Article archive / July 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 11. Source pages: 1, 6.
The first meeting of the School Specialist Task Force was held June 28 at the state psychology board in Baton Rouge.
The group began work on a survey that will guide them in certain areas. Task force chair, Dr. Rita Culross told the Times, “The purpose of the survey is to seek input from school psychologists certified through the State Department of Education and psychologists licensed through LSBEP [Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists] on the possible regulation of school specialists through LSBEP.”
The agenda for the Friday meeting also included a review of the purpose of the task force and a review of definitions and language from other states that license school psychology specialists. The group discussed guidelines and a schedule for future meetings, and also reviewed Open Meeting Law, according to the agenda.
At a recent presentation by the psychology board, previous board Chair Lee Matthews noted that the task force was created to study the possible licensure of school specialists in Louisiana. The specialist degree in school psychology is offered by LSU– Shreveport and by Nicholls State University, and requires 72 hours of graduate training and 1200 hours supervised practice.
Members of the task force are Dr. Rita Culross, Professor at LSU, representing the LSBEP; Dr. Conni Patterson, Professor of Practice at Tulane University and past president of the Louisiana School Psychology Association; Dr. Steven Welsh, retired Department head for the Department of Psychology and Counselor Education at Nicholls, and the interim Dean of the College of Education; Dr. Carmen Broussard, Associate Professor of Psychology at Nicholls; Susan Ratterree, Delegate to the National Association of School Psychologists for the Louisiana School Psychological Association; and, E. Francoise Parr, President of the Louisiana School Psychological Association.
Dr. Carmen Broussard (L) and Dr. Conni Patterson discuss ideas at the recent meeting of the LSBEP task force to study the possible regulation of specialists in school psychology. Broussard is an associate professor at Nicholls and Patterson is a professor at Tulane.
E. Francoise Parr and Dr. Steven Welsh listening to discussion at the first task force meeting of the school specialist task force. Parr is president of the Louisiana School Psychological Association and Dr. Welsh has served as dean and professor at Nicholls State University.
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