Instructor: Gary Stoner, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Office: 361 Hills House South
Telephone: (413)-545-1527
e-mail: gstoner@educ.umass.edu
Office Hours: By appointment.

Course Description. This course addresses the theory, roles, and functions of professional school psychology in relation to student learning in school settings. This course is primarily intended for graduate students in school psychology.

Course Objectives:

1. Students will increase their verbal fluency in discussing school psychology practices, both historical and contemporary, with respect to the needs of students in school and community settings.

2. Students will describe the views of prominent school psychologists with respect to what school psychologists currently do, and what school psychologists might do to improve outcomes for children.

3. Students will learn to describe the practice of school psychology within the context of a problem solving model.

4. Students will identify areas of professional interest in terms of knowledge bases and skills for planning their subsequent professional training and development.

5. Students will learn pertinent ethical guidelines relevant to school psychology practice, and be able to accurately discuss applications of those guidelines.

Required textbooks:

Fagan, T. K., & Sachs Wise, P. (1994). School psychology: Past, present, and future. New York: Longman.
Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities: Children in America’s schools. New York: HarperPerennial.

The reading requirements for this course also involve "reading packets," consisting of journal articles grouped by topic. These packets will be available for checkout to students from Joanne Provost in the Education Office in Hills South.

Recommended text:

Stanovich, K. E. (1992). How to think straight about psychology (3rd edition). New York: Harper Collins. Especially chapters 2, 5, 8, and 9.

Course Structure. This course is designed to provide students with information regarding historical and contemporary practices within the field of school psychology, from a Problem-Solving Perspective. This problem solving model will require that discrepancies between expected and actual behavior(s) are identified, and that potential solutions are developed and evaluated. Specific issues in the fields of education, psychology, and school psychology will be explored using this conceptualization. The course is designed to work using a graduate seminar model.

Class time will be used for group discussions, and periodic lectures. Students will be presented with course content via readings, as well as lecture and discussion experiences. It is each student’s responsibility to actively participate in these experiences and to provide the instructor with information indicative of his/her understanding and mastery of the information. It is the instructor’s responsibility to evaluate student performance and provide feedback promoting each student’s meeting of the course objectives.

Participation expectations, and grading:

Discussion leaders. Each student will serve as a discussion leader/organizer for one class session. It will be the student’s responsibility to organize approximately 2 hours of the class time for that day for discussion of the readings for that day (excluding the Fagan and Wise, and Kozol readings, the discussion of which will be lead by the instructor). This organization may include activities, discussion questions, and other formats for dealing with course materials. Discussion leaders are responsible for pacing the discussions/activities, and for providing a system for others to evaluate the class session. As some areas of discussion may require specific communication or clarification of content material, the discussion leader can arrange with the instructor to provide short commentaries, lectures, reviews, etc. This activity will constitute 15% of your grade.

Class participation and reaction papers. Students are expected to participate in and contribute to the class discussions. In addition to discussing observations and reactions in class, each student will submit a weekly reaction paper to the instructor that is due at 5PM on the Monday following class. The reaction paper is constrained to 1-2 pages, typed and double-spaced. It should include your reactions to and thoughts regarding class readings and discussions. You may reference the content of other courses and/or articles you are reading on your own. Class participation and successful completion of all reaction papers will constitute 30% of your grade.

Class paper/project. Students will prepare and submit a paper on a topic of interest, from those topics presented within this course. The focus of the paper will be on the rationale for and the identification of a set of skills/competencies needed by contemporary school psychologists to effectively solve a particular type of problem. This paper should be prepared in APA format, and typed and double-spaced should not exceed 10 pages excluding a title page and references. This paper will be "defended" during a final individual discussion with the instructor. Joint projects are acceptable, contingent upon negotiation with the instructor and completion of an approved contract. Students will participate in a 30 to 45 minute discussion of their paper. The nature of the discussion will focus on those materials and data that have resulted in your viewing the identified skills/competencies as important. This requirement will be discussed further in class. This paper and its defense will constitute 40% of your grade.

Professional school psychology activities. Each student is expected to (1) independently complete the school psychology data sheet contained in Appendix A of Fagan and Wise, and (2) become a student member of the National Association of School Psychologists--and provide evidence of this to the instructor. These activities will constitute 15% of your grade.  

NOTE: All of your work and documentation for this class should be kept in a folder to be turned in as a portfolio at the end of the semester.

Meeting schedule and topics (See separate reading list for other readings by topic/week):

January 30. Course introduction, format, readings. Discussion of instructor’s background and "professional socialization"--and what does this mean for you? Students to complete self-evaluation of their view of roles, functions, and issues regarding school psychology.

Assignment to be completed for February 6--Students will divide into 4 teams to identify problems in school and preschool systems. Each team must prepare itself to present factual information about problems in America’s schools and the magnitude of the problems. Two teams will identify and define problems in general education systems; two teams will identify and define problems in special education systems.

February 6. Students meet to discuss library/fact finding assignment.
Hot Topic: Schools, School Problems and their Magnitude and Proposed Solutions

Discussion Leader(s):

February 13. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 1. Kozol, Ch. 1..
Hot Topic: School Psychologists and School Solutions.

Discussion Leader(s):

February 20. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 2.
Hot Topic: Discrepancies between What is Expected and What Occurs.

Discussion Leader(s):

February 27. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 3. Kozol, Ch. 2.
Hot Topic: Discrepancies between the 90’s and the 80’s--Are They Significant? And....is there evidence for reduced discrepancy in the 1990’s?

Discussion Leader(s):

March 6. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 4.

Hot Topic: Philosophical Perspectives on Problem Solving School Psychology

Discussion Leader(s):

March 13. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 5. Kozol, Ch. 3.
Hot Topic: Defining the Problem: Models of Classification

Discussion Leader(s):

March 20. SPRING BREAK!

March 27. Fagan and Wise, Appendix C: APA Ethical guidelines.
Hot Topic: Defining Academic Problems

Discussion Leader(s):

April 3. No Class--National Association of School Psychologists Convention in Anaheim, CA.

April 10. Fagan and Wise, Appendix D: NASP Ethical guidelines.
Hot Topic: Defining Social/Emotional Problems, and Community Adjustment Problems

Discussion Leader(s):

April 17. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 6. Kozol, Ch. 4.
Hot Topic: Legal Definitions of Problems

Discussion Leader(s):

April 24. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 7.
Hot Topic: Test-Based Definitions of Problems

Discussion Leader(s):

May 1. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 8. Kozol, Ch. 5.
Hot Topic: Test-Based Definitions with Diverse Students

Discussion Leader(s):

May 8. Fagan and Wise, Chapter 9.
Hot Topic: Are Our Solutions Effective?

Discussion Leader(s):

May 15. Kozol, Ch. 6.
Hot Topic: Resistance to Reducing Discrepancies--Why?

Discussion Leader(s):

May 22. Hot Topic: The Future of School Psychology--How can the Problems be Solved?

Discussion Leader(s):