At the Center: The Power of Partnership and Connecting with Contractors

Thank you for joining us At the Center! In today's episode, host Dean Constantopoulos speaks with multiple contractors who work with CSES to discuss the benefits of contract work, how to work effectively with district partners, and how to help facilitate a successful evaluation. Interested in learning more? Come and join Angela, Patty, and Mariela here, at the Center!  

Transcript

Dean 0:01

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever time you're listening. The world of special education can seem a bit overwhelming. For families trying to support their kids to district leaders working to balance compliance, timelines, real student outcomes, the processes can seem daunting. But that's where we come in. This podcast, brought to you by the Center for Special Education Services, is here to help guide you through the special education landscape. So come and join us here at the center. Thank you, everyone, very much for joining us. And today we have a special guest, one of our contractors, here with us to talk a little bit about contract work. So if you could go ahead and introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

Yeah, I am Angela Giordano, a school psychologist with CSES.

Dean 0:50

Great. And how long have you been um working in the field of special education?

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Oh, uh quite a few years now, maybe around 12, 13 years.

Dean 0:59

Great. Have have you started in the school district or uh what did what did your journey kind of look like?

SPEAKER_03 1:04

Yeah. So I actually started in the high school setting and I was there for a few years and kind of realized that the problem solving wasn't really what I wanted it to be. It's more reactionary.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

And then ended up moving to an elementary setting and was there for um kind of the rest of the time until I hopped over to CSES full-time.

Dean 1:19

Excellent. That's great. So let me ask you, what kind of uh caused this shift to want to go from full-time embedded staff to kind of move into the contractor space?

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Yeah. Well, for me, it's a few different things. So um I went back to graduate school for um another doctorate degree. So my schedule changed. So being a contractor really allowed that flexibility to do that. And then also after being in the school system for so long, it's so easy to kind of I hate to use the word burnout because I feel like it's used so much, but essentially to feel burnt out because it's so much behavior all the time. And um, having that switch away from that has just that's been life-changing. So I'm actually really, really happy I did that.

Dean 2:00

That's great. And so do you find with contract work that it tends to be uh more of a mixed bag of different um uh different situations you can find yourself in?

SPEAKER_03 2:10

So I think when it's compared to the um school setting um for a full-time placement, I'd say CSES is a little bit more streamlined. That's probably the best way to say it. So um focused solely on evaluations, which means I get to go in, test, interview, observe, and then I leave. And then um, I don't have to have a walkie-talkie on me. I'm not called for crises, I don't support behavior, I'm not um dodging things being thrown in my face. So there's there's the ad absence of all of those things, which is really great, and that allows me to do my job as a school psych to do the evaluations, which is really nice.

Dean 2:45

So just talking about contract work, getting into contract board from the from originally coming from the district side of things, is there something that you have taken through your time in the embedded staff sort of um with that district profile? Is there something that you have taken from that experience and still use uh while you're doing contract work?

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Well, yeah, I would say a lot of things that I do, the way um kind of like that outline the sequential steps of what I'm doing, how I communicate with people, um, working with families. Um, I still very much communicate with them. It's not necessarily as frequent because I'm not calling them, but I do speak with them a lot during each of the meetings. Um, the vast majority of the evaluation meeting, I'm the one that's actually talking to the family. Um, so a lot of like those soft skills and like those procedural things are still very much the same as being an embedded staff.

Dean 3:39

Yeah, you know what? And I'm sure a lot of families would really like to hear that because uh you hear contractor and you might think there's a there's a disconnect here between what we're doing and who we're serving, but it sounds like we the amount that we serve our families is just up to the same amount. It's just that it kind of helps you change your schedule up a little bit. What what do you find um to be one of the most rewarding parts of contract work?

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Well, I for me personally, I really enjoy really getting to know the kid without having any other noise. So I think when you're embedded, there's always that noise. Is there a call? Is there a crisis? Is there something else going on? And when you're a contract work worker, you get to show up and you get to spend that uninhibited time or like un, I don't know what the good word is, but um uninterrupted time. Yeah. Right. And so, and my observations are targeted and I really get to know them. And I've had many parents definitely at evaluation meetings say, like, oh yeah, that's exactly what we see too. And so it's really confirming because I'm sure it is for them, thinking that it's someone who's not, you know, there regularly every day. But I would say because of the setting and because I don't have other things I have to worry about in the district or in that building, it makes me available to see more, many more things.

Dean 5:02

Yeah, you know, and that's such an interesting perspective, I think, because uh I would assume one of the worries of meeting with somebody who is a contracted staff member versus an embedded staff is um parents might worry about that connection with the kids. Well, how how well do they know my students or how well do they uh are they gonna engage with my child? But like you said, being in the school districts can you have so many things on your plates, I'm sure you can kind of be pulled in many different directions. That's really interesting. Let's say I'm a case contact at a at a district that CSCS works with, and we've asked for some assistance, and you're gonna be coming out to the school um to help us out with a kiddo. Um, what could I do as the case contact at this district to kind of help facilitate a successful evaluation for this kid?

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Right. So outside of the domain meeting information, which you know it's all readily available to us, which is nice, and we get that in advance. Um, it's if there's anything else that the district really wants me looking for, if they're in the process of doing an FBA and they really want some behavioral information while I'm there, I think communicating with that or communicating that in advance is super helpful. One of the bigger things is because a lot of times when we are visiting districts, it's to test or assess a student. And so having a location is really helpful. And don't get me wrong, the reception staff, they're always amazing at every school district and they know everything about the school. Um, but sometimes I catch them off guard and sometimes it's really nice when they know I'm coming and they know exactly where to put me. I've always, you know, found a place I haven't had to test a student in a hallway or anything. Um, but I think being able to have that planned in advance. And then also when it comes to the evaluation meeting, and like this is hands down, like the thing I love the most about some of the districts I've been working with is they will contact me to talk about things before the evaluation meeting or ask me to come to the evaluation meeting like 30 minutes in advance. And what we end up doing is we kind of talk about our different eligibility options because a lot of times students are much more than what they are on paper. And so hearing from the whole team, hearing what I'm gonna be recommending, hearing what they're thinking, there's been a handful of times where we've actually kind of talked through it and we've kind of changed the direction we were going because we were able to have that conversation. So interesting. So I would say like that communication and that planning in advance is hands down the best thing that they can do.

Dean 7:21

That's so cool. I I think that um just hearing you say that, like I imagine again, like uh for a contract worker, we're not sure how a district might not be sure how available they are or something like that. But it sounds like, and I can I know I can speak to a number of our contractors that they want to make the time to to put in the extra effort to get to know the kid, to get to know the situation. I know that in school districts as well, it's a whole team of people that are meeting. And if you're not an embedded staff, you might not be in some of these full team meetings and such. So that's really cool that they invite you out to do that.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

It is nice. I definitely have some great relationships with some of the districts because of that. And it it makes it much easier to work with them in the future for sure.

Dean 8:03

Being in contract work, do you find that the like building the relationships with school districts is do you find that to be different at all than than embedded staff?

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Well, you know, because after you've worked with them once or twice, you understand what their method is and what their pace is and what they're expecting. And I think once you get used to that, it just feels like an old relationship, right? Like it feels like you've known them for so long. And so I would say maybe the first time you're not really sure what to expect, but then you quickly realize the more districts you work in that everybody's really kind of the same. And like each each district might have a little one or two things that they do slightly differently. But for the most part, it's the same thing each time. And so I wouldn't say that that's um a barrier or anything that I would be worried about.

Dean 8:48

Right. Well, you know what too, I bet it's just you have more of a wealth of knowledge, especially coming from a variety of different schools. You kind of see how each school is doing things, those little nuanced differences that you were talking about. And maybe you could even bring that up with uh with another school district or something if they're looking for opportunities or or ways to adjust how they do things or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Definitely.

Dean 9:10

Well, Angela, thank you so much for joining us. This is such a great wealth of information, and I'm sure any district or potential contractor listening uh is appreciative of all this information. So thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Oh, thanks so much for having me.

Dean 9:22

And for everyone listening, stay tuned. We've got some more on the way.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

Dr. Patty McLean.

Dean 9:49

Hello, Patty. It's a pleasure to have you with us. Um, so I wanted to pick your brain a little bit about working as a contractor here with CSES. So tell us a little bit about your background in special education.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

So I um initially started out as a classroom teacher, and then from there I went back and got my psych degree. And um then I w worked in a district for a while.

Dean 10:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

For 10, 12 years, and then I became a contract psych.

Dean 10:23

During your time when you were working in the school districts as a teacher, that's when you started to go back to get your your degree for to be a psychologist. And then when did you change? When did you shift fully from being a teacher to being a psych?

SPEAKER_02 10:40

So let me just talk about my um teaching for a second. Um, I was a preschool, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first, second, third grade, fourth grade. I taught um some college, and then I was also the ESL coordinator um for Oakden Community College for the kids program for years. Um, I subbed in the upper grades, and then um whenever I was teaching, and I taught in the private and public schools. Okay. So I've kind of been all over the place, but I whenever I did stuff, um, it within my classroom, teachers are always like, Oh, your classroom runs so well. How do you, you know, have be behavior management and everything? So it kind of got to the point where my coworkers would be like, Okay, what can I do to do this? And so when I looked at the bigger picture, I'm like, well, you know, I got into a bit more programming with the schools. Um, and then I'm like, well, what degree can I go back for that I could actually do this? Yeah. So when I was teaching, I went back and started working on my psych degree.

Dean 11:49

Very cool.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

So yeah.

Dean 11:50

So then did you start um working as kind of embedded staff as a school psychologist, or did you transition to contract work once you got your degree?

SPEAKER_02 12:00

No, I so I was in a district for a while and then um I left the I retired from the district. They offered a great program to retire. Um, so when I did that, one of my former bosses within one of the districts said, Hey, um, I've got a place for contract psychology. Are you interested and stuff like that? So she put me in contact with CSES and here I am today. Oh, that's yeah. So in the beginning for this, it was, you know, it was smaller and everything, which it was really nice because that just kind of um gave me that opportunity to really start doing the contract work. Yeah. But previous to that, when I was in the districts, I also was the psychologist who went out to all of the therapeutic day schools and everything. So popping in and out of schools to do testing was something that I was used to.

Dean 12:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

Um, which I think really helped me with the contract work because when you go into schools, you really have to know and kind of figure out their whole system and you know who who you're working with.

Dean 13:03

Absolutely. Do you find that your experience in working as embedded staff in the school district gives you kind of a leg up um when you're going into these different districts? Because I'm sure a lot of them do have different methods of how they do things. Um, is there like a similarity between all of them that kind of helps you, helps guide you through your experience?

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Yeah, you know, I mean, the hardest thing is is trying to figure out who is the person in charge um or who wants to be in charge. So it's and how much experience that person is has. Um, so like even working in the district, you know, you'd find teachers that are like, well, you know, this is what we want to do, and this is what I believe, and this is, you know, and yeah, while I I understand your beliefs and I understand that you really want to help a kid, but we have to do this in a process that is legal and is in the best interest of the child. Um, and that's also too for going into the schools, it's finding who um is in charge and who is I I mean, I understand that everybody's, you know, the best interest of the child, but we're always trying to find where's that information, where's that data, who has it, where can we get it. Um, and sometimes they, you know, within the schools, they need guidance on that. Right. Especially for younger teachers. And I and I gotta love you. If you're a younger teacher in within this field, it's a hard field to be in right now. Yeah. Um, and just because I've gone back and looked at a lot of the different college programs and stuff like that, and they don't teach really anything um within the programming about how to handle behavior, yeah, emotional, social, you know, difficulties, or even like here's some special education. How what's I mean, everybody knows the MTSS, some districts are still saying RTI, you know, I mean, depending.

Dean 15:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

But again, that shows where people's knowledge base is.

Dean 15:06

Yeah, it's it's kind of across the board, it seems like it is, it really is.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

And just trying to have people um understand the process of it and be respectful of their knowledge base, but we need to move them along to where we can all, you know, agree, and this is what's in the best interest of the child and what's legal.

Dean 15:27

It sounds like through contract work, you've been able to offer a ton to these to these different districts. Uh conversely, let me ask you this. What do you think a case contact could do to help support you when you're out at a school to help kind of facilitate these successful evaluations? What what could a uh what could a school district or case contact do to help you out or any contractor out, do you think?

SPEAKER_02 15:56

So in a couple of the diff districts that I've worked in, I've had some case contacts that I am uh in constant contact with. So, you know, if I've got five, six evaluations going on in their school, it's so nice to have that person saying, okay, you know, this kid's pretty straightforward, you know, they previously had, you know, a specific learning disability. There doesn't appear to be anything else. We're going to continue on. But then if there's other things that are going on, like if I was doing um, you know, uh a learning disability, like academic testing, and I'm like, gosh, this kid's speech or um that language component just doesn't seem right, then I can contact that case manager and say, did you guys ever look at like, you know, a speech language eval and just be like, here are my testing results, here's this. You know, is this something that we'd want to add on to the domains, you know, with parent permission? And, you know, that has there have been things where they're like, oh, that's a great that, you know, let's do that so that at least we have a comprehensive evaluation. Yes. Um, also, too, with results, you know, it's nice to discuss with a team prior to the um the uh eligibility meeting, right? Just so that I can hear what does the speech path have to say, what does the OTPT, you know, here are my results, what's the classroom teacher seeing? So that we can have a really good comprehensive picture so that when we're explaining it and I'm explaining my component, then I can say, I know that this is something that's going on. And what, you know, parents, I know that you've been notified of this or whatever. Or, you know, even as far as, you know, something as basic as attendance, just having that much more information. So for a couple of the different case managers um or you know, contacts that I've had, it's nice because I can say, here's the student. Are we just, you know, are we good? Is there anything more? And if it is, then we don't need to meet. But otherwise, then, you know, we might have a 15-minute, you know, chat just to say, here's all the components, you know, here's some of the, you know, because putting the eligibility paperwork out there to fill out eligibility paperwork, you know, it it's just proposing different eligibilities to parents. But when parents get that packet of paper three days prior and they see autism or an intellectual disability or something, that it's going back to the teacher. It's not coming to me for questions. Yes. So it might be nice to have a little bit more information for them so that they can say, Oh, yeah, the psychologist wants to, you know, just present these different things, you know, because they're our kids who present with a lot of, you know, autistic behaviors. Do they have it? Don't know. We didn't test for it, but something to keep an eye on.

Dean 18:55

Yes. Well, and it sounds like that, hey, Alec, I hate to use this phrase, but like communication makes any relationship better, right? And so this is a huge point, too, where the that communicative piece between the two of you, uh, or between these two groups is really only going to make things a lot easier for everybody going forward. Everybody's got all the knowledge. The parents have the exact knowledge that they that they need. They're able to ask all the questions that they want. Um, and you are really setting the district up for success and the parents up for success by having that communicative relationship. I I know that a lot of our districts that we work with, they do like to have those like quick little pre-meets or like a uh preliminary meeting or something like that. Let me ask you this though. Uh, something kind of following up on this, something that I've been told by um by other contractors or other psychologists is that sometimes they do they'll like these pre-meetings will happen so fast, it'll be something like um, oh, I caught somebody in the hallway and I was able to have a quick five-minute conversation with them about um Johnny B uh and what's going on with Johnny's upcoming meeting? So as a contract worker, since you're not in that uh not in that setting in order to have that quick little meeting, uh, what would you recommend to a another contractor if they want to have this meeting, if they wanted to let the district know that that's the approach that they want to take? What kind of uh what would you recommend to a contractor?

SPEAKER_02 20:36

So whenever I get a student that's assigned to me, I look whoever the case contact manager is, you know, or and so I email them um and just say, I'm the psychologist who will be testing so-and-so child. These are the what I believe, because also too, um looking at the domains, domains don't always have on it the information that we need. Right. Um so I would say on the domains, it says academic testing, um, you know, cognitive assessment and um rating scales. Well, what does rating scales? Right, you know, it could be any number of rating scales, right? What are we looking at? You know, so um it I put on, so if they say, you know, ADHD rating scales, okay, fine. But if they don't have that, so then I'm just setting it up so that I have clarification that these are the assessments that I'm supposed to be doing. If I have a question regarding rating scales, then that's in that as well. But at least I have that contact information, and then they'll get back to me saying, okay, and I set up saying I'm coming in, you know, this is the date that I'm assigned to come into the school. Um, does this date work for your student? Because as we know, students are in and out and everything else. So it's not it's It's kind of like looking at am I doing the right testing? Do I have a date that is convenient? Um, and then also too, like if the student's been sick, it's it's amazing at how many people say, hey, this kid's been sick for the last three days, you know, uh the day before, saying, I don't know if they're gonna be in or if they're even gonna be, you know, up to the best, their best ability for you to test. So just kind of setting that up. So that's my case or that's my contact person. Um, sometimes you go to the special ed teacher, but just mine what I like to do is just make that contact, just so that somebody knows who I am, not just showing up. Also, too, I found out that um school secretaries in any school, be nice to them.

Dean 22:48

Oh my gosh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

And really and truly, because you can call and say, hey, you know, I'm supposed to be coming in. Can you please make sure that there is a room available for me? And they'll be, oh yeah, we've got one already. Right. Or because they somebody should be setting it up. Because I do ask that case, you know, contact person to say, you know, can you set up a room? Does it always happen? No, but that's okay. Because I contact the school psychology or the school secretary the day before I go in for testing. And can you just make sure there's a room set up? And, you know, has a student been in school today? And if it's a you know, further place and I've only testing one student there, then I call in the morning before I leave.

Dean 23:29

So setting up those lines of communication ahead of time, getting all your ducks in a row before you even go out to the school, uh, and making sure that we talk to the friendly secretary.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah, yes, absolutely.

Dean 23:42

I love it. And I imagine it's there are a lot of districts that are they're just so busy. Everybody's got so many moving pieces all at once that sometimes the communication falls through the cracks and that and that's normal. But if we're setting up the to set up the most successful evaluations that we can and to really show what we can do, like you said, setting up the the um the lines of communication ahead of time is so important.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Well, that and also too, as a contract psychologist, we don't see people necessarily. And for a lot of schools, we're up on a big screen and they're swishing a computer around. That's right. That's right. So we don't really see people. So for every you know, email I send out, it's like I'm Patty McLean, I'm the school psychologist who is testing so-and-so. And you know, some of the teachers will come back going, um, yes. You've tested numerous, but again, too, you know, he you may remember me, you may not remember me. That's right. I just gotta put it out there.

Dean 24:43

I think that's always a good move. Patty, thank you so much for all your time today and for all of these insights. This is really good information for our fellow contractors to have, as well as case contacts listening or any districts listening. These are some great notes for how to um help set everyone up for success. So thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Thanks for having me.

Dean 25:04

Of course. And for everybody listening, we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

We are a professionally licensed and insured team that provides on-site, in-person special education evaluations and comprehensive support for your special education team. Visit CSCSgroup.com to submit your request for a consultation today.

Dean 25:56

And thank you all again for joining us here at the center. I'm here with another special guest. We have one of our bilingual psychologists here joining us. If you'd like to introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_04 26:06

Yes, hi, everyone. My name is Mariela Aguilera, and I'm the one of the bilingual school psychologists here.

Dean 26:12

Excellent. And Marielle, great to have you on. Uh, so tell us a little bit about yourself. Um, how long have you been in kind of the special education world?

SPEAKER_04 26:22

So I'll let me see. I'm just finishing up year nine, I believe. Um, all the years start to merge together.

Dean 26:28

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 26:29

Um, so it's been, um I'll be entering year 10.

Dean 26:32

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_04 26:33

Yes.

Dean 26:34

That's great. And so do when you started this whole um journey, the special education uh career of yours, did you start in the school setting, sort of like a public or private school, something like that?

SPEAKER_04 26:47

Yes. Um, I actually started in Florida, in um Tiampa, Florida.

Dean 26:51

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_04 26:51

Yes. My first assignment was a high school setting and I loved it. I was school based for about five, six years before I went into contract.

Dean 26:59

Okay. And so when that's so interesting, because I'm sure that um some of the rules and regulations, um, some of the requirements in Florida would be different here than in Illinois. Um, when did you decide to change career paths? Um, and when did you first when did you move out to the Midwest? And then uh when did you decide to change from that school setting to a more contractor style?

SPEAKER_04 27:24

So I actually went to school here in Chicago, and for internship year, I was tired of winter and I decided to explore other states, warmer states for internship year.

Dean 27:37

Yeah, that totally makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 27:39

So that's how I ended up in Florida. And I was only going to stay there for internship year, and I ended up staying longer. Um, and then just after COVID, I decided I want to be closer to family. So I moved back. Excellent. Um, and yeah, so I did one school, one school year here in the city, and I realized it was very drastically different from my experience in Florida at the high school setting. And that's when I started exploring other options.

Dean 28:06

Interesting. If if you don't mind me asking, um could you talk about what some of those differences were?

SPEAKER_04 28:13

Yes, of course. So I was at the high school setting and I was able to do a lot of suicide and threat assessments, a lot of counseling with students, a lot of presentations to students and staff, and I really enjoyed that part. In addition, of course, to special education um re-evaluations, all of that stuff. But it was more heavy on that mental health piece, which I really enjoyed.

Dean 28:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:36

And here in Illinois, at least with my experience when I returned, it was just testing and meetings.

Dean 28:44

And so it sounds like you really felt passionate about that more social emotional helping piece. Yes. Um, and so some it sounds like some schools are more geared towards that, whereas some schools are more focused on the testing piece. So then this really does seem to lead right into why you changed into contract work. Then do you find that there are more opportunities to pursue kind of what your passions in special education are through contract work? Tell me a little bit about your experience in contract work.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

Yeah, so I think um that opened the door to other alternatives because in my mind, it's you know, if I'm only going to be doing testing and reports and meetings, I can find a way to do it in a more flexible manner.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:29

Um, and do it however I want to or like whatever makes um sense to my role. So that's how I started exploring with the contract world. And um honestly, I just did a few cases on the side, bilingual cases to be exact, and then it just continued from there.

Dean 29:46

Gotcha. And so do you find yourself kind of wanting to stick with the contract work?

SPEAKER_04 29:52

Yeah, so I think it's been four years already. I remember thinking, you know, if it doesn't work out, um, I can always go back school based. Yeah, we're in shortage, so I know there's no issues there, but I haven't had to even like consider um going back.

Dean 30:09

It's fantastic. So let me ask you this. When I'm sure that a number of folks who might be in the school setting uh might be feeling overwhelmed or uh they want just a change in their career path, uh, I'm sure that some of them may have reservations or um concerns about contract work. Were there any concerns that you had about contract work that once you got into the contract work, you it was it maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought, or uh maybe you had concerns about something that didn't actually it wasn't something you had to worry about for contract work.

SPEAKER_04 30:47

Yes. Um I think the main ones would be, you know, that health insurance or retirement plans. But the thing is that you can't still invest in those, it's just it looks different, right? Right. Um and the nice thing about being a contractor or 1099 is all of that stuff is tax deductible. So you know, so it does uh it's different, it's a different approach and different mentality, but we you can still find ways to cover those bases and you know invest, or um, I know maybe other people have spouses, like there's ways to get around that. Yeah, so that shouldn't be a um like like a reason to not try it. And I always tell I'm always like recruiting as well. I always tell them, you know, you can try it for a school year and then see how you feel. Yeah. You can always go back.

Dean 31:34

Absolutely. And I'm sure, like you said, with the shortages, I'm sure that is definitely an option for people to kind of shop around a little bit, see out what they want to do, and then they can settle into something they want. Um tell me about this year a little bit. How has your time in the schools been this year?

SPEAKER_04 31:52

So um, I think I'm getting to a point where I know what I'm doing, and I didn't feel like that year one. Yeah. Um, especially because I was learning the districts and all the needs and how different teams function and what they're looking for, what a role for the school psychologist in that district looks like. And by this point, I'm very comfortable um determining what the needs are depending on the district, but also um approaching a new district uh individually as well. So I I think at this point I have a really good system in terms of um how I communicate with everyone, my report writing, um, and then just my how I present my um and findings to different teams because again, it's a different team setting. So just having one way for me to do it across all settings um makes a difference.

Dean 32:45

And that's wonderful. It sounds like you have through being with all these different districts, you're able to really kind of build a quality relationship with each of them and know exactly what each of them are looking for in their own specific processes. Um so let me ask this if a let's just say I'm a case contact at um one of the districts that you're doing contract work for. What is something, what's a way that I, as a case contact, could help to facilitate a successful evaluation at our school for you?

SPEAKER_04 33:19

Okay, that's a great question. Um, so I think the two main takeaways would be communication and co collaboration. Um, they make a huge difference, especially because I'm not in the school setting. Right. Um, so I do appreciate having a case contact. Um, and I tend to communicate throughout the process, um, especially if I'm working with a new district or a new team. Um, I feel like once I have a good real working relationship, the communication can be a little less um just because we understand each other and how we how I work and how they work. Absolutely. Um, but yeah, so I like to, you know, just connect beforehand before I even go into the schools, um, just to make sure I am understanding the team's concerns, uh, making sure I understand um any unique factors that may, you know, impact the student or the evaluation. Um, but it's funny because sometimes I joke that um I'm a very needy school psychologist uh because I ask a lot of questions, right? And it's because like the better I understand what is needed, I feel like the better um I'm able to provide a good evaluation.

Dean 34:31

Absolutely. That means that makes sense, right? You I feel like districts would want these the quote unquote needy sites, right? Because like they're actually wanting to know what the district wants. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_04 34:41

Yeah, so I I'm I'll always have asking for I'm always asking clarifying questions. Um, and again, once I become familiar with how a district works, and it's it could be less. Um, but that communication remains, you know, constant.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 34:57

But then I guess in terms of a bilingual perspective, I do like to know um or understand the steward, the student's history.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:05

Um and that could be like language background, language of instruction, if they know what language the student prefers to use, you know, at home or with peers. Yeah. Um, whether the student has been here their entire life or they moved here recently. All of that really helps me kind of like gauge to see if um there's a language difference, if there's like a lack of exposure, or you know, if there's true disability going on.

Dean 35:32

You know, and that's so interesting that you say that, um, only because the last podcast episode we had, we were specifically talking about kind of the um difference versus disorder sort of thing, especially with kiddos who um are ESL, because sometimes something may identify as a disorder or or some sort of issue, but really it's just a uh difficulty understanding a different language or lack of exposure, like you said. So that's a really good callback.

SPEAKER_04 36:01

And um, again, all of this information just gives me an understanding of the student and um helps me prepare, you know, what I'm going to assess. Absolutely what I'm looking for.

Dean 36:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:12

Um, so yeah, just having um records, any data that they can share, teacher or in parent input, um, again, helps me create a complete picture of the student. Yeah. And when I go in there, I feel more comfortable um getting started to work with this student. And I have a better understanding of where I can start and what tools to use. Um, and this at the end of the day gives us a better um understanding of the student in terms of the evaluation process.

Dean 36:41

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And Marielle, this has been such a good time, uh such a good experience to talk with you about your your experience with contract work and in the schools and especially from a bilingual lens. So let me ask you, just as kind of the the the ending question, if there is what is what is it about contract work that you think is fun or enjoyable, if there is something, some takeaway that you could give um to listeners about the benefits of contract work, uh, what would that be?

SPEAKER_04 37:15

I can think of two. Um, the first one is the uh it keeps me growing and learning um because I work anywhere from conducting play-based assessments to high schoolers to students in transition. I'm able to really take a like a look into what areas I could um work on within my professional setting. And so um, you know, I don't know, like it if there's an area that I feel like I could be stronger in, I take a look into than then I just sign up for professional development trainings or sessions and do readings. I because I do want to do a good job with anything that I work in. So I take my time to train myself and explore that a little bit better. So again, I feel like because of I'm exposed to many different settings, I'm always learning, I'm always just looking for the latest research, the latest tests that came out. Yeah, that's cool. Um, again, because I want to be well versed in everything. And then the second one would be flexibility. I like the flexibility that contract um work provides. Um, it allows me to structure my work in a way that works best for me. And, you know, during the day I like working with students, being in the school setting. And then in the evenings, I sit down and I work on report writings. I always say that my brain is like the most alert in the evening.

Dean 38:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:42

So that's the perfect time for me to sit down and work on paperwork and uh, you know, work on reports, things that are more tedious otherwise. Um, but it's funny, I'm I wouldn't be surprised if people think I'm crazy when I'm sending out emails at like 10 p.m., 10, 11 p.m.

Dean 38:58

Yeah. But you know what though? Like if that's the time when when you're on or you're most alert, then then that's the best time to work, right?

SPEAKER_04 39:06

Exactly. That's so cool. Yeah, that it works with me.

Dean 39:09

Oh, that's awesome. Thank you so much, Mariella. I really appreciate your time and for sharing your insight.

SPEAKER_04 39:14

Thank you.

Dean 39:15

And for everyone listening, stay tuned for more. Thank you so much for joining us at the center. If you're looking for more information about the Center for Special Education Services and what we can provide, head over to our website at www.csesgroup.com to learn more. Thank you so much, and we'll catch you next time.