Meetings


IASP External Standing Committee to the IPSB

Selections
January 17, 2001


Members present: John Baker, Ronald Branca, Russell Dawson, Steve Davis, Graydon Estabrook, Thomas Huberty, Dick Therrien, Kathryn Snyder

Guest present: Phyllis Garrison

Old Business:

  1. A vacancy still exists on the External Standing Committee for a teacher representative. Judy Wortham will continue as a school psychologist representative. Dick Therrien believes that he may have a candidate for the teacher vacancy. He will re-contact this teacher to see whether she will serve this role.

  2. The contract was been sent to the IPSB for approval on January 11, 2001. John Baker and Dick Therrien will complete the budget for 2000-2001 today. IPSB needs to approve both contract and budget before funds are made available.

  3. John Baker clarified a section from the Selections from November 8, 2000. Under New Business, Item #2, a school psychologist who wants a license without a social security number may file a duplicate application and pay $5 for such license. When renewal issues are resolved for the independent practice endorsement, many or all licenses may be reissued by the IPSB without a social security number.

  4. The first renewals for the independent practice endorsements are due October 1, 2001. The committee discussed how to match renewal dates for the endorsement with the teacher license renewal dates. The ESC will recommend to the IPSB that separate licenses be issued for the teacher license and the independent practice endorsement. The renewal date for the independent practice endorsement should match each school psychologist's NCSP renewal date. The independent practice endorsement will be valid as long as the renewal requirements have been met for the NCSP.

    Current grandfathered school psychologists whose renewal dates are forthcoming will need to verify 75 clock hours of professional development in the past three years for their endorsement renewal (as required for NCSP renewal). Those who are currently NCSP-certified will only need to send a photocopy of their current NCSP certificate. The renewed independent practice certificates will not have expiration dates; instead, the certificates will have a statement regarding validity only if the holder has maintained NCSP certification. A laminated, wallet-sized card with an expiration date will be issued with the certificate. Subsequent renewals will replace only the wallet-sized card. The expiration date will be the same date as the school psychologist's NCSP renewal date. For the non-NCSP certified school psychologists, renewal dates will be three years from the date of renewal of the independent practice endorsement.

New Business:

  1. A motion was made by Steve Davis and seconded by Graydon Estabrook to expand the scope of responsibility of the ESC to include recommending standards for licensure of Indiana school psychologists to the IPSB, as well as continue the work of endorsing school psychologists for independent practice. The motion passed. The current contract between IASP and IPSB does not include this expansion of responsibilities. A letter will be written from IASP leadership to IPSB requesting that this responsibility be added to the contract, beginning with the July, 2001, contract. Either Dick Therrien and/or Kathy Snyder will meet with the IPSB to present the proposal for ESC's role expansion in March, 2001.

  2. Steve Davis recommended that a subcommittee of the ESC be formed to address the work of proposing standards for licensure. This subcommittee might include several ESC members, trainers from the three Indiana NASP-approved training programs, and IASP members. This group would make recommendations to ESC for action. No action taken.

  3. IASP Executive Board will conduct a day-long planning and development retreat on Saturday, March 3. At that time IASP leadership will discuss and make recommendations regarding the expansion of responsibility for the ESC. Kathy Snyder will contact the planner of the retreat and include this issue on the day's agenda.

  4. The ESC discussed recommending that NASP/NCSP standards be adopted for licensure in Indiana. Tom Huberty volunteered to review these standards and see how they can be adapted for licensure standards. Three issues emerged: a) standards for training programs, 2) assessment of candidate competencies, and 3) levels of licensing (including timetable). Other related issues included: timetable for renewals (5 year vs. 3 year), life licenses, out-of-state licensure requests, and license revocation.

    Example:

    Initial Practitioner: one year internship plus first two years of practice in the schools (3 year time period). Non-renewable. Competency assessment? Supervision?

    Proficient Practitioner: Renewable indefinitely for three-year time periods. Competency assessment? Portfolio?

    Professional Practitioner: Master's Degree plus ? hours or Doctorate. NCSP certification. Renewable every ? years.

  5. Phyllis Garrison, legal counsel from Bose & McKinney arrived at 1:45 to address legal concerns of the committee. Questions and responses included:

    Does Esc have liability independent from the ISPB?

    No. IPSB is ultimately liable for ESC's decisions. The current contract between IASP and IPSB does not address liability. An individual could sue individual ESC members, if there was a perceived malicious intent. Ms. Garrison told ESC to set standards and procedures and follow them. Don't set policy in hind-sight.

    Should IASP and IPSB put language in their contract to address liability issues?

    John Baker will review this question with IPSB persons.

    Can licensing standards be raised for renewal purposes?

    Yes, if you provide the persons time for meeting those standards. If ESC makes the NCSP standards necessary for renewal of the endorsement, those grandfathered in can be expected to meet the new standards if given time. The safest route would be to keep all grandfathered and change the standards for future candidates.

    If one license is revoked, should the other license be automatically revoked, too?

    If the independent practice endorsement is revoked, the teacher license should not be automatically revoked. If the teacher license is revoked, the independent practice endorsement should automatically be revoked. Decisions on this should be reviewed case-by-case basis. IPSB has a process for license revocation and ultimately makes the final decision.

    What about the "normally expected to serve" clause?

    Refer back to the guidelines set by ESC. Refer back to ethical guidelines set by professional organization (NASP). If a dual relationship exists (through a private practice), parents may sign an informed consent so the school psychologist can work with a child at school. School psychologists need to acknowledge the dual relationships and proceed with reasonable caution.

Next meeting date: Wednesday, March 7, 10:00 a.m. in the IPSB Conference Room, second floor, Two Market Square Center Building, 251 E. Ohio Street, Indianapolis.