School Psychologist: Getting started with Assessments

Oh Spring.  What a dichotomy for School Psychologists.  The weather is warm, you can break out bright colors and iced coffee, but at the same time, you are scrambling, trying to beat the federal timeline on the most popular time of the year for special education referrals.  While that  will probably never change, I have developed a system over the years, for organizing and keeping track of my evaluations.

I've finally developed a system that is pretty smooth, and allows me to balance multiple evals with once without going nuts.  Here is my system:

1.  Create a cover sheet for your folder you'll keep everything in.  This is what I use, and it's been super efficient for me for the past 3 years.  It has everything I need on it, including:

• Assessments I am doing
• PPT dates, due dates
• A way of tracking what assessments & observations I've done, and when I send them out/return them.

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Student Observation Checklist

Update:  Download it here from Google Drive!

This checklist is my most downloaded document on TpT.  My Observation Checklist has evolved over the past 3 years, and this is the first year I don't plan on making any changes to it for the upcoming year (so far!)

If you are a psychologist, social worker or counselor, chances are, you are always being asked to observe students in their classroom.  Sometimes it's teachers, sometimes parents, sometimes others in the school who ask you "Can you take a look at....?"

My first year, I loved getting into the classrooms to observe students, but I was SO disorganized with what to do with my observations when I finished with them.  I've developed this form over the years, and I use it all the time.

I use it for my observations for reports every time I do one, but also anytime an observation is requested.   I copy the form on some colored paper so it's easy to find, and when I'm done with it,  it gives me something physical to remind me to email or chat with the teacher, and file it away in the students' file.

There are several different sections:

• Genreal info. (name, time, date, area of concern & more)
• General behavioral observations
• Activity level/Classroom behaviors
• Affect/Mood
• Classroom relationships
• Observation notes (a version with lined notes, and blank one for time stamps)
• A wrap up section including areas of strength, barriers to success and suggestions/strategies (I write these down as I'm in the observation-isn't so easy to forget things a few hours later??)

This form is a definite time saver and helper in my school psych. life.  What do you use for observation?