August 2006

Dear Colleague,

As you may or may not be aware, I am currently running for President of NASP. Now why would you want to do that, you might ask? There are several reasons, some of which I'd like to share with you in this email.

Simply put, my ideas regarding the NASP Presidency focus around the realities for the practitioner, from new graduates fresh from your program, to the veteran school psychologists with a decade or two of practice in the field. As a practitioner myself, I have witnessed many exciting changes in the profession over the past twenty-plus years, from P.L.94-142 to Response to Intervention. NASP, through our publications, training standards, and initiatives (e.g., Standards for Practice, the Blueprint for Training and Practice, the Mental Health workgroup, etc.) promotes a professional self-image of school psychologists as providers of comprehensive school psychological services. I know that training programs go to great lengths to incorporate the NASP Standards and the Blueprint domains into the program of studies for their students. It is the prototype of school psychological service delivery.

However, once one becomes a field-based practitioner, the reality is often at odds with the professional self-image one had when they finished graduate school. The expectations of an employer of school psychologists vary as much as the weather in New England. While we have thankfully shed the cloak of "gatekeeper," the expectation of assessment remains primary for a vast number of practitioners. Even in the current Response to Intervention ecology, assessment is a critical element in any practitioner's professional repertoire. Many school districts rely on their school psychologist to provide a great deal of input to the educational processes, based on their professional evaluation, in whatever configuration it may take. In some districts assessment remains the sole professional identity of the school psychologist practitioner. Admittedly limited in scope, such an identity should not be regarded as less professional than that of a practitioner providing a more comprehensive level of school psychological services. When the professional self-image projected by a national organization feels at odds with your real-life professional identity, the value of membership in that organization is diminished. I believe this is key to increasing membership in NASP, especially in urban settings.

I do appreciate the need for new school psychologists to become leaders and planners, not only in their schools and districts, but also in state associations. As a member of the NASP Executive Council I have taken steps to increase the capacities of school-based practitioners. For example, I introduced the idea of providing full text journals to NASP members via web-based databases (i.e., EBSCO). As President, I would continue such efforts, but more than that, I would celebrate the practitioner, in all the variability and diversity of roles that really define school psychology as a profession.

If you have any questions about my ideas, don't hesitate to call (401-742-3622) or email me. I also invite you to visit my website; http://docwillis.com.

My very best regards,

Chris Willis

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