Education | Seminar in Interventions with Children
P692 | 6017 | Dr. Russ Skiba
Shinn, M., Walker, H. & Stoner, G. (2002). Interventions for
Academic and Behavior Problems II: Preventive and Remedial
Approaches. Bethesda: National Association of School Psychologists.
Assigned Readings: On e-reserve at
(Password = GRIOT)
The goal of this class is to prepare you to fulfill the role of
school psychologist as an intervention and systems change agent for
children experiencing school difficulties. Toward that end, we will
work to gain an understanding and practical knowledge of a variety of
interventions for social, emotional, and behavioral issues, as well
as preventive and systemic interventions. At the same time, we will
explore various models for the delivery of services—consultation,
mental health therapy, behavioral intervention, prevention and public
health—and wrestle with the tensions among some of these models.
Finally, we will seek to improve our understanding of forces that may
facilitate or hinder implementation of interventions with children
through discussion and practice.
As soon as I have mastered it, we will be using Oncourse
(oncourse.iu.edu) for posting of papers, scheduling, messages, etc.
Please check it on a regular basis for new messages.
1. To learn the components of an alternative role for the school
psychologist and other intervention specialists, including
intervention, consultation, and systems level intervention.
2. To learn a variety of intervention techniques for children's
specific academic, social, or developmental problems, as well as
preventive interventions at the school, family or community level.
3. To learn to use a problem-solving model of consultation to
identify problems, brainstorm and implement alternative solutions,
and to identify when that model is most likely to be effective or not.
4. To learn to develop and implement intervention and treatment
plans at a child, classroom, or system level.
5. To understand the importance of factors, such as social
validity, treatment integrity and generalization, that contribute to
the strength of treatment.
6. To gain an appreciation of the context in which
implementation of a problem-solving model takes place, and learn
strategies that can better overcome obstacles within that context.
1. Complete assigned readings and be prepared to discuss each
session. Please remember that this is a seminar, which by definition
cannot work unless all participants are actively involved in
exploring the knowledge base. The readings constitute the basic
knowledge in skills that you will need as an intervention agent, and
you will be held responsible for them (See Final Exam below).
2. Behavioral Intervention Project--Students will use the behavioral
intervention methods outlined in the readings and lecture to design
and carry out a direct or indirect intervention (see attached handout
for complete description of intervention project and timeline). If
you do not have access to a child to conduct an intervention with,
please see me as soon as possible. Please note that each section
will be due for feedback on the timeline described in the
intervention project writeup.
3. Seminar Leadership/In-service. Each student will be responsible
for leading the seminar on one of the intervention topics. (See
4. Presentation/In-service Writeup. In conjunction with seminar
leadership, each student will prepare an outline on their topic for a
conference or in-service presentation, according to a pre-arranged
format that specifies target audience, length of presentation,
content, objectives, and a description of activities that will
maintain the interest level of your audience. This will be turned in
on the same day as your class in-service presentation. NOT THIS YEAR
5. Class bibliography. Keeping up on the literature, especially
literature that may be helpful to consumers, is one of the most
important tasks of a school psychologist. Thus, you will find each
find two references to add to the class bibliography. First, find
one article that may be helpful to teachers on a topic that is not
the same as your presentation topic. Second, please go to the Journal
of Educational and Psychological Consultation on-line or one of the
school psychology journals, and find one article relevant to the
class on school consultation. You will share each of these in class
in a 5 minute presentation. A shared document will be available on on-
course, and both the citation and a two to three sentence summary
should be entered on the Monday before class by 12 noon. If the
article is available in PDF format, you can post it to our Oncourse
Intervention Project: 25%
Seminar Leadership & Presentation Writeup: 25%
Class Bibliography: 10%
Class Participation and Knowledge of Readings: 15%
Final Exam: 25%
The format for the final exam will be negotiated in class. In
general, you are strongly encouraged to complete all requirements by
the end of the semester. Remember, incompletes are like credit card
debt; the more you build up, the harder they are to pay off.
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS:
Final Report--April 28
(See Project Description for schedule of implementation
and turning in drafts of sections)
Class Bibliography: Ongoing.
Presentation Writeup: Due on date of class in-service.
Schedule of Classes
(* = Student presentations)
1/13 Course organization and requirements;
The Problem Solving Model of School Psychology
1/20 Behavioral Consultation: Theory and Reality;
Issues of Entry
Readings: Interventions Ch 1, 3; Luiselli; Noell & Witt; Idol et al
1/27 Models of Intervention: Public Health; Risk/Resilience &
Problem Identification and Definition
Readings: Barnett; Doll et al.; [Greenberg et al OR
OR Peterson OR Miller et al.
2/3 Issues in Managing Disruptive Behavior;*
Readings: Interventions Ch 12 (skim), 14; Kerr & Nelson; Gresham et
[ONE ARTICLE FROM SPR SERIES]
2/10 Schoolwide Prevention: Bullying Prevention & Conflict
Choosing Effective Interventions
Readings: Interventions Ch. 13, 10; Lentz, Allen & Erhardt;
Evidence-Based Task Force (Skim);
Interventions Ch 15 (Supplemental)
2/17 ADHD & Psychopharmacology*;
Threat Assessment and Intervention*
Readings: Interventions, Ch. 33; [Maag OR Forness OR Northup]
Secret Service Guide; Interventions Ch. 7
2/24 Mentoring & Anger Management*
Readings: Interventions Ch. 7; TBA; Gresham; Noelle
Positive Behavior Supports for Challenging Behavior (Guest Speaker)
Readings: Interventions Ch. 31, 35; Farmer; TBA
3/9 Treatment of Childhood Depression & Anxiety;*
REFLECTION: Interpersonal Interaction in Collaboration
Readings: Interventions 32, 34; Conoley & Conoley, Ch 2; TBA
3/16 SPRING BREAK
Issues in Generalization
Readings: Interventions 16, 5; Schloss
3/30 Parenting and Family Issues*;
Readings: Interventions, Ch. 2; TBA; Sheridan; Hughes
4/6 Closing the Achievement Gap*;
Consultation for a Diverse World
Readings: Ingraham; ETS Report; TBA
4/13 Early Childhood Education*;
Counseling in the School Setting* (Guest Speaker);
Readings: Interventions Ch 17, 18, 19; Carlson; TBA
4/20 Second Language Learner Issues*
REFLECTION: Systems Issues in Consultation
Readings: Bahamonde; TBA
4/27 Multisystemic Interventions*;
Reflection: What is Effective Intervention & Consultation?
Readings: Burchard & Clarke; VanDenBerg & Grealish; TBA
P692, Spring 2004
Each member of the class is responsible for leading the class for one
of the class topics marked with an asterisk. The presentation should
be structured as an in-service workshop that you are presenting to
your peers on your chosen topic (see syllabus for in-service
writeup). Whatever format you choose, your presentation should meet
the criteria for an effective in-service; that is, it should be both
informative and interesting. Toward that end, I would suggest that
the class inservice include both information sharing and an activity.
Your main goal is to find a way to share the best informatěon we have
about this topic in a way that lends itself to practical
implementation by your peers. There are four subtopics that should
be covered for each topic:
1. What is the basic knowledge in this area? What do we know about
this intervention? How strong are the data supporting this
2. What are the recent advances or critical issues? What are the
most important recent developments in this field, in terms of new
findings, or questions that are currently being raised about the
3. Practical Implementation Issues. What logistical issues are
important to consider in implementing interventions in this area? How
socially valid are the treatments typically recommended for
implementation in school, family, or community settings? What would
be necessary to ensure that the treatment was implemented as
4. Issues in Consultation. What should the school psychologist’s
role be in implementing interventions in this area? What types of
consultation strategies (e.g. training, prompting, feedback) might be
necessary in order to ensure treatment acceptability,
implementation, integrity, and generalization?
Evaluation. Evaluation of the in-service will take into account both
quality of information in the above areas, and overall quality of the
presentation. Peers will also fill out evaluations that will aid in
the instructor’s evaluation.