1991
Serving as your president was rewarding and enlightening. I enjoyed the many thoughtful discussions with colleagues regarding topics such as linking assessment to intervention design; mental health based practices for school psychologists; parent and teacher consultation as it related to treatment acceptability and treatment integrity; supervision and evaluation of school psychologists; and the role of the school psychologist as much more than “a tester for suspected disabilities.” These discussions led to opportunities to work with policy and decision makers to move the field toward a more comprehensive service delivery model. My work with OSPA also led to my work with NASP. Serving as the Chair of the National School Psychology Certification Board enabled me to work with colleagues who had a desire to make a positive impact on our training standards and ensure the public that our training was comprehensive in nature. I am thankful to have collaborated with other school psychologists who worked to ensure that both the clients we serve and the profession at large benefitted from the development and the implementation of quality professional practice standards. To those of you within our profession who are stuck in the “test, tell, place, and don’t include me in any intervention plan” model, I encourage you to get involved in OSPA/NASP. Learn from colleagues who are involved in comprehensive service delivery models so that both you and the children/youth you serve can benefit from your ongoing professional development.
