Samuel O. Ortiz, Ph.D. Professor St. John’s University Culturally Competent Psychological Practice Part 1: Standards, Ethics, and Guidelines—School psychologists as cultural practitioners. Samuel O. Ortiz, Ph.D. Professor St. John’s University

Understanding and Defining Culture Not just ethnicity & race Gender Religion Child rearing Socioeconomic status Demographics Level of acculturation Attitudes towards formal education Language Values Humor

Professional Standards for Multicultural Competency National Association of School Psychologists’ (2000) Professional Conduct Manual American Psychological Association’s (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education’s (1999) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing

Principles for Professional Practices National Association of School Psychologists’ (2000) Professional Conduct Manual Principles for Professional Practices Professional Practices (c.1.b) “School psychologists respect differences in age, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. They select and use appropriate assessment or treatment procedures, techniques, and strategies.”

Guidelines For the Provision of School Psychological Services National Association of School Psychologists’ (2000) Professional Conduct Manual Guidelines For the Provision of School Psychological Services Practice Guideline 5: “School Psychologists have the sensitivity, knowledge, and skills to work with individuals and groups with a diverse range of strengths and needs from a variety of racial, cultural, ethnic, experiential, and linguistic backgrounds.”

Guidelines For the Provision of School Psychological Services National Association of School Psychologists’ (2000) Professional Conduct Manual Guidelines For the Provision of School Psychological Services Practice Guideline 5.2: “School psychologists recognize (in themselves and others and in the techniques and instruments that they use for assessment and intervention) the subtle racial, class, gender, and cultural biases they may bring to their work and the way these biases influence decision making….School psychologists work to reduce and eliminate these biases when they occur.”

American Psychological Association’s (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct Use of Assessment (9.02) “ . . . .Psychologists use assessment methods that are appropriate to an individual’s language preference and competence, unless the use of an alternative language is relevant to the assessment issue.”

American Psychological Association’s (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct Interpreting Assessment Results (9.06) “When interpreting assessment results, including automated interpretations, psychologists take into account the purpose of the assessment as well as the various test factors, test-taking abilities, and other characteristics of the person being assessed, such as situational, personal, linguistic, and cultural differences, that might affect psychologists’ judgments or reduce the accuracy of their interpretation. They indicate any significant limitations of their interpretations.”

Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA & NCME, 1999) “9.1: Testing Practices should be designed to reduce threats to reliability and validity of test score inferences that may arise from language differences…. 9.3: When testing an examinee proficient in two or more languages for which the test is available, the examinee’s relative language proficiencies should be determined. The test generally should be administered in the test taker’s most proficient language, unless proficiency in the less proficient language is part of the assessment…. 9.10 Inferences about test takers’ general language proficiency should be based on tests that measure a range of language features, and not a single linguistic skill.”

Cultural Competency at the Service Level According to NASP, educators and related services personnel who are culturally competent: Learn as much as they can about a student's or family's culture, while recognizing the influence of their own background on their responses to cultural differences; Include neighborhood and community outreach efforts and involve community cultural leaders if possible; Work within each student's family structure, which may include grandparents, other relatives, and friends; Recognize, accept, and when appropriate, incorporate the role of community volunteers; Understand the different expectations people may have about the way services are offered (for example, a period of social conversation may be necessary before each contact with a person; or access to a family may be gained only through an elder); and Adhere to traditions relating to gender and age that may play a part in certain cultures (for example, in many racial and ethnic groups, elders are highly respected). With an awareness of how different groups show respect, providers can properly interpret the various ways people communicate.

Domains of Culturally Competent Service Delivery Knowledge of local, state, and federal laws and regulations, and court rulings pertaining to culturally and linguistically diverse individuals Understanding of ethical standards as they related to delivering services to culturally and linguistically diverse individuals Ability to recognize the limits of our own multicultural competence Examine individual referrals within the context of institutional and systemic patterns (e.g., cultural misinformation, racism, cultural differences) affecting diverse learners and provide leadership in seeking and implementing individuals and systemic interventions Knowledge of and skills in assessing diverse individuals, including consideration of variables such as environment, social issues, language development, second language acquisition, acculturation, educational history, quality of educational programs, SES and racism Understanding that normed tests may not be a valid measure for diverse individuals due to inappropriateness of norms, scores reflecting English proficiency, product as opposed to process orientation

NASP Blueprint III

Purpose of Blueprint III “Blueprint III is written to be a stimulus for discussion by school psychologists and those who educate them. It can be used by trainers to develop coursework and practical experience for both preservice and continuing education, and it can be used by practitioners to help them shape their own continuing professional development. Finally, it can be used by professional associations to facilitate strategic planning and to inform the development of standards.” (TF)

NASP Blueprint III Multicultural Domain Diversity Awareness and Sensitive Service Delivery School psychologists must be able to recognize when issues of diversity affect the manner and nature of interactions with other people and organizations They must have the ability to modify or adapt their practices in response to those being served

Cultural Competence NASP Operational Definition “Cultural competence is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, practices,and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services; thereby producing better outcomes.” (NASP, 2005)

Culturally Competent Psychological Practice “Being culturally competent is not so much about having knowledge of particular culture and it’s attendant beliefs, values, traditions, and customs, as much as it is the ability to recognize instances where cultural differences might be operating and the application of a systematic, well-reasoned framework to deal with them.”  (Ortiz, 2005)

Culturally Competent Psychological Practice “The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust