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BROADBAND CONSULTATION GIVING PSYCHOLOGY AWAY IN-SERVICE TRAINING LEADERSHIP BROADBAND CONSULTATION In 2002 I wrote an essay to go with an application to attend the Future of School Psychology Conference that fall. The essay addressed the shortage of school psychologist currently facing the profession. The underlying message of the essay and the conference was in order to meet the challenges posed by a shortage of school psychologists; we would all have to find a more effective way to practice. To me this meant less direct one-to-one service and more indirect service such as prevention and consultation. A basic concept behind consultee-centered consultation is that if you help a teacher (i.e., consultee) solve a problem for one child, you help that teacher solve the same problem for many children. Okay, maybe it's a little more complicated than that, but that's the basic premise. The basic premise of broadband consultation is the same; if you help one school psychologist solve a problem for one teacher, then that school psychologist will be able to solve the problem for many teachers, which means many more children. This concept extrapolates to the more helpers you help (e.g., school psychologists, teachers, and parents), the more children you will help. There are three components to broadband consultation. GIVING PSYCHOLOGY AWAY The first component is giving psychology away to as broad an audience as possible. In the mid 1990s, I produced twenty-two 30-minute television programs for public access cable. The program was called Rhode Island School Television and was sponsored by the RI School Psychologists Association. We produced segments focusing on ADHD, school violence, children of alcoholics, school phobia, and many other school-related issues. We took our cameras, lights, and mikes to two NASP Conventions to get interviews from school psychologists with established expertise in specific areas of interest. The programs played for several months. back to top IN-SERVICE TRAINING The second component of broadband consultation involves providing in-service training to teachers and especially school psychologists. I presented my first paper at the 1990 NASP Conference in San Francisco. Admittedly the impact was modest as only 7 people attended the presentation. Since then I have presented at 9 NASP conventions, 5 conferences in Rhode Island, and one in New Jersey. This summer I co-presented a workshop at the NASP Summer Conferences in Atlantic City and Chicago, entitled; An Ecological Perspective on Bullying Prevention and Intervention: Practical Applications for School Psychologists. John Lestino (my co-presenter) and I presented our workshop to approximately 150 school psychologists. If each of those psychologists is responsible for only 1000 students in their district, that one presentation had the potential to reach 150,000 students. back to top LEADERSHIP The third component of broadband consultation is probably the most indirect form of service delivery. It involves leadership. Leaders in school psychology impact the profession in many ways that lead to better services for children, families, and schools. Decisions made by state association and NASP leaders influence the direction of continuing professional development programming. The influence of school psychologist leaders on the GPR committees of NASP and state associations is felt not only in legislation affecting the role of school psychologists, but also in legislation that may directly impact the children and families with whom we work. The influence of NASP on IDEIA and the refinement of how learning disabilities are determined is a great example of how leadership impacts service delivery. As Communications Chair and President of the Rhode Island School Psychologists Association I was able to impact public awareness of the role of school psychologists in my state. I organized the Year of School Psychology in Rhode Island in 1995-96, a public relations campaign that included radio interviews and speaking engagements to community groups. As the NASP Delegate for RI and Delegate Representative for the Northeast, I have contributed to many discussions and decisions that have impacted the way school psychology is practiced in the United States. As the Futures Conferences taught us, and the looming shortage of school psychologists requires, we all need to find more effective ways to practice. Let's face it, we can only see a limited number of students individually. But we can provide indirect school psychological services to a great many children in need, through broadband consultation strategies such as public service, in-service training, and professional leadership. back to top CW August 2006

BROADBAND CONSULTATION

In 2002 I wrote an essay to go with an application to attend the Future of School Psychology Conference that fall. The essay addressed the shortage of school psychologist currently facing the profession. The underlying message of the essay and the conference was in order to meet the challenges posed by a shortage of school psychologists; we would all have to find a more effective way to practice. To me this meant less direct one-to-one service and more indirect service such as prevention and consultation.

A basic concept behind consultee-centered consultation is that if you help a teacher (i.e., consultee) solve a problem for one child, you help that teacher solve the same problem for many children. Okay, maybe it's a little more complicated than that, but that's the basic premise. The basic premise of broadband consultation is the same; if you help one school psychologist solve a problem for one teacher, then that school psychologist will be able to solve the problem for many teachers, which means many more children. This concept extrapolates to the more helpers you help (e.g., school psychologists, teachers, and parents), the more children you will help.

There are three components to broadband consultation.

GIVING PSYCHOLOGY AWAY

The first component is giving psychology away to as broad an audience as possible. In the mid 1990s, I produced twenty-two 30-minute television programs for public access cable. The program was called Rhode Island School Television and was sponsored by the RI School Psychologists Association. We produced segments focusing on ADHD, school violence, children of alcoholics, school phobia, and many other school-related issues. We took our cameras, lights, and mikes to two NASP Conventions to get interviews from school psychologists with established expertise in specific areas of interest. The programs played for several months.

IN-SERVICE TRAINING

The second component of broadband consultation involves providing in-service training to teachers and especially school psychologists. I presented my first paper at the 1990 NASP Conference in San Francisco. Admittedly the impact was modest as only 7 people attended the presentation. Since then I have presented at 9 NASP conventions, 5 conferences in Rhode Island, and one in New Jersey. This summer I co-presented a workshop at the NASP Summer Conferences in Atlantic City and Chicago, entitled; An Ecological Perspective on Bullying Prevention and Intervention: Practical Applications for School Psychologists. John Lestino (my co-presenter) and I presented our workshop to approximately 150 school psychologists. If each of those psychologists is responsible for only 1000 students in their district, that one presentation had the potential to reach 150,000 students.

LEADERSHIP

The third component of broadband consultation is probably the most indirect form of service delivery. It involves leadership. Leaders in school psychology impact the profession in many ways that lead to better services for children, families, and schools. Decisions made by state association and NASP leaders influence the direction of continuing professional development programming. The influence of school psychologist leaders on the GPR committees of NASP and state associations is felt not only in legislation affecting the role of school psychologists, but also in legislation that may directly impact the children and families with whom we work. The influence of NASP on IDEIA and the refinement of how learning disabilities are determined is a great example of how leadership impacts service delivery. As Communications Chair and President of the Rhode Island School Psychologists Association I was able to impact public awareness of the role of school psychologists in my state. I organized the Year of School Psychology in Rhode Island in 1995-96, a public relations campaign that included radio interviews and speaking engagements to community groups. As the NASP Delegate for RI and Delegate Representative for the Northeast, I have contributed to many discussions and decisions that have impacted the way school psychology is practiced in the United States.

As the Futures Conferences taught us, and the looming shortage of school psychologists requires, we all need to find more effective ways to practice. Let's face it, we can only see a limited number of students individually. But we can provide indirect school psychological services to a great many children in need, through broadband consultation strategies such as public service, in-service training, and professional leadership.

CW August 2006