PART 3 – The Power of Partnership: Building the Bridge Between School Teams and Private Practice
Over the previous posts in this series, we have covered two distinct yet complementary evaluation approaches to ensuring needs of individual students are identified and met. But how do schools and private practitioners bridge the gap and make use of their equally valuable perspectives and data in the service of their students and clients? Educational specialists and licensed psychologists are especially valuable when their work is coordinated, collaborative, and grounded in the mutual respect of one another’s professional expertise.
What is Care Coordination?
These efforts include shared goals, assessment, and intervention planning – with appropriate consent – that is focused on individual success which supports:
- The alignment of clinical and educational goals
- Appropriate accommodations and interventions
- Prevention of conflicting strategies
- Ensures consistent reinforcement across environments
- Identification of those strategies that work (or don’t) across settings
- Coordinated rather than duplicated efforts across settings
Some Real-Life Examples of Care Coordination
- A family requested an evaluation from a school and then shares the outcomes with their therapist or seeks a private consultation about the results to support their child outside of school as well.
- A family talks to their therapist about how to navigate the school system, including school-based evaluations and services, and the family is connected to the appropriate resources at school.
- A school or family requests an independent educational evaluation (IEE) to further support a student.
- Clinicians provide presentations to staff on specific topics like ADHD, developmental disorders, or mental health generally.
- Educators and school evaluators inform clinicians about trends in the schools and needs for outside support.
