Questions from Andrea

I just noticed someone posted a comment on the October 1st post.  Andrea writes:

Hi!

I, like Cameron from last week, really enjoy reading your blog and learning from it. I'm currently a 2nd year graduate student in Florida, and I'm thinking about leaving Florida after I graduate to return to NJ where I'm from. I have a few questions I hope you can help me with.

Thanks for reading.  I hope that it is helpful.

I'm planning on becoming a NCSP during my third year, which NJ accepts, but I'll still need to learn the state laws and how things are done in NJ. Do you have any good resources for learning information like that? I don't want to have too steep of a learning curve if/when I return to NJ.

Reader friendly resources are few and far between.  The two core sources are the NJ Administrative Law for Special Education and Parental Rights in Special Education.  My standard line for parent meetings where these two sources are given to parents is that the former is written by lawyers for lawyers while the latter is the easy reading, abridged version.  Sadly, there are no clear, concise versions of the law.  I'm sure it is no different in other states.  I've been in department meetings where even the emphasis placed on certain words can seemingly change the entire meaning of the sentence.

Another source of information is the Rutgers Special Education Clinic.  This site consolidates a number of things, such as forms and other information.  It even leads to the law search engine with a hint on how to search specifically for cases related to special education.

Another option, if you have the funds, would be to audit a class in special ed law at one of the New Jersey universities.  When I was in my program, I know there was at least one student in our special ed law class that was sitting in after passing a similar class in New York.  They paid a reduced rate for auditing the course.  That being said, check with your university of interest first.

Another question I have is about Response to Intervention (RTI). Florida moved to using RTI for determining the need for special education services, instead of the discrepancy model that a lot of other states use. That means that a lot of school psychologists don't really have a place in the school anymore, and that's a major reason why I want to move back home. Which model do your schools use (I'm guessing the discrepancy model) and have you heard anything about the state switching to RTI?

The official stance of NJ special education law is that it really doesn't have a specific stance.  The most recent re-authorization of special ed law in the Garden State was in 2006.  At that time, the basic statement was that district did not have to be tied solely to the discrepancy model.  There really hasn't been much talk about it since.  That being said, the state is already gearing up for another re-authorization so who knows what it is going to come out of Trenton next.  The general feeling, which I stated on Friday, is that the state is going to try to adhere more to the federal guidelines.

There has been more pressure on regular education to provide support and intervention before referring students to the child study team but even then there hasn't been a lot of follow through (from what I have seen) on using empirically researched interventions prior to referral.

The role of the school psychologist pretty varied in New Jersey.  The main role is case management, along with all the meetings and paperwork that requires.  In all honestly, case management is the primary role of all three primary specialties (school psychs, school social workers, and learning disabilities teacher-consultants).  School psychs still do plenty of testing; we do plenty of counseling, and we do risk assessments. 

This also changes from district to district.  I know of some districts where case management is top priority because each team member may have 90+ students to oversee.  Other districts: the school psychologists don't do any risk assessments.  So if you are looking to interview in New Jersey, you may want to keep these things in mind and think about the type of district you want to work in.

I will say that with the current economic and political environment in New Jersey, working in education may not be as secure as it used to be.

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Andrea

 Again, thanks for reading and if you have other questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them.  Good luck this semester.