Research and Announcements Archive : Dept of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education & School Psychology : Texas State University

School Psychology student named Outstanding Graduate Student

Kayla Jones was awarded Outstanding Student at the Specialist Level at the 2014 Texas Association of School Psychologists conference in Las Colinas. At the award ceremony, she was described as outstanding due to her competencies, professional growth and dedication, interpersonal skills and commitment to the field of school psychology.

Texas State School Psychology Program Receives Department of Education Grant

Texas State University's first set of Project SUPERB scholars

Dr. Cynthia Plotts, Professor of School Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education, and School Psychology, is the Principal Investigator (Project Director) for Project SUPERB (Scholars Using Psychology and Education to Reach Bilinguals), a project recently awarded a five-year $1.05 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.

Project SUPERB will prepare a total of 24 fully-credentialed, high-quality bilingual school psychologists to improve teaching and learning by ensuring that language differences and assessment of the need for special education services are competently assessed for the purpose of appropriate educational interventions.

Other CLAS faculty involved in Project SUPERB include:

Co-Principal Investigator – Dr. Jon Lasser, Professor of School Psychology
Co-Principal Investigator – Dr. Desiree Vega, Assistant Professor of School Psychology
Scholar Coordination & Supervision – Dr. Laurie Klose, Associate Clinical Professor of School Psychology
Practicum Coordinator – Dr. Paul Jantz, Assistant Professor of School Psychology
Field Supervision – Dr. Mike Garcia and Dr. Rachel Robillard, Adjunct Professors of School Psychology
Consultant – Dr. Robert Reardon, Associate Professor of Adult Education

Congratulations to Dr. Plotts and the entire Project SUPERB team!

Texas State at NASP in D.C. 2014

Eighteen students and five faculty members from Texas State attended the 2014 NASP convention in Washington, D.C. (perhaps our greatest turnout ever). Below are presentations by our faculty and staff:

* Denotes student presenters

Jantz, P. B., Davies, S. C., *Covington, C., & *Kneedler, S. (February 2014). School-based assessment and

intervention development for students with TBI (Workshop).

Jantz, P., Vega, D., Klose, L., Lasser, J., *Kuebler, R., & *Campbell, C. (February 2014). Field-

based experiences in specialist-level school psychology programs: Implications for graduate preparation. (Poster presentation).

Lasser, J., *Dark, L., *Beam, K., *Morris, M., *Shatila, A. (2014). The Multicultural

Transformation of a School Psychology Course: Process and Outcomes. (Poster presentation).

Klose, L., *Hockless, G., *Jones, K., *McAllister, K., & *Schwaighofer, M. (2014). The Impact

of Participation in the Clinic for Autism Research, Evaluation and Support (CARES) Practicum on Future School Psychology Practice. (Poster presentation).

Vega, D., *Fernandez-May, A., *Luquire, R., *Garrison, T., & *Jackson, K. (February 2014).

Effective training for school psychologists working with deaf and hard of hearing students. (Poster presentation)..

Vega, D. (February 2014). Who really cares? Perceptions of support among urban youth. (Paper presentation).

Texas State Graduate & Faculty Member Participate in NASP Regional Leadership Meeting

TASP president elect and Texas State graduate Kelly Shoup Anderson, TASP president Dana Goins, NASP president Sally Bass, and NASP delegate Laurie Klose, showing Texas State pride in ASPS shirts at the NASP Southeast regional leadership meeting.

Jennifer Covington Awarded "Outstanding Graduate Student" at TASP

At the 2013 TASP Conference in San Antonio, Texas State University student Jennifer Covington received the award for the Outstanding Graduate Student at the Specialist Level. She's pictured here with her internship supervisor, Carmen Cisneroz, a graduate of our program.

Dr. Desireé Vega joins Texas State School Psychology Program Faculty

After completing her PhD in School Psychology at Ohio State University and then working in the Omaha, Nebraska public schools, Dr. Desireé Vega has accepted a position in the NASP-Approved School Psychology Program at Texas State. Dr. Vega's research interests include Urban Issues in Education, Assessment of English Language Learners, and Bilingual School Psychology.

School Psychology Faculty Promoted

Congratulations to Dr. Laurie Klose, who was just promoted to Associate Clinical Professor, and Dr. Jon Lasser, who was just promoted to Full Professor.

Christina Stanford Presents at AP-LS, Wins Award

School Psychology student Christina Stanford presented a poster at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference and won second place for best undergraduate paper in 2011. You can learn more about the conference and the awards here. Congratulations Christina!

School Psychology Practicum Students Learn About Visual Impairments

At a recent practicum meeting, Texas State School Psychology Students learned about visual impairment from the Texas State School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Students tried on simulation googgles to experience different types of impairment.

Texas State at NASP 2013, Seattle

NASP 2013 Convention and Texas State

Texas State University faculty and students will be active at the annual NASP conference in Seattle. A few examples:

Cindy Plotts and Jon Lasser will be in the NASP Publications area of the exhibit hall, signing copies of their new book, School Psychologist as Counselor: A Practitoner's Handbook. You can read an interview with Cindy and Jon in the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of the NASP Communiqué.

Paul Jantz, Jolene Ellis (graduate student, Texas State University), and Susan Davies (School Psychology Program, University of Dayton) are presenting a Mini-Skills Workshop on how to read and understand MRI scans of individuals with TBI.

Laurie Klose has a number of presentations and leadership related activities:

Poster presentation: Understanding the Sensitivity and Specificity of the ADOS-2: Preparing School Psychologists to Conduct Effective and Efficient Evaluations of Children Suspected of Having Autism Spectrum Disorders. With students: Megan Nail, Jennifer Covington, Laura Dolan, Melissa Piccino

Paper presentation: Using Grassroots Advocacy to Protect the Practice of School Psychology. With Graduate: Ashley Arnold of Pflugerville ISD

Invited Documented Session: The Ethics Committee's Dilemmas: Responding to Questions From the Field. With the NASP Professional Ethics Committee: Leigh Armistead, Susan Jacob, Fred Provenzano, Melissa Pearrow, Juliette Madigan

Leadership related activities:
Government and Professional Relations Committee Meeting
School Psychology Action Network (SPAN) Meeting
Advocacy Program Area Meeting
Professional Ethics Committee Meeting

Dr. Paul Jantz Attends Grant Conference, Continues Work on Book

In December, Dr. Jantz attended a grant conference in Chicago sponsored by the Monarch Center. He brought back valuable information that will help our program develop a proposal to fund a bilingual (Spanish-English) track in school psychology.

Dr. Jantz is currently completing his book, Working with TBI in Schools: Transition, Assessment, and Intervention (with S.C. Davies (University of Dayton) and E. Bigler (Brigham Young University)) to be published by Routledge.

Graduates Featured on Pflugerville ISD Website

Graduates Ashley Arnold and Stephanie Mathis are featured on Pflugerville ISD's website promoting school psychology. Congratulations!

Dr. Cynthia Plotts Promoted to Full Professor

The School Psychology Program is pleased to announce that Dr. Cynthia Plotts has been promoted to the rank of Full Professor at Texas State University. Dr. Plotts has made outstanding contributions to the program through her teaching, research, and service. She plays a key role as mentor to students and faculty, and has enriched the program during her tenure here. We congratulate her on this career milestone!

Faculty and Students Present at NASP and TSP in 2012

School Psychology Program faculty and students presented at the 2012 National Association of School Psychologists in Philadelphia, PA. Pictured (from left to right) are Catie Rodovsky, Lindsay Tench, Rebecca Stevens, and Jennifer Ayers at the Trainers of School Psychologists poster session.

School Psychology Faculty Awarded Research Grants Students Hired as Research Assistants

Program faculty have recently been awarded research grants to support their scholarship. Jon Lasser is collaborating with Emily Summers (Department of Curriculum and Instruction) to study the effects of media on girls' self-efficacy and beauty perceptions. School Psychology Student Jennifer Covington has been hired as a Graduate Research Assistant to work on the project. Cindy Plotts and Paul Jantz received a grant to study parents' experiences in the transition back to school from hospital or rehab for their children with traumatic brain injury. School Psychology Student Megan Cotterell has been hired as a Graduate Research Assistant to support this study.

School Psychology Program Welcomes New Cohort and Faculty

Pictured here are some new faces in the School Psychology Program at Texas State. Dr. Paul Jantz relocated from Idaho to Texas to join the program faculty. He's pictured with our newest cohort.

^{Front row, seated, left to right: Angela Juliano, Megan Nail, Melissa Piccino, Laura Dolan}

^{2nd row, standing, left to right: Jennifer Covington, Laureen Zaragoza, Shilpa Domalapalli, Brittney Dimas, Steven Hill, Megan Cotterell, Jolene Ellis, Tasha Kozak}

Texas State Students, Graduates and Faculty at the State Capitol

Representing TASP, Sarah Church, Jon Lasser, Jennifer Heimbecker, Laurie Klose, Ashley Arnold (and Jeff Luce, not pictured) on the Senate floor, giving testimony on a bill that would allow LSSPs to use the NCSP credential.

Rupert Isaacson, author of The Horse Boy, Presents to School Psychology Students

Texas State Welcomes Dr. Paul Jantz

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Paul Jantz will join the School Psychology program faculty in August of 2011. Paul is coming to us from Idaho State University. He received his PhD in School Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado.

Dr. Laurie Klose Receives National Award

Dr. Laurie Klose was presented with the National Association of School Psychologists Presidential Award for Exceptional Service to Children and NASP at the annual conference in San Francisco last month. Kathy Minke, NASP President, recognized Dr. Klose's unrelenting efforts to advocate for school psychologists. An excerpt from the presentation:

"As you probably know, things are a little bit different in Texas. Where school psychologists are something called LSSPs and get in trouble for using their NCSP credential. And over the past year, Texas NCSPs have started to fight back, challenging the Texas board to do the right thing and let them use the credential that they have duly earned. The fight isn't over, but I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge one of the individuals who is leading the charge on behalf of all Texas NCSPs: Laurie Klose."

NASP 2011 Presentations by Texas State Faculty and Students

Holder, C., & Robillard, R. (2011). An argument for self-compassion over self-esteem: The Adolescent Perspective.

Robillard, R., Klose, L., Drzymalla, A. (2011). Professional Response to Response to Intervention in Texas.

Trundt, K., Robillard, R., Holder, C. (2011). Dual language immersion-- An exploration into benefits and best practices.

Klose, L., Lasser, J. (2011). Context-sensitive ethics in school psychology.

Dr. Jorgenson Recognized at 2010 TASP Conference

Dr. Chris Jorgenson is the winner of TASP's 2010 Outstanding Service to the Profession of School Psychology award. Congratulations! Pictured is TASP President Dr. Laurie Klose (also a Texas State faculty member) presenting the award.

Dr. Cynthia Plotts named Outstanding School Psychologist

The 2010 TASP winner of the Outstanding School Psychologist award at the doctoral level in Dr. Cynthia Plotts. Dr. Plotts is an associate professor in the School Psychology Program at Texas State and was recognized for her excellence.

Texas State School Psychology Program Receives NASP Approval Through 2016

We are pleased to announce that our program has received full approval from the National Association of School Psychologists through 2016.

NASP 2009

Drs. Klose and Plotts presented a poster at NASP on teacher and student evaluations of the consultation experience.

^{Pictured (L to R) are Texas State University school psychology graduates John Davis and Ashley Arnold, Dr. Cynthia Plotts, current intern Vera Johnston, Dr. Laurie Klose, and current intern Marissa Ximenez.}

Dr. Laurie Klose elected as TASP President Elect

Texas State University Assistant Professor Dr. Laurie Klose has been elected to the office of President Elect of the Texas Association of School Psychologists (TASP). Dr. Klose has served on the board as the Trainers representative. She brings a great deal of experience and energy to the organization and will work hard to help school psychology shine across the state and beyond.

^{Pictured at left are Dr. Klose with Steven Prater (Treasurer), Maureen Hicks (Area IV representative), Kelly Anderson (Government and Professional Relations Chair), Ashley Arnold (Conference Chair), and Andrea Dennison (Webmaster).}

School Psychology Program Replaces Master of Arts (MA) with Specialist in School Psychology (SSP) Degree

The School Psychology Program is pleased to announce that out request to replace our MA with the SSP degree was approved by the Texas Higher Education Corrdinating Board. In December of 2008 the University will award its first SSP degrees.