WS1: "Flipping the Student Support Script”: Building a Social and Emotional Learning Program from “Roots to Leaves,” R. Keeth Matheny

This session is all about building an SEL program on your campus.  It covers developing a “coherent narrative” of SEL.  This session will help move the vision into action, with a clear blueprint for implementation steps and best practices.  Part of the session is a continued emphasis on the experience of SEL, with demonstration activities and useful concepts. Models for effective implementation will be discussed with details of benefits, challenges, and best practices of various models.  This is a deeper dive into Social and Emotional Learning program development.

WS2: Assessment of English Language Learners: Evidence-based Evaluation and Best Practice, Dr. Samuel Ortiz

This presentation provides a review of the relationship among linguistic, cognitive, and academic development and the application of research regarding EL evaluation within a practical, systematic framework.  Specific procedures are presented which permit any evaluator to conduct assessments of English learners that generate valid data to support conclusions and diagnostic decisions regarding English learners. Topics include: Understanding bias in testing; issues regarding test score validity; advantages and disadvantages of typical methods for evaluating English learners; the importance of “true peer” comparisons, research foundations and the use of the Culture-Language Test Classifications and Interpretive Matrix, integration of the Ortiz PVAT in conducting EL evaluations. The knowledge and skills gained will be useful to practitioners at all levels and provides a solid base for engaging in evaluation of English learners that constitutes defensible and current best practices.

FS01: TASP Legislative and Regulatory Update, Marty DeLeon & Cassandra Hulsey

This session will provide attendees a brief overview of TASP's legislative efforts and activities during the 86th Legislative Session. In addition, Mr. Deleon and Ms. Hulsey will review key bills that were passed pertinent to the practice of school psychology in Texas and TASP's plans for the next legislative session in 2021.  

KEYNOTE: 2020 Vision: Leadership in Focus, Leslie Paige, NASP President

Most school psychologists enter the profession with a desire to help people, yet there can be many obstacles to providing needed services. This keynote will provide a brief overview of critical leadership skills for school psychologists, and how they may be used at the local, state and national level to make a difference in the lives of the children and schools we serve. The keynote will also provide participants with current information regarding NASP initiatives and resources.

FS02: School Shooting in a Small Town, Misty Lay, NASP Treasurer

The old adage of, “It’s not if; it’s when,” became real on January 23, 2018, when a shooting occurred in a high school in Marshall County, Kentucky.  A rural district with 4900 students is turned upside down, when a 15-year old student open fire on his peers in a common area, killing two and wounding 18 others.  Participants will learn how school psychologists from across the state pooled resources to provide support to the high school, district, and community for months following the shooting.   Resources will be shared on how to form a regional or state crisis response team and how to navigate the unexpected obstacles, while balancing best practices.

FS03: Legal Update for School Psychologists - A Look at the Year in Review, Paula Maddox Roalson

From Assessment to Zero tolerance policies, there is something here for you and your team!  Walsh Gallegos Attorney, Paula Maddox Roalson, will present this conference favorite- a half-day session that will include a review of recent legislation impacting special education, a closer look at the intersection between special education and dyslexia, and Paula’s case law review from the past year.  Participants will gain a better understanding of the law impacting how students will disabilities receive appropriate educational based services and will leave with practice pointers for keeping your school in compliance with federal and state laws related to special education. 

FS04: The Neuropsychology of Traumatic Brain Injury: Overview and Assessment Considerations, Dr. Jennifer Morrison

This presentation will include a neuropsychological discussion of traumatic brain injury in a pediatric population.  This will include anatomical, developmental, post-injury, and educational factors.  Finally, discussion of assessment battery selection with case examples will be offered.

FS05: Transforming Your School Through Social and Emotional Learning, R. Keeth Matheny

This is a moving, interactive, and highly engaging workshop that gives everyone an inspiring vision for what a transformational SEL program can and should be.  It covers the basics, data, components, and best practices of SEL.  This session is filled with inspiring real-world examples and anecdotes from the front lines of deep SEL work with schools and students. Participants will leave with a clear vision of SEL and how it connects with coordinated student supports (RTI/MTSS).  Most of all, it is a collaborative experience of what SEL feels like when done well.  This session will add inspiration, new ideas, and more activities for those that attended the pre-conference workshop; however, it is also designed so that new participants can engage without feeling behind. 

FS06: Comprehensive Children’s Mental Health Services: A Public Health Approach, Dr. Rick Short

This workshop will focus on developing knowledge and skills for a public health orientation to comprehensive children’s mental health services, emphasizing population-based identification, consultation, and service delivery.  It will provide an introduction to public health concepts, along with an overview and rationale for population-based comprehensive children’s mental health services.  Participants will learn a data-based approach to developing school- and community-level services that builds on and extends skills already in the toolbox of school psychology.  They also will develop introductory knowledge and skills in public health that should augment the traditional practice of school psychology. 

FS07: Un-Muddled Measurement: Straight Talk About Psychological Measurement and Score Interpretation, Dr. Alex Beaujean

 Interpreting values from psychological measurement can be daunting. Although school psychologists receive training in measurement, this training usually only covers the basics and leaves many unanswered questions. Nonetheless, school psychologist are often the individuals in their district with the most training in psychological measurement. This can be frustrating since it means that they often do not have co-workers to whom they can ask questions about value interpretation.

This presentation will provide a primer on measurement, particularly the measurement of psychological attributes.  In addition, it will cover interpretation of scores derived from commonly-used psychological tests, including deviation scores using age- and grade-based norms, age/grade equivalent scores, and percentiles.  Last, it will cover integrating values gathered from multiple instruments.  There will be time set aside for Q&A as well, so be sure to bring your psychological measurement and score interpretation questions. 

FS08: Practical Play Therapy: Short Term Interventions for the LSSP, Kelly Martin

Participants will obtain a foundational knowledge and skills for using play therapy and expressive art techniques with children and adolescents in the school setting.  Attendees will participate in experiential activities that can be integrated in the school setting. 

FS09: School-Based Mental Health Services Delivery Models, Dr. Nancy Razo, Mr. Adrian Garza, Dr. Traci Schluter, Connie Rodriguez, & Dr. Rick Short

This panel session will provide a brief overview of school-based mental health service delivery and aims to highlight the unique models across three Texas school districts: McAllen ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, and Dallas ISD.  Each model will showcase the district’s service model, practice in providing mental health services, and how LSSPs and community mental health professionals are used within the model.  Although each district has its own model, they all began with an idea and initiative.  Attendees will have the opportunity to ask panel members questions at the end of the session to help conceptualize a working model and generate ideas for implementation in their own districts. 

FS10: It Takes A Village: Building Student-Centered Collaboration Teams, Cyndi O'Toole

We all know that it takes a village to raise a child but has consideration been taken when it comes to what that village looks like when a child is in school AND has unique learning needs?  The village should not consist of those individuals the family relies on in times of emergency or outside of school.  The village should be built around the needs of the child AND the family across all environments. This session investigates who should be a part of this village and provides ways for families to begin building a collaborative team of individuals who have the best interest of their child in mind. 

FS11: The Engagement Factor: Capturing the Disengaged Student, Felisha Branford

Energize your instructional practices by examining how to provide multiple means of engagement for students.  Acquire research and evidence-based techniques to engage and motivate all types of learners.  Participants will explore the Affective Network and its impact on classrooms, instruction, and students.  This session examiners common myths about motivation, unmotivated students, and struggling students.  This is a hands-on session that discusses practical and innovative strategies for approaching student engagement that impact academic achievement, test performance, and student attendance.

FS12: Dying to be Thin: What School Psychologists Need to Know, Dr. Wendy Price, NASP President-Elect

This workshop will provide participants with an overview of eating disorders (ED), including: eating disorder definitions, medical complications associated with ED, eating disorder statistics and prevalence, athletes and eating disorders, causes according to the biopsychosocial model, signs/symptoms/red flags that school workers need to be aware of, communicating with students and their families about a suspected ED, and an overview of treatment that works (Family Based Treatment). The workshop will also emphasize the schools’ involvement in ED treatment, and crucial points to keep in mind when developing education plans for students in ED treatment.

FS13: School Psychologists as Social Justice Change Agents: Moving From Theory to Practice, Dr. David Shriberg

“Social justice” recently became one of NASP’s five strategic objectives. What might this term mean as relates to school psychology practice? The co-editor of “School Psychology and Social Justice: Conceptual Foundations and Tools for Practice”, Dr. David Shriberg has been in the forefront of social justice research and advocacy efforts within school psychology. In this engaging session, the key underpinnings of social justice will be presented, followed by strategies on bringing social justice principles into your practice. Significant emphasis will be placed on developing your personal and professional capacity as an agent of social justice.

FS14:  TEA Updates and Information from the Division of Special Populations, Deanna Clemens & Julie Wayman

TEA representatives supporting special education and mental and behavioral health will team up to provide relevant agency updates for LSSPs.  Specifically, this session will discuss TEA’s strategic plan for special education with an emphasis on the new statewide leadership networks. Regarding mental and behavioral health, TEA will discuss recent initiatives and grants that are working to create tools and resources to better support LEAs and students across the state. 

FS15: A Problem-Solving Approach to Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Multidisciplinary Threat Assessment, Shawna Rader Kelly & Dr. Laurie Klose

Given training and expertise in school safety, children's mental health, crisis prevention and intervention, and educational law, school psychologists are critical members of school-based threat assessment teams. In the course of conducting threat assessments, they may also encounter ethical dilemmas that result from the challenges of working within a multidisciplinary team. This session will discuss some of the possible ethical dilemmas encountered when conducting school-based threat assessment, including limits of confidentiality, storage of records, and protecting the rights of children and families. Utilizing a problem-solving framework, participants will identity and explore ethical challenges that may arise at various stages in the threat assessment process.

FS16: Changing Understandings of ADHD and Motivation, Dr. Thomas Brown

This presentation will present an updated understanding of ADHD as impaired executive functions. It will also explain the puzzling fact that children, teens and adults with ADHD are able to exercise their executive functions (focus, organization, alertness, working memory, emotion modulation, and self-management) very well in a few specific activities or tasks that interest them, even though they consistently demonstrate much difficulty in exercising those same executive functions in almost everything else they do, even for tasks and activities they recognize as important.  Dr. Brown will describe how the brain “googles” for motivation and how ADHD impacts those processes in some situations, but not in others.

This session will also introduce new instruments to assess for ADHD in school settings. Issues related to accommodations, medications and psychosocial treatments for ADHD in children and adolescents will also be discussed.

FS17: Trainers Session, Dr. Sarah Mire

FS18: Graduate Student Series,Kassi Lopez