Becoming a School Consultant ─ Lessons Learned

Most consultation courses in school psychology focus heavily on theoretical models of consultation and associated intervention procedures. Little time is devoted to developing communication and process skills. Yet these process skills are key to properly identifying student problems and selecting appropriate interventions. Without skillfully conducted consultations, implementation and evaluation of an intervention can be minimal. This book is designed to help students develop the process skills needed to become effective school consultants in consultee-centered consultation, with special emphasis on the instructional consultation model. The authors address specific skills and issues faced by novice consultants and documents how they worked through particular issues that are likely to occur in school consultation practice.

Sylvia Rosenfield (Ph.D. U. of Wisconsin) is Professor Emerita of the Counseling and Personnel Services Department at the University of Maryland. She is a Fellow of APA and AERA and a past president of APA Division 16 (School Psychology). Her awards include the National Association of School Psychologists Legends Award and the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training Award. Her research has focused on training and practice in indirect services, particularly consultee-centered and instructional consultation. She has multiple publications and presentations on consultation and other topics as well as three previous books.

Preface Reviewer Acknowledgements Dedication Introduction: Becoming a School Consultant Sylvia Rosenfield I. Supporting the Novice Consultant 1. Educating a Reflective School Consultant: Multi-Faceted Techniques Katie Sutton Burkhouse 2. Supervision of School-Based Consultation Training: Addressing the Concerns of Novice Consultants Daniel Newman II. Starting at the Beginning 3. The Importance of Collaborative Communication Emily Gustafson 4. What Do You Do When There are Multiple Concerns: Using Problem Identification to Clarify and Prioritize a Teacher’s Concern Katie Lynch 5. Making the Case for Consultee-Centered Consultation: A Novice Consultant’s perception of Culture and Relationships Erica Sherry 6. Relationship Building and Objectivity Loss: The importance of the Process in Consultation Cyril Pickering III. Consulting in the Elementary Grades 7. Making the Instructional Match Salient for the Teacher Courtenay Barrett 8. Improving an English Language Learner Client’s Comprehension through Consultee-Centered Consultation Laura Schussler IV. Consulting on a Class-wide Concern 9. Who Owns the Classroom Homework Problem? Jill Berger 10. A Teacher’s Concern for One Student Reveals a Classroom-Wide Bullying Concern Megan Vaganek V. Consulting with Special Education Teachers 11. Case Metamorphosis through Consultation Elise Pas 12. Leaving No Teacher Behind: Widening the View and Changing the Perspective Elizabeth Tsakiris Glossary Index