Becoming a School Consultant: Lessons Learned

Over the past three decades, the literature and practice of school consultation has grown considerably. Indirect service delivery is now viewed as an important skill set for school practitioners. In addition to the large increase in university programs offering courses in consultation, many national organizations in school counseling, special education and school psychology have incorporated requirements for consultation in their training and practice guidelines. Most consultation courses in school psychology focus almost entirely on theoretical models of consultation and associated intervention procedures. Little time is devoted to developing communication and process skills. Yet these skills are key to properly identifying student problems and selecting appropriate interventions. Without skillfully conducted consultations, implementation and evaluation of an intervention can be minimal. This casebook is designed to help students develop the process skills needed to become effective school consultants in both consultee-centered and instructional consultation models. The cases address specific skills and issues faced by novice consultants and documents how they worked through a particular issue. Distinguishing Features Field Tested #xE2;#xAC;#x1C;All the cases have been completed by students in a consultation course designed to augment training in consultee-centered and instructional consultation. Because the challenges and their resolution are presented in the students#xE2;#xAC;#xDC; voice, the cases will likely resonate with preservice students learning these skills. Case Structure #xE2;#xAC;#x1C;All cases address specific skills and issues faced by novice consultants and document the skills they used to worked through the issues. An introduction to each case, written by the volume editor, includes questions that frame the case.