Reason for the Consultation

The reason for this particular consultation resulted from multiple conversations with a
classroom teacher and the school principal. Starting at the beginning of the school year, the teacher
noticed that this particular student, R, was having trouble in her classroom, as well as in other areas
of school like the lunchroom and specials classes. The main problem behaviors included physical
aggression and inability to focus on school work. The physical aggression behaviors began resulting
in numerous behavior referrals for this particular student, and that is when it became of concern to
the principal that something needed to be done. The teacher also agreed, and felt that she needed
help through consultation, collaboration, and guidance in order to figure out how to solve the
problems she was having with this student in the classroom.

Consultation Model
The model chosen for this consultation was the teacher consultation model because the
teacher would be the one making the changes, and simply collaborating with the consultant. The
teacher consultation model is described as a problem solving process where the educational
consultant and consultee share responsibility for an intervention outcome (Brown, 2011, p 182).
This model was chosen because it fit the needs of the consultee and was feasible for the consultant
to implement. The teacher consultation model also fits in the guidelines of Response to
Intervention (RtI) and would be required before considering the student for a special education
evaluation for a behavioral or social emotional disability. The interdisciplinary team can facilitate
the process through skill development of the consultee and serve as a support system wherein a
team member (case manager consultant) consults with a particular teacher, thereby developing the
team members skills as independent instructional consultant (Brown, 2011, p 184). The teacher
consultation model is also focused on brief interactions, where sessions occur in roughly 15 minutes,
which is typically all a teacher has for a consultation. For this reason, the model was chosen to fit
the needs of the consultee, Ms. Fall.

Teacher and Parent Concerns
Informal information was gathered prior to the consultation process, so that all parties including
the teacher, principal, and school psychologist would be aware of what the consultation process
would look like and what was being done to alleviate the problem. This informal information
provided by the principal and classroom teacher was the reason for referral to bring this situation
into a formal consultation process.
One of the main concerns of the classroom teacher was one of safety. She was mainly
concerned that the student would end up being retaliated against and getting seriously hurt because
of his actions or interactions with other students. Her other concerns were that R was not able to
participate in class activities for fear of physical aggression toward other students, and his
interference with other students learning. In addition, he was missing a large amount of instruction
due to time being spent in the office when he was asked to leave the classroom, of when he
spending time in the office due to behavior referrals.
One of the main concerns of Rs mother was that this student would continuously get in trouble
and begin to not like school because he was always getting in trouble. She was also concerned for
his physical safety, in that he was being physically aggressive with students and she felt that they
might retaliate and do the same to him. While Rs mother was concerned about the situation, she
was not initially concerned as the school team. The team decided to keep Rs mother informed on
the situation and let her know all decision the team was making in regards to Rs behavior.

Important Background and Baseline Information
Baseline data was collected through the number of behavior referrals the student received
weekly, in addition to qualitative information from the classroom teacher. Information regarding
behavior referrals can be seen in the appendix. Student R has the most number of referrals for the
entire school; 17 major referrals and 8 minor referrals for the 2013-2014 school year. Nineteen of
these referrals came from the classroom, while the rest occurred in other settings. The majority of
these referrals came from what the person writing the referral perceived as Rs attempt to obtain
attention.
Through the process of the classroom teacher chatting with this students mother, she learned
that the student had been physically abused by his father prior to entering kindergarten. After this
discussion, the teacher asked me for resources regarding getting R into some counseling or therapy
to deal with this anger and frustration at his father. The consultant called to discuss with Rs mother
the current situation at school including the number of behavior referrals R was receiving, the teams
concerns and what the school team was doing to address the problem. At this time, counseling and
therapy for R were discussed, although Rs mother was hesitant and said she would consider
pursuing something if the supports at school were not helpful.

The Consultation Process: Teacher Consultation
a. Session 1
The first session of the consultation process was simply to gather information about the
situation and get a scope of what the teacher hoped to accomplish through the consultation process.
During the session, the problem was identified and outlined in detail. During this meeting,
information was shared regarding Rs history of physical abuse and his current behaviors in the
classroom. In addition, the consultant and consultee looked at SWIS data to review the number of
behavior referrals, reasons for referral and perceived motivation for those referrals. Due to time, this
meeting did not look into solving the problem or making a change, and another meeting was
scheduled.
b. Session 2
During the second session of the consultation process, multiple options were discussed
regarding the problem and what the teacher could try in the classroom to reduce physically
aggressive behaviors and the number of referrals R was receiving. This was a main concern of the
teacher because not only was R being affected by the number of referrals; he was missing significant
amounts of class time by being in the office. The consultant offered the idea of a response-cost
system where R would start the day with a certain number of tokens, and for each physical contact
with another student he would lose a token. At the end of the day if he had any tokens left, he
would earn a prize. To insure success from the start, R was started off with 10 tokens to begin each
day, and over time the number of tokens would be reduced. It was decided that in order to give this
plan a fair try, we would need multiple weeks of data. The team decided on 4 weeks of data, and
then we would reconvene after 4 weeks took at the data and make adjustments.
c. Session 3
After collected 4 weeks of data from the response-cost plan, we met as a team again. At the
meeting we looked at the data tracking how many tokens R was left with at the end of each day and
determined that R was not responsive to earning prizes or keeping his tokens. The teacher provided
more qualitative and informal feedback that R was having trouble interacting with peers during
transitions and sitting cooperatively at a table. She suggested that R be moved to a seat away from
his peers in the classroom to alleviate the problem of him working at a table with peers. The teacher
decided she would try this out to see if it reduced the amount of time and access R had to interact
with peers, in hopes that it would reduce his physical contact and number of behavior referrals.
d. Session 4
Session 4 was called by the classroom teacher because she was getting very frustrated with
the situation. The school principal also became involved at this point, because he felt the number of
behavior referrals R was getting was unacceptable and that something needed to change. At this
meeting, the special education teacher from the self-contained classroom was invited to help
brainstorm ideas. She suggested that since moving R away from his classmates wasnt working, the
classroom teacher Ms. Fall should try and put Rs desk up against his table so that he could be near
his classmates, but still have his own personal space. In addition, Ms. Fall used blue tape on the floor
to show R his physical boundary of where he needed to be when he sits at his desk. The team
decided to give this plan another 3 weeks to see if the number of physical contact time between R
and other students decreased, and if the number of behavior referrals R was receiving would
decrease.
e. Session5
At session 5, the team met to look at the successes that R has been having in the classroom. His
most recent behavior referral was 4/22/14, which is a success considering he was previously getting
more than 1 a week or at least removed from the classroom to settle down more than 1 a week. The
classroom teacher felt that everything was under control in her classroom with R having his desk
placed against his teams table. She no longer needed to send R to the office to calm down, and he
was spending all of his time in the classroom participating with other students. She felt that his
behaviors and physical contact with other students had decreased and she was no longer concerned
about safety of other students in the classroom.
At this meeting Ms. Fall did express her concerns about Rs mental health and meeting his needs
outside of the classroom due to his history. The team decided to contact Rs mother to report the
good news that Rs behaviors had improved in the classroom, but discuss outside supports for R.
The team offered the idea of having Rs family attend the school district interagency meeting where
community supports can brainstorm a situation and help families get connected to resources.
Paperwork was sent home with R for Rs mother to look over, and she returned it a few weeks later.
Throughout the process of these sessions and consultation, there were also informal sessions
and conversations that were had between Ms. Fall and the consultant and Rs mother and the
consultant. These conversations revolved around informal check-ups to see how the process was
going for Ms. Fall, and to follow up with Rs mother regarding any questions she might have or
connecting her to resources. That information is integrated into this report where it is appropriate.

Evaluation/Outcomes
One of the biggest outcomes of this situation was that Rs classroom teacher is feeling less
frustrated dealing with his behavior. In addition, the number of behavior referrals and time spent in
the office has decreased significantly. R has been successfully integrated back into his seat alongside
his peers and no longer needs to be separated from the class for activities.
After involving Rs mother in this consultation process, we were able to help her understand the
significance of Rs behaviors and the teams concerns. Rs mother agreed to attend a district
interagency meeting where she can get support from community agencies for R to receive
counseling or therapy in addition to the supports he is receiving at school. This meeting will occur
5/21/14 thus the outcomes of that meeting are unknown at this time.

References
Brown, D., Pryzwansky, W. B., & Schulte, A. C. (2011). Psychological consultation and collaboration:
introduction to theory and practice (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Appendix