A Warm Welcome Dr Sylvia Rosenfield srosenfumd edu

A Warm Welcome! Dr. Sylvia Rosenfield srosenf@umd. edu

The Four ‘s Navigating Service Delivery: Compliance, Consultation Communication, Collaboration

Sylvia Rosenfield, Ph. D. srosenf@umd. edu www. icteams. umd. edu Presented at PENT Forums 2006

ompliance: Getting your plans used • Why do we need to worry about how we delivery our services? • Doesn’t everyone appreciate the experts and take our advice?

Knowledge Utilization: “Information is the ultimate waste product of our age. ” Just knowing how to change behavior does not mean behavior will be changed.

I see my professional role as: Expert Collaborative

The Expert-Collaborative Dimension • • Expert I focus on content and don’t worry too much about relationships It is important for teachers to accept my intervention recommendations • • Collaborative Relationships with staff are critical to my work. When teachers do not implement my recommendations, I consider the relationship.

Limitations of Expert Models Treatment non-adherence is an old and common problem shared across disciplines. “Hippocrates noted that patients often lie when they say they have taken their medicine” (p. 11) “A partnership, a collaboration between [providers and clients] must be established and maintained if treatment adherence is to be expected” (Meichenbaum & Turk, 1987, p. 266).

Other reasons why expertise is not enough. • Practitioners are unable to predict what will be • • effective in a particular situation, in spite of empirical research on interventions. Research/technical knowledge must be translated into case/context specific interventions. Best practice demands that interventions be continued, modified, or terminated based on outcomes.

• Reframing Resistance to Intervention by Teachers as a Process Issue • Collaborative Consultation as a Strategy • Understanding Role of School Culture

IC-Team Program Goal Enhance/ Improve/ Increase Student and Staff Performance Objectives • Develop a systematic support network within each building, including a trained IC-Team Facilitator and trained Instructional Consultation Team. • Enhance teachers’ skills in and application of best practices of instructional/behavioral assessment and delivery • Develop school-wide norms of collaboration and problemsolving • Utilize data for classroom and school decisions

ollaboration as a feature of school culture • ”Research confirms the power of professional community to heighten teachers' effectiveness and strengthen the overall capacity of a school to pursue improvements in teaching and learning. Increasingly, we find evidence that some aspects of a school’s professional culture, especially a collective responsibility for student success, are associated with student achievement. ” (Little, in press)

Collaboration through a Community of Practice • Wenger et al. (2002) definition: “groups of people who • share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” “During problem-solving meetings, teachers can receive confirmation, support, and challenges to their ideas, and a new collective meaning regarding the referred case may emerge from the team as a result of the discussion. (Benn & Rosenfield)

Bringing a Community of Practice to the School Level • Creating a collaborative school culture around improving student outcomes-shared goals • Effective communication • Regularly scheduled times to meet for consultation and collaboration • Recognizing the pitfalls

Collaborating around Problems “During problem-solving meetings, teachers can receive confirmation, support, and challenges to their ideas, and a new collective meaning regarding the referred case may emerge from the team as a result of the discussion. (Benn & Rosenfield, 2004)

Problem Solving Teams as Delivery Systems • Need to avoid “old wine in new bottles” problem • Creating a team structure is not enough: structural change without conceptual change will not work • Distinction between process and delivery system

Team Structure and Training • Multi-disciplinary & trans-disciplinary • Effective meeting structures: regular, sufficient time, explicit role expectations • Training in: communication skills, problem solving, team building and maintenance, assessment and strategies

onsultee-Centered Consultation • Nonhierarchical helping relationship between a consultant and consultee who seeks professional help with a work problem involving a third party • Consultee (e. g. , teacher) has a direct responsibility for the learning, development or productivity of the client

onsultee-Centered Consultation • Primary task is to choose and reframe knowledge appropriate to the consultee’s work setting • Goal is the joint development of a new way of conceptualizing the work problem so that the repertoire of the consultee is expanded and the professional relationship between the consultee and the client is restored or improved. – International Workgroup on CCC

Applying Social Constructivist Theory 1) Higher order learning is fundamentally a social process in which intra-personal growth occurs as a result of exposure to cultural tools (e. g. , problem solving skills) on the interpersonal plane (consultation process). 2) Development is mediated through language as individuals are exposed to new ideas. 3) Supportive facilitators (consultants) help individuals to reach higher levels of functioning. (Knotek, et al. , 2004)

Process Variables: Three Critical Case Manager Skills Collaborative & Reflective Communication Systematic Problem Solving Process Instructional & Behavioral Assessment

What is your problem-solving structure? (Diagram or Narrative)

IC Problem Solving Stages • Contracting • Inform • Purpose • Focus ∆ • Collaborative Nature • Problem Solving Process • Time/ Data • Gain Agreement • Problem Identification & Analysis • Specific and Observable Terms • Instructional Assessment to ensure an instructional MATCH • Prioritize • Baseline • Goals (3 -6 weeks)

IC Problem Solving Stages • Strategy/ Intervention Design • What? • When? • How often? • What Conditions? • Who? • Strategy/ Intervention Implementation • Have we done what we’ve planned? • Strategy/ Intervention Evaluation • Weekly data collection • Relate to Baseline and Goals • Follow-up, Re-design, Closure • Revisit • Revise • Refine • Re-Try

IC-Team Support Process Ongoing data collection to determine progress toward goals Teachers complete brief "request for assistance" Team member assigned as Case Manager Contract for Professional Collaboration Classroom strategies developed/ demonstrated/ implemented Assessment of student's entry skills conducted Baseline and Goals Established and Documented

Why Teachers Refer School Culture determines • How and who teachers ask for help • How a problem is framed • What an acceptable resolution is

ontracting • Introduce concept of case manager/consultant • Elicit expectations • Explain stage-based, problem solving process • Clarify focus of problem solving

ontracting • Contract for: • Shared ownership • Data collection related to classroom performance • Non-evaluative nature • Parameters of confidentiality • Time to meet- regular meetings • Check for agreement and commitment to participate

ommunication • Consultation as a constructive act: facilitating change in consultee understanding of the concern by jointly reconceptualizing the work problem. • Language used in framing the problem impacts the expectation of the consultee that the problem could be resolved. (Tombari & Bergan, 1978)

Work Communities are Language Communities • Shared Reality: Talking about a topic with another person generates beliefs about the objectivity of the message. Saying is Believing! • Audience Tuning: Individuals modify their message to take into account their perceptions about what the audience wants to hear. • Correspondence Bias: Tendency to see the person rather than the situation as the source of behavior. (Higgins, 1999)

Developing a Working Relationship: Collaborative Communication Skills Consultants trained in Instructional Consultation (Rosenfield, 1987) utilize basic communication skills to establish collaborative “working relationship” with classroom teachers. The purpose of communication skill use is to ensure that the consultant and teacher create a shared perspective of the presenting concern. By creating a shared understanding of the concern, the consultant and teacher can equally contribute in the development and implementation of feasible strategies. In addition, the use of key communication skills supports the teacher in professional reflection related to the efficacy of current practices.

What did the Teacher Say? What Would You Reply?

You be the consultant …. Teacher: Reena seems to be a student who is intent on manipulating the situation to focus attention on her. If this doesn’t happen, she often pouts and talks back if she doesn’t get her way. This is the predominant kind of behavior that we see at times when things aren’t going well for her. If she gets instant help and is moving successfully through an activity, these kinds of activities aren’t present, but if frustration occurs or if she comes in that day feeling down about something, she becomes very infantile. What did the teacher say? What would you reply?

Key Communication Skills • Paraphrasing • Perception Checking • Clarifying Questions • Request for Clarification • Summarizing • Relevant Questions • Offering Information • Active & Attentive Listening

Key Communication Skills, Cont. Requesting Clarification: Statements which attempt to increase understanding of what the speaker has said through asking for elaboration, examples, details that clarify the speaker’s communication. EXAMPLE: So you have said that your bottom reading group has been struggling with the reader and is not working on grade level. It would be helpful if you could give me examples of what they can and can not do. Paraphrasing: Restatement of what the speaker has said in one’s own words to communicate back to the speaker what you believe you have heard. Allows the speaker to provide the listener with feedback and correct misunderstanding. Provide focus for continuing discussion. EXAMPLE: So you are concerned that the children do not have the basic skills that first graders need to succeed in learning to read.

Key Communication Skills, Cont. Perception Checking: A statement which communicates to the speaker that the listener has heard an emotion as well as the literal message. EXAMPLE: You sound very frustrated with this group. Questioning: Questions are useful in extending the topic at hand, but they often change the focus or direction to follow the listener’s thinking rather than to allow the speaker to make a point clearly. EXAMPLE: What reading program are you using this year?

You be the consultant …. Teacher: Reena seems to be a student who is intent on manipulating the situation to focus attention on her. If this doesn’t happen, she often pouts and talks back if she doesn’t get her way. This is the predominant kind of behavior that we see at times when things aren’t going well for her. If she gets instant help and is moving successfully through an activity, these kinds of activities aren’t present, but if frustration occurs or if she comes in that day feeling down about something, she becomes very infantile. What did the teacher say? What would you reply?

Levels of Impact and Training Methods

Selected Bibliography Benn, A. , & Rosenfield, S. (2005, August). An analysis of problem-solving teams as communities of practice. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. Higgins, E. T. (1999). “Saying is believing” effects: When sharing reality about something biases knowledge and evaluations. In L. L. Thompson, J. M. Levine, D. M. Messick (Eds. ). Shared cognition in organizations: The management of knowledge (pp. 33 -48). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Knotek, S. , Rosenfield, S, Babinski, L. & Gravois, T. A. (2004). The process of orderly reflection and conceptual change during instructional consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. Little, J. (in press) Professional communication and collaboration. In W. D. Hawley & D. Rollie (Eds). The Keys to Effective Schools, Second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Selected Bibliography Meichenbaum, D. , & Turk, D. C. (1987). Facilitating treatment adherence: A practitioner’s guidebook. NY: Plenum Press. Rosenfield (2002) Best practices in instructional consultation. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds. Best practices in school psychology IV. Bethesda, MD: NASP. Rosenfield (1987) Instructional consultation. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Rosenfield & Gravois (1996). Instructional Consultation Teams: Collaborating for change. New York: Guilford. Tombari, M. , & Bergan, J. (1978). Consultant cures and teacher verbalization, judgments, and expectancies concerning children’s adjustment problems. Journal of School Psychology, 3, 212 -219. Wenger, E. , Mc. Dermott, R. , & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Navigating the ‘s • COLLABORATION • CONSULTATION • COMMUNICATION

You be the consultant …. Teacher: Reena seems to be a student who is intent on manipulating the situation to focus attention on her. If this doesn’t happen, she often pouts and talks back if she doesn’t get her way. This is the predominant kind of behavior that we see at times when things aren’t going well for her. If she gets instant help and is moving successfully through an activity, these kinds of activities aren’t present, but if frustration occurs or if she comes in that day feeling down about something, she becomes very infantile. What did the teacher say? What would you reply?

Currently, in your school… What happens when a teacher has a concern about a student? and… If you could change things, what would be different?