The title of this entry eludes to a number of things. The first of which is it has been a very long time since I have posted anything here. Trying to make a difference in the world can be very time consuming. Not to mention the fact that I don't always feel that it's safe to post every one of my qualms about my career out in public. You just never know who might be reading this.
But I am going to try to add a few points of discussion this year. The first is RtI. This is also the other reference to the title. In my three years as a practicing school psychologist I have not had the luxury of working in a school that has an established RtI process (or MTSS as it is referred to in the state of Kansas). This can be quite frustrating because I know how beneficial it can be to both the students and the teachers. Yet the resistance to establishing such a process is strong. I have found that most teachers hate change. They want to keep doing the same thing they have been doing for years regardless of its lack of effectiveness. Now not all teachers are this way, but a good majority. At least in my short experience.
Last year I worked in one school that was starting the process. It was imperfect, but fabulous to see them embracing it! They were able to see how useful it can be to both helping the students and defining a clearer path to identification. I was very proud of them and eager to help.
The other school I work in went through the MTSS training (the leadership team did anyway), but nothing really changed. In fact, it seemed to become much more convoluted. It also seemed to just make the process essentially disappear. Inconsistency in identifying students at-risk properly became the norm. And now it seems we are standing on the fence between the old ways and the new ways, neither of which are being implemented effectively to make appropriate changes.
So one of my goals this year is to shake it up. I want to see this school be as good as I know it can be. This means that some people are going to have to change their way of doing things whether they like it or not. In order for me to get this to happen I need administrative support. I'm hoping I can get that. I won't be here at this school forever and I want to leave it knowing that they are on the right track to helping kids.
So here we go! A new school year! Let's get to it!
But I am going to try to add a few points of discussion this year. The first is RtI. This is also the other reference to the title. In my three years as a practicing school psychologist I have not had the luxury of working in a school that has an established RtI process (or MTSS as it is referred to in the state of Kansas). This can be quite frustrating because I know how beneficial it can be to both the students and the teachers. Yet the resistance to establishing such a process is strong. I have found that most teachers hate change. They want to keep doing the same thing they have been doing for years regardless of its lack of effectiveness. Now not all teachers are this way, but a good majority. At least in my short experience.
Last year I worked in one school that was starting the process. It was imperfect, but fabulous to see them embracing it! They were able to see how useful it can be to both helping the students and defining a clearer path to identification. I was very proud of them and eager to help.
The other school I work in went through the MTSS training (the leadership team did anyway), but nothing really changed. In fact, it seemed to become much more convoluted. It also seemed to just make the process essentially disappear. Inconsistency in identifying students at-risk properly became the norm. And now it seems we are standing on the fence between the old ways and the new ways, neither of which are being implemented effectively to make appropriate changes.
So one of my goals this year is to shake it up. I want to see this school be as good as I know it can be. This means that some people are going to have to change their way of doing things whether they like it or not. In order for me to get this to happen I need administrative support. I'm hoping I can get that. I won't be here at this school forever and I want to leave it knowing that they are on the right track to helping kids.
So here we go! A new school year! Let's get to it!
