CBM Days!

I've spent the last two days of internship CBMing to my hearts delight! :) I did Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) passages in 4 of the 5 second grade classes at the school (my supervisor did the 5th one), we also started getting a Nonsense Word Fluency norm for the first graders and I got baseline data for the Special Day Class kiddos so I can begin progress monitoring them on their ORF as well. Then of course I had to plug all the data in and run the analysis. This district uses Excel and SPSS to store and analyze the data - it seems really efficient. They also keep seperate aggregated norms (grade level norms that they add to each year with the new kids data so it increases the local sample size). I really thin I may end up being a data collecting and analyzing pro at the end of this!

Wowzer!

The last two days of internship have been mind boggling! Yesterday I learned two new assessments - a CBM measure and a Phonological processing test. Then I wrote up reports and graphed the data I had collected. After that I worked on a psycho-educational report with Mr. H. It was an initial eval using RTI to qualify the child under SLD. It was so much information to process. I liked how it was so data driven. The child failed to respond to 30 weeks of a tier II reading intervention, so the Phonological Awareness Test -2 (PAT2) was administered to get a break down as to which areas of reading the child could and could not do, then from there they layered on additional assessment, and WJIII Achievement and even a processing test. All this information was smooshed into a neat and concise report of about 5 pages.

Today was more of the same, although not as overwhelming as yesterday! This morning I learned more of the paperwork side of things, how to get a SELPA number assigned to the kiddo, how many copies of the report are needed and who gets them. Then the afternoon was spent working on another report - this time one that the child was qualified by the traditional discrepancy model. Although I am familiar with this approach, it was still interesting to see how this particular school district does things. Mr. H. really knows his stuff though - sheesh, it is amazing what all that dude has in his noggin. I'm guessing he is only in his early to mid-forties and all I can say is I hope that in 15 or so years I will be so knowledgeable!

2 weeks down!

I finished off my second week of internship. It was still pretty slow, but I know things will change after the kids are back next week. This week we went over some CBM probes. Next week we will be doing a fluency probe on the entire 2nd grade at one of my sites in order to get some grade level norms to determine who the bottom kids are in order to form intervention groups. The following week we will do the 1st graders but do a nonsense word fluency instead. At this school site it appears that CBM will be one of my daily tasks so by the end of the year I am going to be a CBM master!
So although I know what I will be doing at that site for the next two weeks - I have no idea what I am doing at my other sites next week. It sounds like those sites are used to collecting their own data and the psych then compiles it and runs the stats to feel how the kids are ranked. But other than that, I am uncertain what the psychs other roles are at the school besides writing the occasional 3 year review report. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Data data every where

I told one of my cohort buddy's today that I am certain by the end of this internship I will dream of graphs and pages and pages of numbers! This school district <3's data! I understand that this is a good thing - but it is taking a little while to get used to! I am having flash backs of my horrid under graduate research methods classes. Ick!

First thing I did today was get a lesson in CBM. I was shown the Aimsweb data probes and given the directions and the script. It seems pretty easy and quick. I also got my logistics question answered that I had been wondering about - are we pulling kids out of the classroom for just a 1 minute probe? The answer - no, we just sit in the back of the class and pull kids while the teacher does their thing.  We will be norming all of the second grade next Thursday afternoon. THEN we will get to plug all the beloved data into Excel and SPSS to look at graphs and see how the kids are doing compared to previous year 2nd graders as well as national norms. I am looking forward to the process. I will need to take close notes! Although I have always loved research - I am pretty ignorant when it comes to running data in SPSS.

I also attended a meeting on Professional Learning Communities (PLC's). They are all the rage at the moment. I still am trying to figure out it all, but it sounds like it really strives for collaboration between the teachers of the same grade level/subject. The school administration of the site I was at wants the teachers presenting the data in line with a pacing guide AND a daily schedule so that every class is working on the same thing at the same time. I can understand the pacing guide. I mean, it is much easier to say, you need to get through all these subjects by the date of this bench mark. But to dictate to the teachers how long they can teach each lesson and the order at which they need to present it? I think that is a bit wacky! I'm not a teacher, nor do I have any formalized teaching experience, but I really can't say that I would enjoy being told how and when to teach my kids. So I am not sure how well that portion will go over. But the general idea behind PLC's is rather positive. It is data driven, although not via scientifically valid instruments, and it encourages a team approach. So it could work, if the teachers are receptive to it.

The rest of my day today was studying the local California State Testing (CST) scores. We looked at about 16 different schools within the county (some in the Fairfield SD, but the majority outside of the district). It was pretty interesting stuff. We charted the last five years of API scores and how much the different schools had improved. It gave me a good idea of how are county looks on those tests. It was also very interesting to look at the population data from the different schools. I initially assumed that schools with a high population of English Language Learners would have lower API scores. Although for the most part this is true, it is not definite. A larger district in the county proved my hypothesis dead wrong! They were 50% ELL, and 90 something % eligible for free and reduced lunch and in the past 5 years they had raised their API 110 points! Isn't that outstanding?! I know that this district uses a form of RTI, although not one that matches Fairfield's model. Whatever it is that they are doing must be working! I would love to go an observe and try to find what their secret is!

So many questions!

It seems that as soon I start to understand something, the questions begin to pour into my mind. Today I followed around Mr. H. I went to the school site I will be working at with him, met the staff and saw our tiny office. Although it is a tiny space - it is perfectly placed. It is situated right in between the SDC and RSP rooms. That will make it really easy to get kids in that you need to speak with. We also went over the tests that they have there, and how he qualifies kids for SLD without cognitive testing using RTI. With that he gave me a brief over view of RTI (again) and I looked over some of the data that Fairfield collected last year regarding their reading interventions. The data is so impressive. It appears that most of the children who receive intervention services do make impressive gains and are eventually exit from the intervention.

My new question was, what happens to the kids after they are exited from tier 2 to 1? Do they then progress as well as their peers? Are they able to keep up then? Or do they revert back to what previous levels? If they needed extra help before - I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see them require intervention services again... I think this could be another good possibility for my Thesis project! So many possibilities. Since they have already collected data pre intervention and during the intervention, I could follow up with some of the kids who have been exited and see how they are keeping up this year. An amazingly easy ABA design. I really like this idea, I will have to think about it some more.

Big Brained People

I have always thought that I was a pretty intelligent person. I am typically a quick learner, have an ok memory, and am happy to learn new things. But even with those things I can tell, this internship is going to be challenging! My internship supervisors, Mr. H. and Mr. P are both so knowledgeable! I only got things explained to me for about an hour and a half and I learned SO much.
Today's lessons were focused on RTI as I am pretty much a novice in the area. I had the general idea of the three tiers figured out. But today we talked about how often the data is taken. The school does school wide benchmarks three times a year (tier 1). They use the benchmark data to identify at risk students, who are then placed in an intervention setting (tier 2). We went over lots of the schools data regarding tier 2 students from last year and I was amazed to see how much progress the children were making! They utilize Aimsweb intervention curriculum for reading. With that they complete probes 3 times a week to obtain data and determine how the child is progressing. If the child does not respond to the intervention they can then be referred to traditionally testing or they can simply be qualified for services due to the failure to respond to intervention and their discrepancy in academic ability to normed standards (tier 3) Very interesting stuff. I think I may like to do something for my Masters thesis regarding ELL and RTI reading interventions... could be a good topic, but I will have to figure out more about what the thesis actually entails.
I also learned about the "Matthew Effect" which is basically the concept that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer - but you can also see it in academic settings. Meaning the children with high academics tend to keep going strong and the low academic students fall behind.
I learned a little bit more about the plan for me this year. Mr. P told me that his goal is that at the end of my internship I will be employable. LOL I think that is a great goal! Let's hope I make it!

Internship Day 1: Psychologist Meet & Greet

Today was my first day! I never heard when to do in, so I called in at 8am and asked when I was supposed to be there... I was told 8am. Ooops! Thankfully I live really close by so I was able to get there pretty quickly. I was introduced to everyone, even got a hug from one of the psychs who was on my interview panel (how cute is that?!), and got a quick tour of the office. The day was pretty laid back, we had 1 meeting, a LONG lunch, and simply talked and got to know each other. I was given an idea of what I will be doing. It sounds like my time will be supervised by two school psychs. I will definitely be at 2 schools, but they may throw a 3rd one in as well. Tomorrow I am supposed to go with my two supervisors to see the schools and meet the office people.
Nice first day!

???

So I left a message three days ago for Mrs. F to find out when and where I was supposed to report in on Monday. It is now Saturday at 7:00pm and I still haven't heard from her. So although I pretty positive I need to go to the supportive services building as that is where all the other psychs are located, I don't know what time I should show up :/ Not my idea of a fun first day!
*Sigh* So I guess I will show up around 8:00am and hope for the best! My prayer will be that someone knows what to do with me and I just don't sit for a while and wait for someone to notice me. Ick. So from now on it is a big HELLO to Mrs Anxiety who will be my close companion for the next couple days! I don't do well with a lack of details... I need them... I crave them... and yet, I have none. :(

The contract has been signed!

Yesterday I met with the HR peeps and signed my contract. Thankfully they had fixed the money issue that I had uncomfortably pointed out to them at our last meeting (when you are only planning on making $15,000 for a year and they put $10,000 that is a substantial difference!). I also learned that I get 5 personal days for the entirety of my 11 month contract. So here's hoping none of the kiddos I work with get me sick! I will get all the holiday's off and School Breaks too so I guess it will all work out. I will just have to plan all my sick days around school holidays ;)

So Monday I report in. Still not sure at what time or what the dress code is like before kids get there, so hopefully I will hear from someone soon. But in any case, it is official. I am now an employee of the Fairfield School District and I shall be until June 10, 2011.

Dreams

So although I am attempting to not pay too much attention about my anxiety and apprehension about starting my internship next week, there appears to be spillage into my dreams. For the last week I have had the most bizarre dreams, which is pretty out of the norm for me. Last night I had a dream that I was still at my old work, but that they had locked me out of my computer but still expected me to work. So weird.

This week I hope my inner control freak will be appeased some. I should get a call from the HR lady today or tomorrow to sign the contract. At that time I am hoping they will tell me what my hours will be. That will at least give me a little to go on. I don't like being clueless, but I guess it won't be for long.