ABPP School Psychology cheat sheet

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model nests influences: microsystem (family, classroom), mesosystem (home-school links), exosystem (parent workplace), macrosystem (culture, policy), chronosystem (time).

IDEA was enacted in 1990 and reauthorized in 2004; its predecessor, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, passed in 1975.

Key case law: Brown v. Board (1954) barred school segregation; PARC and Mills (1972) established education rights for children with disabilities; Larry P. (1979) restricted IQ-based EMR placement of Black students; Diana (1970) required native-language testing.

Board of Education v. Rowley (1982): FAPE requires an appropriate education conferring meaningful benefit, not the maximum benefit available.

NASP Practice Model: ten domains of practice delivered through integrated multitiered systems; services target all students, not only those in special education.

Score metrics: standard score M = 100, SD = 15; T-score M = 50, SD = 10; scaled score M = 10, SD = 3; z-score M = 0, SD = 1.

SEM = SD x square root of (1 - r); a 95% confidence interval is approximately the obtained score plus or minus 1.96 SEM.

Reliability targets: .90 or higher for high-stakes individual decisions; .80 or higher for screening and group research.

Criterion-referenced measures compare performance to a mastery standard; norm-referenced measures compare performance to a defined peer group.

CHC broad abilities most often assessed: Gf, Gc, Gv, Ga, Gs, Gwm, Glr, Gq, Grw; cross-battery assessment samples narrow abilities across multiple instruments.

IDEA 2004 permits RTI-based SLD identification, forbids states from requiring a severe ability-achievement discrepancy, and allows patterns-of-strengths-and-weaknesses approaches.

PSW models require low achievement, a related processing weakness, and a demonstrated link between the weakness and the academic deficit, plus exclusionary criteria.

Diagnostic accuracy formulas: sensitivity = TP/(TP+FN); specificity = TN/(TN+FP); PPV = TP/(TP+FP) and rises as base rate rises; NPV = TN/(TN+FN).

CBM uses brief timed probes (e.g., words read correct per minute) given one to three times weekly; four to six data points plus a trend-versus-goal-line comparison trigger instructional change.

FBA identifies antecedent-behavior-consequence contingencies, hypothesizes function (attention, escape, tangible, sensory), and generates a BIP matched to that function.

Reinforcement schedules: continuous reinforcement speeds acquisition; intermittent schedules (FR, VR, FI, VI) resist extinction; variable ratio yields the highest, steadiest rates.

Single-case designs: ABAB reversal demonstrates control but requires a reversible behavior; multiple-baseline designs across participants, settings, or behaviors avoid withdrawal.

Effect sizes: Cohen's d of 0.20 is small, 0.50 medium, 0.80 large; percentage of nonoverlapping data above 70 percent indicates an effective intervention.

Caplan's four consultation types: client-centered case, consultee-centered case, program-centered administrative, and consultee-centered administrative.

Caplan's four themes of consultee difficulty: lack of knowledge, lack of skill, lack of confidence, and lack of objectivity.

Bergan's behavioral consultation stages: problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, problem evaluation, each conducted through a structured interview.

Conjoint behavioral consultation adds parents as full consultees alongside teachers and targets home-school consistency and generalization of gains.

Collaborative consultation positions consultant and consultee as co-equal problem solvers sharing expertise, rather than an expert delivering a prescription to a recipient.

Treatment integrity data (permanent products, direct observation, self-report) must accompany outcome data, or conclusions about intervention effectiveness are confounded.

Consultee resistance is treated as information about system constraints and is addressed through paraphrase, reflection, and returning ownership of the plan to the consultee.

Problem-solving sequence: define the problem in observable terms, analyze conditions, set a measurable goal, select and implement a strategy with fidelity, monitor, then evaluate and adjust.

IDEA timelines: initial evaluation within 60 days of parental consent (states may set a shorter window); IEP in place by the start of the school year; annual review; reevaluation at least every three years.

Discipline rules: removal for more than ten consecutive school days, or a pattern of removals, is a change of placement; manifestation determination occurs within ten school days; interim alternative setting up to 45 school days for weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury.

Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act, 1973) covers impairments substantially limiting a major life activity; it is broader than IDEA and yields accommodations rather than specially designed instruction.

LRE: removal only when education in regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily; the continuum runs from full general education to residential placement.

MTSS integrates academic and behavioral tiers using universal screening, data-based decision rules, and fidelity monitoring at every tier.

PBIS tiers: Tier 1 universal for all students, Tier 2 targeted for roughly 10 to 15 percent, Tier 3 intensive individualized for roughly 1 to 5 percent; emphasis is on teaching and reinforcing expectations.

PREPaRE (NASP): Workshop 1 addresses prevention and preparedness through comprehensive school safety planning; Workshop 2 addresses response and recovery, including psychological triage and evaluation.

Threat assessment is fact-based and multidisciplinary and distinguishes transient from substantive threats; zero-tolerance exclusion is not supported by the evidence base.

Child find applies to every child in the jurisdiction, including private school, homeless, and highly mobile students.

NASP Principles for Professional Ethics: (I) respecting the dignity and rights of all persons; (II) professional competence and responsibility; (III) honesty and integrity in professional relationships; (IV) responsibility to schools, families, communities, the profession, and oneself.

APA aspirational General Principles: beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, and respect for people's rights and dignity.

Confidentiality limits: danger to self or others, suspected abuse or neglect, court order, and need-to-know sharing within the school team.

FERPA: parents may inspect and request amendment of education records; schools respond within 45 days; written consent is generally required before disclosure, with enumerated exceptions.

Test security: copyright plus qualification levels (A, manual only; B, technical training; C, doctoral or licensed) restrict who may administer and interpret restricted instruments.

Multiple relationships: avoid conflicts of interest; when unavoidable in small or rural communities, disclose, document, and actively manage the relationship.

Informed consent elements: purpose, procedures, risks and benefits, voluntariness, right to withdraw, and confidentiality limits, paired with developmentally appropriate child assent.

Mandated reporting: report reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect to designated authorities, do not conduct an independent investigation, and notify parents only when doing so will not endanger the child.

Duty to protect (Tarasoff): take reasonable steps such as warning the intended victim, notifying law enforcement, or arranging hospitalization when a client poses a serious threat.