Today, I want to share some insights and reflections from our recent Summer Boot Camp, an event we’ve hosted for the past four years. Summer Boot Camp spanned two weeks in July 2023 and offered daily training sessions for school psychologists. We had a great turnout,...

Summer Boot Camp has since passed, but today, we will take some time to reflect on one of the topics presented: Best Practices for Evaluating English Learners! Let’s take a look at 3 key takeaways from the perspectives of a bilingual and monolingual school psych on...

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! Today, we're diving into my top three tips to kick off your school year and make it your best one yet. Whether you're already back in the swing of things or still enjoying those last moments of summer break, these strategies will...

During Summer Boot Camp 2023, we had sessions ranging from FBAs to Manifestation Determinations and more. One of the sessions that I was able to provide during this two-week period was a session focused on explaining evaluation results succinctly. My intent for this...

It’s hard to believe Summer Boot Camp 2023 has come and gone! It was two weeks filled with lots of learning and sharing of ideas. For those that were not with us, we kicked things off with an open Q&A session in which participants had the opportunity to ask any...

At the end of each school year, I love reflecting on how things went. What areas were challenging for me? I don’t know about you, but manifestation determinations are one of those processes I sometimes find challenging. How confident are you with the process? Are...

Whether you are an intern or a seasoned psychologist, we have all asked ourselves, “Am I doing this right?” Whether you’re conducting an FBA, completing a bilingual evaluation, or explaining results in a way that benefits all members of the IEP team, all school...

I get a lot of questions about organization from interns, students, and seasoned psychologists alike. Now I know some of you are winding down your school year or already relaxing on the beach, but I want to share three of my favorite organization tips with you today!...

Over the last couple of years, terms like dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia have been used more frequently within our school settings. How comfortable are you discussing these terms with families and staff members? Let’s discuss my go-to tips that I have found...

School psychs know a lot of special education jargon and are required to explain these terms to parents. What’s the best way to synthesize our evaluation results and present our findings to families in a meaningful and helpful way? Let’s explore some ways we can...

My motto for every school year is “harmony.” Every year I work on organizing myself and determining my non-negotiables. Let’s walk into next school year knowing that your boundaries will give you peace of mind in the chaos of a school psych’s life! If you want to...

Have you ever found yourself feeling frustrated about exclusionary factors? Don’t worry, you are not alone! Let’s discuss some tips about exclusionary factors related to specific learning disabilities and ease some of your frustrations! If you want to watch a replay...

Many teachers and parents seem to be concerned with student attention problems. Do these concerns warrant an evaluation? If this is an attentional problem, what is the underlying cause? Let’s chat about this topic together! If you want to watch a replay of the live...

Congratulations! You are almost there! The end of your internship or practicum hours is fast approaching, and the relationship with your supervisor may soon be ending. What final questions can you ask your supervisor to help you feel more prepared as you begin the...

What is Summer Boot Camp 2023? Our 4th annual Summer Boot Camp is fast approaching, and you don’t want to miss this year’s hot topics! Whether you are an intern, first-year psych, or a seasoned psychologist, we have a variety of sessions to help you prepare for the...

Low-incidence disabilities typically refer to students who are deaf and hard of hearing, have visual impairments and orthopedic impairments. When assessing low-incidence disabilities, the process can often differ from what school psychologists are used to. Let’s...

Are you feeling the extra pressure of meeting deadlines and completing reports before spring break? Let’s discuss easy-to-implement tips guaranteed to make your report writing more efficient. Tip #1: The Art of Batching Tasks We all have our go-to rating scale,...

Our book club inside the Prepared School Psychologist membership community is reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey). Today, I want to share my takeaways from the first three habits and how they can be applied to your personal life and as a school...

Your Assessment Tool Measures What? As school psychs, we often collaborate with special education assessors such as speech and language pathologists on a regular basis. Now imagine you receive an SLP’s report and as you glance it over, you realize you have little to...

So Many Rating Scales… So Much Data… Have you ever sat down to write a psychoeducational report only to find yourself staring at your computer screen for what seems like an eternity? Do you find it difficult to start your report? Do you struggle with how to discuss...

Tip #1:  Behavior Expectation Reminders Have you noticed that students struggle with behavior expectations once they return to school from winter break? Our students seem to forget classroom rules they once followed with ease! Let’s face it, our teachers are making...

Ringing in the New Year with Self-Reflection It’s hard to believe 2023 is right around the corner! There is no better time like the new year to engage in self-reflection and get honest with yourself about what’s been working well in your school psych practice and what...

The Feedback Fix Book I don't know about you, but I have a stack of unread books on my shelf. If you’re anything like me, you may have at least read the first chapter but then get distracted because let’s face it, school psychs are extremely busy! A couple of years...

Evaluating Dyslexia Many times throughout the school year, school psychologists find themselves evaluating for reading disabilities and maybe even for dyslexia specifically. There seem to be many questions about the term dyslexia and whether it’s appropriate for a...

Should We Work Over Holiday Breaks? This topic can bring up a lot of questions about our own balance and harmony, or whether using holiday breaks is a good time to accomplish important tasks such as report writing. Just like everything in our field, there is never a...

Private School Evaluations School psychologists are asked to evaluate students for special education who attend private schools, and this situation can require different approaches than the typical evaluations we conduct through the public school system. Since we are...

National School Psychology Week During the week of November 7th -11th 2022, school psychologists throughout the United States celebrated National School Psychology Week to highlight the important work school psychologists do to help all students thrive. As we reflect...

Working Outside Your Regular Hours Setting boundaries can be difficult to follow as a school psych, especially when our workloads are high and we want to help children. Are you one of the many psychs that take work home with them? Are you spending evenings and...

Assessing Nontraditional Students Who are nontraditional students? Nontraditional students might include those who are attending an at-home school program, an independent study program, or something similar. Since these students are not attending an actual school site...

Tip #1:  Understand Your State’s Critera for Autism When school psychs are evaluating students and Autism is being considered, one tip to keep in mind is understanding your state’s eligibility criteria, regulations, or any additional requirements your state has....

Psych Jargon As school psychs, we learn a lot of high-level vocabulary such as fluid reasoning, atypicality, crystallized intelligence, and psychosomatic; let’s face it, the list goes on and on! Have you ever been in an IEP meeting, and the parent asks you to explain...

Benefiting From Special Education vs. Requiring Special Education You have just finished assessing a student and have found that he or she meets the eligibility criteria! Great news, right? Regardless of which eligibility category the IEP team is considering, one...

Dyslexia or Lack of Appropriate Instruction? Working as a school psychologist in the middle of a pandemic created many challenges in our practice. For instance, when concerns about a student’s ability to read are brought to our attention, nowadays we begin to question...

Data-Driven Decisions or Data-Informed Decisions? We recently finished our 3rd annual summer boot camp which was a two-week program, custom-designed to provide resources, learning opportunities, and professional development for school psychologists. One takeaway from...

Shouldn’t I Know All the Answers? After all, I am the School Psychologist! A frequent thought that enters every school psychologist’s mind may sound like this, “I should have a correct answer to every question asked of me, right?” Sound familiar? The field of school...

School psychologists wear many hats throughout their careers: assessor, counselor, consultant, mediator, and much more! We enjoy working with others and thrive on being part of a successful team! But what happens when we recognize compliance issues in a colleague's...

Your internship is here! What should you expect? Congratulations! You made it this far and you are officially a school psych intern! This is an exciting time in your journey to becoming a school psychologist. But with all the excitement comes many questions and maybe...

For many of you, the 2022-2023 school year has already begun! Let’s talk about three additional tips to help kick start your school year and help you become a more prepared school psychologist. We will take a closer look at how school psychs can combat challenging...

Congrats on Graduating, School Psych... Now What? Congratulations, you made it! Give yourself a round of applause! Now that you are a full-fledged school psychologist, questions may start to swirl in your mind, “what should I expect during my first year?” Keep reading...

Summer break is quickly coming to a close, and another school year is about to begin! Let's discuss two tips to help you become a more prepared school psychologist. I get a lot of questions when I talk to interns, psychs starting their first or second year, or even...

GUEST POST BY RYAN ESTRELLADO I used to worry about how all my hobbies and interests would advance my education career. They eventually did, but only after I let go of my expectations and started doing them for the right reasons. I’m not the only one who scrolls...

How many of these statements resonate with you?  I am concerned about an increase in the number of referrals for special education assessments. Our school / district still has a backlog of assessments from the 2020-2021 school year. There are a lot of...

There are many tools that school psychologists can use to help determine eligibility for special education as well as gather information on the whole child to support parents, teachers, and other caregivers in a child’s learning...

Beyond the Basic Battery: Digging Deeper with the Woodcock-Johnson® IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities Many school psychologists have their favorite assessment battery. If they are assessing a student with a suspected learning disability in reading, they likely have...

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Today we are going to be talking with Jenny Ponzuric who is going to assist us with utilizing our time efficiently through planning and organization, and I know personally when implementing the strategies we talk about today, you...