Charles Barrett is a speaker working with Kirkland Productions through Safe & Sound Schools.

About

Anchored by an unwavering commitment to equity and justice, Charles Barrett is a lead school psychologist with Loudoun County Public Schools and an adjunct lecturer in the Graduate School of Education at Howard University and George Mason University.  Actively involved in the training and development of future psychologists, he serves as assistant director, internship supervisor, and chair of the Committee on Diversity for LCPS’ APA-Accredited Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology.  His current leadership positions within the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) include being a member of the Nomination and Elections, Publications, and Social Justice Committees; chair of the Multicultural Affairs Committee; and the Virginia Delegate to the NASP Leadership Assembly. 

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Best Practices in Assessing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
Participants will be exposed to comprehensive, evidence-based, and practitioner friendly assessment models to effectively differentiate between language difference and disability (particularly Specific Learning Disability) for English Learner (EL) students and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for Black students.  Additionally, participants will develop the skills necessary to effectively design culturally sensitive assessment batteries to validly assess culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students’ cognitive abilities, academic skills, and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Related to ADHD, specific emphasis will be placed on how rater characteristics influence diagnostic decisions.  An interactive workshop with multiple opportunities for active engagement, participants will be encouraged to consider the manner in which data are gathered throughout the assessment process and informs next steps for children and adolescents.  Implications for school-based psychological practice and influencing practice and policy decisions in local school divisions related to serving CLD students and families will be discussed. 
 
Learner Objectives
 
  1. Participants will develop the necessary skills to make data-based decisions in order to more effectively serve CLD students and families
  2. Participants will develop the necessary skills to design appropriate batteries to assess CLD students’ cognitive abilities and academic skills
  3. Participants will develop the necessary skills to influence practice and policy decisions in their local school divisions related to teaching and assessing CLD students
  4. Participants will discuss best practice recommendations for the comprehensive assessment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  5. Participants will discuss how rater characteristics such as race, acculturation, and SES influence diagnostic decisions
  6. Through the lens of social justice, participants will discuss the implications for equitable school-based psychological practice and policy
Best Practices for Social Justice in Schools
The United States continues to become an increasingly diverse and less homogenous society.  As a consequence of these demographic trends, the students, families, schools, and communities that school psychologists serve are becoming more heterogeneous, which presents extraordinary learning opportunities for developing more informed and effective clinical practices.  Although uncomfortable and unsettling for some, it is imperative that school psychologists develop an appreciation for their students’ and families’ unique histories through the lens of race. In fact, the recent addition of social justice as one of the National Association of School Psychologists’ (NASP) strategic goals underscores the importance of school psychologists infusing principles of equity into all aspects of service delivery.  Further, and consistent with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1969), school psychologists must recognize the injustices that diverse groups have been subjected to, and in some ways continue to experience, within various contexts (e.g., community and country).
 
After briefly surveying the correlation between racialized experiences and negative outcomes for Indigenous American, African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and Latinx students and families, this session will offer practical implications for practice and policy to promote equity and justice.
 
Learner Objectives:
 
  1. Participants will be able to describe what social justice is and why it is meaningful to the equitable practice of school psychology.
  2. Participants will be able to describe the social justice implications related to various areas of school psychology practice (e.g., prevention, intervention, counseling, and assessment). 
  3. Participants will learn how to infuse social justice principles into school and systems wide policy decisions to meet the needs of marginalized groups.

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