Skip to main content

Psychologist

Psychologists working in schools offer educational, behavioural, and mental health services designed to support students, schools, district personnel, and parents in enhancing academic, adaptive, and social skills for students. Support is provided at both the elementary and secondary levels.
 
Services of the Psychologist
 
Interpretation and Analyzing of Relevant Assessment Data:
  • Attends a monthly School-Based Team (SBT) meeting at each school
  • Provides direct consultation about learning and behaviour to teachers, schools, parents, and community
  • Offers insights and collaborative consultation around evidence-based interventions for unique learners
  • Promotes intervention especially early intervention
  • Confers with parents, principals, teachers and SBT members about the academic, intellectual and behavioural needs of individual students
  • Observes classrooms in a variety of learning activities
  • Recommends adaptations, strategies, and differentiated instruction techniques to meet student needs
  • Available for direct teacher access by phone and email for open cases
  • Provides knowledge of district-wide programs and Student Services resources
  • Promotes system-wide changes that enhance the learning experience of all students
 
Interpretation and Analyzing of Relevant Assessment Data:
  • Interprets psychological assessment reports, observations and recommendations to the principal, teacher, school-based tam, parents and other extended team members
  • Interprets academic assessments completed by student support teachers, to further enhance intervention and IEP development
  • Supports the SBT in analyzing behavioural data and determining target behaviours for intervention
  • Engages in the collaborative development of Functional Behaviour Plans and relevant data collection
  • Verifies appropriate data is in place for Ministry of Education designations
 
Direct Assessment Services:
  • Facilitates the development of formal Behaviour Intervention Plans, based on informal assessment and Functional Behaviour data collection
  • Observes individual students in a variety of settings as appropriate (and with parent consent)
  • Selects, administers and interprets appropriate assessment materials for individuals based on referring information, observation and professional expertise
  • Makes diagnoses within core areas of competency, as they relate to understanding how a child learns
  • Writes psychological reports detailing reason, methods, findings, conclusions and specific recommendations
  • Discusses assessment findings and recommendations with the principal, teacher, SBT, learning support personnel, parents, students, and other extended team members
 
Professional Development Training/Facilitating:
Provides professional development as requested by schools and/or district in the areas of:
  • Learning (specific learning disabilities, giftedness, differentiated instruction, etc.)
  • Behaviour (ODD, conduct disorder, collaborative problem-solving, etc.)
  • Mental health (anxiety, mood disorders, ADHD, autism, FASD, etc.)
 
Referral Services and Community Resource Collaboration
  • Recommends further diagnostic study or consultation by specialists in other areas, such as medicine, social work, psychiatry, psychology, speech and hearing
  • Collaborates with community youth mental health therapists, community counsellors, pediatricians, psychiatrists, family physicians, and other specialists in developing multi-disciplinary intervention supports and services for students
 
Psychological Assessments
Reasons
  1. To collect data to support effective programming and intervention services for academic learning or behaviour management
  2. To support the Ministry of Education’s current designation system
  3. To support additional services (ie, Community Living BC)
Procedures
 
A
  • The School-Based Team (SBT) discusses and reviews all requests for psychological assessments initiated by school personnel, professionals, and parents
 
B
  • The SBT determines what information is being sought by the referral
  • Intervention services should be the priority for SBTs in supporting learners and teachers
  • If the child is not responding favorably to faithfully administered interventions, or if there seems to be a significant lack of data to understand the optimal intervention for the learner, then some level of assessment (data collection) may be warranted
  • The Psychologist should be involved at this stage and can assist by determining assessment and intervention needs
 
C
  • If the Psychologist, along with the SBT, does not support the request for a comprehensive psychological assessment, this should be communicated to the referring party
  • The SBT will provide suggestions for differentiated instruction programming, interventions, and alternatives to a comprehensive psychological assessment
  • The intervention plans and academic assessment proposals should be shared with the referring party and with the parents (legal guardians)
 
D
  • If the request for a comprehensive psychological assessment is approved, the SBT will submit the appropriate referral form, and gather the relevant data
  • It is the school’s responsibility to communicate the district priorities for assessment to the requesting party
 
E
  • In the event that a request is not approved and the parent wishes to challenge this decision, those who are in disagreement with the decisions of the SBT will be encouraged to bring their concerns forward to the District Principal of Learning