key concepts of the mental health model?

non-hierarchical and coordinate relationship between consultant and consultee. consultation is usually conducted as a series of interviews (2-to-5) via phone and/or email conversations. Long-term goal of all consultation is to improve on-the-job functioning of the consultee Consultant does not get involved in personal problems of consultee The model is intended to be used primarily for mental health problems