The Politics of Mental Health

Per my Sunday morning ritual, hubby and I watch Meet the Press and This Week while sipping coffee and eating waffles. In some ways, it’s a relaxing ritual, in other ways it is the opposite of relaxing. Today was one of those not-so-relaxing days. The coverage is all about the tragedy in Tuscon and I have gone between crying (the picture of 9 year old girl who was killed gets me every single time) and being enraged. I have also been encouraged that the pundits are actually talking about mental health issues. Mostly though, like many things in my life, I filter all information through my school psychologist lens.

I see kids all the time that could grow up to be Jared Lee Loughners. I can see them in elementary school. Their problems become more pronounced in middle school. In high school, they are often hidden in the crowd, or check out of attending school altogether. As a school psychologist, I have counseled kids who have witnessed shootings. I have counseled a teacher who was held up at gunpoint out front of our elementary school. I have pleaded with parents to take their child to a psychiatrist because of the danger to themselves or others. I have confiscated guns and knives from the backpacks of children. I even worked with a kid who later ended up murdering someone. And I have involuntarily committed children and adolescents who I knew posed an imminent threat.

Identifying troubled students is easy. Providing them resources and follow up care is hard. So often I sit at support staff meetings and the list of students who need counseling is far greater than our resources. I only have time to counsel about 5-10 students a year with my current case load. Many students are referred out to agencies, but the follow through by the families is often poor. The average ratio of school psychologists to students at last measure in 2000 was 1:1500, with the median being 1:2500. In some cases, it’s 1:5000. What can we do when we have thousands of kids we are responsible for and we are likely on a school site only one or two days a week?

I can’t imagine that Jared wasn’t ever referred for help in secondary school. Even if he had a late onset of mental illness, the community college certainly was aware of his needs. But like K-12 education, community colleges don’t have mental health resources either. Our new California governor’s budget protected K-12 to some degree, but slashed post-secondary education. Schools are the access point for so many students in need. Imagine if we had the resources to serve students with mental health needs. Could adequate mental health services have prevented this shooting? Unknown. Could it have lessened the chances? Probably.

I should note that predicting who will become a violent offender is a difficult business. It is especially hard to predict because of the rareness of the events. Statistically speaking, rare events are harder to predict (earthquakes, anyone?). There are far more students in need of mental health services that are not going to go on to shooting innocent people if they don’t get help. But they will go on to suffer. What matters to me most is preventing suffering. Mental health issues are still thought of as personal weakness in our society, and something to be ashamed to admit. We need to start a national conversation about how it takes personal strength to seek help. We need to recognize the connection between mental health and education. If you are not well emotionally, you are not ready to learn.

As I watch the media coverage in the aftermath of the tragedy, I can only hope it sheds some light on the real issue underlying the tragedy—that our education and mental health systems are in need of support. While I’m only one school psychologist in a big district, big country, big world, I know that if there were more mental health providers helping me reach troubled students, we could make a real difference.

The real challenge is for politicians to stop talking and start acting. Reverend Al Sharpton hit the nail on the head today on Meet the Press. He said that Martin Luther King, Jr. had concrete goals and legislation in addition to his overall civil rights beliefs. Without concrete, tangible goals, he would have only been a dreamer. I’m just left here, with my empty coffee mug and dreams of adequate mental health services in the schools, wondering what I can do next.

Obama Wuz Here

Every morning, I am greeted at my office by graffiti. I am blessed that the dead rat and ant party has moved elsewhere, but it’s always a little discouraging to be greeted with “F*** Haters!” every morning. I do not like haters, but it looks like I exclaim this every day on my wall for all to see. I do not claim “Da Mob” either, just fo’ the record. Graffiti happens in any middle school, sure, but this particular colorful display has been an unsolved mystery and on the “emergency maintenance list” since last year. Apparently, pre-teens claiming gangs does not constitute an emergency.
Today I saw some new graffiti:


Vote for Obama!

I have seen election politics trickle down* into the classrooms like I’ve never seen before. In a science experiment on growing seeds under different conditions, the 6th graders named one soil “Obama Soil” (sun and water) and one “McCain Soil” (dark and water). I’m not making this up. The teacher did not appoint these names, the kids did. I will withhold my political commentary, but will note that the Obama soil was flourishing, and the McCain soil was withered and dying. *Ahem*

In a 3rd grade elementary classroom, the teacher was talking about making good choices and making bad choices, and how some people use their power for being leaders and some use power for making bad choices. Discussion ensued about when the kids had made good choices to be leaders. A little boy then raised his hand and said, “George Bush makes bad choices!” Another piped in: “He uses his power for making bad choices!” Finally, a little girl raises her hand and earnestly asks, “Can you tell me how people voted for him TWICE? I just don’t get it.” Here, here, sister.

In my 6th grade Girls’ Talent Group today, we played the “String Game” in which one person says something they like, and then tosses the string to another person, until we see a nice web of how we’re all connected, even if we don’t all like exactly the same things. After we all giggled following “Who likes Antonio?!?” one girl said, “Who likes Obama?” and they all squealed, “Me!” and jumped up and down.

No matter your political leanings, you have to admit, it is fascinating to see even our little ones get involved. I wonder where they got these messages from. Teachers? Parents? TV? Bootleg Obama shirts that I see on every street corner, peddling Hope? I just think it is wonderful for my young African American kids to feel that they too could be President someday. I just hope they’d use their power for making good choices.

*Not to be confused with trickle down economics. Our schools are still holding out for that trickle down effect to pay for graffiti abatement and better salaries…

Welcome to Developmentally Inappropriate University!

In my other life, when I am not wrestling with issues in urban education, I also work in private practice at a number of private schools. As I’ve said before, every day is a compare/contrast essay in my head. Each day is a new chapter, with new “Wait, what???” moments.

I thought I had heard it all, until I came across a family of a 3-year-old girl, who told me she was a Sophomore.

Me: Wait, what???
Family: Our child is a sophomore at Pre-College.*
Me: Is that a Pre-school?
Family: Yes, she is in her second year there, so she is a sophomore.
Me: (writing down, trying not to judge) Okay then, your 3-year-old is getting ready for her Junior year of Pre-College, got it.

Really? Have we gotten to the point where we are now preparing our 3-year-olds for college already? What’s her major, Fingerpaint Arts? Will she have a minor in Theories of Dollies? I can’t help but wonder if this “College Starts in Utero!” phenomenon is damaging our kids. I see it frequently in the kids I test who are *gasp* average and their schools are pushing inappropriately difficult curriculum on them, so they appear to be failures.

California is notorious for their “Standards Based Curriculum” being shoved into every classroom, and I have to say it can be disheartening for kids to not “meet the standard,” even when the standard is too high for their normal brain development. In California, we like to raise the bar of expectations, and then not give the kids any tools to reach it. Jump, kid! Jump higher than your gross-motor skills allow! Thanks, No Child Left Behind!

Excuse me, while I get down from my soapbox again. Right. So what can we as educators and parents do about it? What do we do when an average kid is doing average and meant to feel “behind”? As a school psychologist, I normalize wanting the best for the student. I share what developmental milestones are typical for that age group, and assuage fears of being behind. I use curriculum-based and standardized testing data to show that 50th percentile is not the same as 50%. If your child scores at the 50th percentile, s/he did better than half of the students who took the test, and that is average. And average is okay. I just hope Pre-College understands that, so my little one doesn’t become a drop-out at age 4.


*Almost the exact name. I don’t like to mock people outright, so I changed it slightly. Still the same “Wait, what???” reaction would come from the real name, I promise.

Star Testing

There’s this corner store by one of my schools that is called “2 Star Groceries.”* I smirk as I go by it every day, imagining the conversation that occurred when the owners were coming up with their business name.

Business Person #1: What should we call our corner store?

BP #2: How about 5 Star Groceries?

BP#1: No, I think that’s being optimistic. We’re not that great.

BP#2: You’re right, we’re really more of a 2 Star kind of place.

BP#1: “2 Star Groceries” it is!

My curiosity got the better of me today and I decided to see what a 2 Star Grocery would look like. So I popped in to get a snack. I’m not gonna lie, it’s not a place I’d go to again. There was wilted produce and dust on the tops of the cereal boxes, leading me to believe Captain Crunch was probably now Sir Stale. So the name 2 Star was true to form. But what if it had been called 5 Star Grocery? Would that have made a difference in their store pride? Would they have stepped up to the plate and made it a fancy store? Would I have had a different view of the store if my expectations were higher?

I once worked in a school that changed its name 4 times and it was still the same under-funded chaotic school year after year. Does it really make a difference to call a school “High Expectations Elementary” or “We Believe in You Middle School?”

The high expectations movement in education has gotten a bit out of control. We are now holding kids to sometimes developmentally inappropriate standards under the guise of “high expectations” and not providing resources equitably to help the students achieve these goals. I’m not advocating low standards for urban kids, I’m just saying that schools should be given resources to help children who have had unequal developmental conditions and are yet still expected to achieve at the same rate as advantaged peers. High expectations are necessary, but not sufficient to raise achievement. That’s like telling 2 Star Grocery to change their name to 5 Star Grocery, demand better products, but then not do one thing differently. Magically, will their produce turn fresher because we expect it to?

This all begs the question of what resources are needed for students to meet high academic expectations? I am biased toward providing mental health services so the students can focus on academics in the first place. But I don’t know the answers. All I know is that writing into an IEP (special education plan) that a borderline mentally retarded kid will be striving for an “adapted” 9th grade Algebra standard is ludicrous. I also know that it is that dreaded time of year where we do STAR testing (California Standardized Tests). Every year, I deal with the fallout of giving kids with learning disabilities a grade level test that they cannot do, because by definition, a kid with a learning disability is behind academically. As a result, I see the “Better to look bad than stupid” acting out. And I can’t blame them for wanting to save face.

I just hope our high standards don’t make them feel like 2 Star Students.


*Many of my school sites do not have any commerce near them other than corner stores or liquor stores. Luckily many of the liquor stores have deli sandwiches, burritos, and such in addition to their fine selection of alcohol and tobacco products. The only up-side is it makes me save money because I have to bring a lunch, or I get to say point-blank to the Principal, “Um, I am going to the liquor store for lunch, do you want me to get anything for you?”

RtI is the New Black

I have a confession. I’ve been spying on you. I can see what search terms people use to get to my blog. I get many people to my blog through “School Psychologist Blog” which makes sense, but there are some people who are confused when the search term “Ugliest Girl in School” gets you to me. The top search term lately though has been “School Psychologist and Response to Intervention.” I have a dual reaction of “Yea! People want to know about prevention!” and then guilt for only having a few posts on the topic.

Truth be told, RtI overwhelms me.Also, the majority of my assignments are at middle schools because I love the tween angst. Therefore, the concept of RtI isn’t even being discussed much. In fact, I’ve never heard the term uttered once in my school this year, and it’s February. I think the problem is that RtI in middle school is even more amorphous than in elementary schools.

What could RtI look like in the middle schools?

No seriously, I’m asking you. I have no idea. Would it be a glorified SST process in which there are real interventions that are documented, implemented with treatment fidelity, research-based, and followed-up upon? Don’t we theoretically already have that system in place? Unfortunately, I think the direct instruction in areas of academic need intervention in middle school is usually non-existent, except for maybe homework club after school or remedial or study skills classes.

I’ve dug around in the research, and found mostly large-scale interventions about “What Works” that will in fact not work in my schools on Monday without district-support and major paradigm shifts. So I’ll instead take the big idea of RtI down to something I can do on Monday. Please, feel free to include any experiences you have at your schools with RtI that have worked so we can learn from each other.*

RtI Strategies for School Psychologists in Secondary Schools

Big Idea #1: Become knowledgeable in curriculum-based measurement and academic interventions already in place at your school site. See what is being done and make it even better.

Realty: I have a general sense of what the academic interventions are for kids at my sites. They are pretty much remedial reading classes, computer-based interventions for targeting basic skills, and “in-class support” from intervention specialists and resource teacher. To my knowledge, there is no systematic curriculum-based measure for tracking progress other than grades. I could investigate further and offer consultation on how to track progress for target classrooms or students in a cute little graph with a trend line.

Big Idea #2: Think of your role as moving from “tester” to “intervention specialist.” Provide students with counseling, assist teachers with data collection, and consult with staff about appropriate academic interventions.

Reality: Dear God. When will I have time to intervene with anything while I’m only at my school one day a week and have to do testing? I suppose I can start with supplementing what I’m already doing. I already go to SSTs so I could meet with key SST team members, and write down every intervention available at our school site to identify gaps. It could be our “Menu of RtI Interventions.”** Then I could help my school site locate community-based organizations that may fill these gaps. And if our RtI Menu only has one appetizer, one main, and no dessert, then at least we will know what to advocate for down the road.

I could also procure a cloning machine, and clone self to have the time to be my school site’s RTI Consultant.*** If I locate such a machine, or get more days at my site, I will definitely consult with The RtI Wire.

Big Idea #3: Focus assessment on Curriculum-Based Measurements and RtI Interventions**

Reality: Our district still requires using the discrepancy model. So for initials, I could add a paragraph in my “background history” of my report on any RtI Interventions that have been attempted. If I’m feeling saucy, I can make a graph of curriculum-based interventions with trend lines, if said interventions have taken place. If not, refer back to Big Idea #2.

Triennials have a bit more leeway with what an assessment looks like if the kid has already been tested several times and the disability is well established. By the time the student is in 10th or 11th grade, it is less helpful for parents and teachers to know that the student still has an auditory processing deficit. They have known that since probably 3rd grade. Ask the parent what they are interested in knowing for the triennial and focus on that. For example, I had a parent who told me she could care less about the kid’s letter-number-sequencing abilities and cognitive test scores. She was worried about her son’s life after high school and if he could learn to fill out job applications and write cover letters. I focused the triennial on the student’s transition plan and work backwards to what can be done now.


*Don’t try to hide! I see your visiting and non-commenting ways. Don’t be scared, share your wealth o’ information!

**I know, the name “Menu of Response to Intervention Interventions” sounds like it came from the Department of Redundant Department, but “Menu of RtInterventions” sounds weird.

***Someone told me once that sarcasm is a form of anger, disguised as humor. Apparently, I’m bitter about the lack of mental health resources for children in our public schools.

What's Right in Education?

I received my Teachers Union* magazine today, made a face of disgust, and promptly deposited it in the recycling. My fiancée raised an eyebrow, but didn’t inquire. Unsolicited, I explained that though I like to be informed about issues in education, it’s depressing to read my Union magazine. Once, a roommate of mine saw that it arrived and told me that my Bitter Teachers’ Quarterly had arrived. She called it this because there is usually a picture on the front cover of either a) Angry teachers picketing for a living wage/health insurance/school supplies, or b) Haggard-looking teacher leaning over a quasi-interested student. And the articles pretty much follow the cover themes, every month.

I’m all for unions and fighting for social justice, but I wish BTQ would expand their coverage. I don’t mean they need to turn into Teachers Unions for the Soul, but throw us a positive bone once in a while! Maybe they could integrate stories of union victories and how to advocate within your own district, positive policy changes, or inspirational stories of working within a less than perfect system. And if someone made me Editor, I would promise to never, ever, use the phrase “No Child Left Behind” or “Highly Qualified Teacher” ever again. Ever.

It’s a hazard in education (especially urban education) to fall into telling only the horror stories, injustices, and tribulations of our profession. I am guilty too. It is the fodder for teachers’ lounge conversations around the country, psychologist staff meetings, and sometimes my very own dinner table. It usually starts with “You are not going to believe that [insert injustice] happened at school today.” Rare are the days that I get together with my psychologist colleagues and compare notes about what is working well in our respective schools. It is far more juicy to tell the tales of our job in a Fox Reality Show fashion. **

Part of the problem is the nature of our jobs. We help determine when the students are failing enough to require special education services. Our job is largely to find disabilities, processing deficits, emotional problems, developmental and social problems, and areas of academic weakness to determine that general education is not going to cut it. Though I try to integrate student strengths in my assessment reports, usually they are in one paragraph or peppered in my report as areas of “relative strengths.” One might call me Debbie Downer, Ph.D.

Fortunately, there is a movement toward Positive Psychology. The entire NASP conference this year is on Resilience—how students succeed in the face of adversity. It’s a great step in the right direction.

*In my district, Psychologists are in the Teacher’s Union. We aren’t cool enough to have our very own union.

**I could produce the first season of When Middle Schools Go Wild!