Counseling Students in Levels 2 and 3: A PBIS/RTI Guide

Target interventions to the students who need help the most!

Mental and emotional health are critical factors in any child’s academic success. But how do you make counseling effective when both counselors and students are co

Jon M. Shepard, PhD, LSSP is both a licensed psychologist and a licensed specialist in school psychology in the state of Texas. He is currently a practicing school psychologist and has worked in two school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area the past 8 years. Dr. Shepard provides special education counseling services in a public school and also maintains a part-time private practice where he provides counseling and psychological evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults. After he received his master′s degree in counseling, Dr. Shepard worked for Youth Villages in Tennessee, providing in-home family counseling to assist at-risk or juvenile offending youth using Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST). The most significant qualification that Dr. Shepard brings to the project is his counseling experience, particularly providing special education counseling services in school districts. He has experienced and continues to experience on a daily basis the opportunities and challenges of providing counseling to students with social, emotional and behavioral problems in a school setting. While in his doctoral program, Dr. Shepard published a journal article about evaluation of school-based prevention programs involving parents.

Jeffrey D. Shahidullah, EdS, NCSP is currently a doctoral student in the School Psychology Program at Michigan State University. He holds a BA degree in Psychology and an EdS degree in School Psychology from Baylor University. He is a nationally certified school psychologist and has worked in multiple school districts in Central Texas as well as the Methodist Children′s Home, a residential facility for "at-risk" youth. Mr. Shahidullah has experience working within RTI and PBIS frameworks to provide special education counseling services, as well as general education social skills and group counseling services. Additionally, Mr. Shahidullah has assisted in providing staff development to special education teams on writing measureable IEP goals and objectives. His research and professional interests pertain to the prevention and intervention of academic and behavior problems, pediatric school psychology, and training in school psychology.

John S. Carlson, PhD, NCSP is an associate professor and director of clinical training of the School Psychology Program within the nationally-renowned College of Education at Michigan State University. He is both a nationally certified school psychologist and a licensed psychologist (MI). He holds a BS degree in child psychology from the University of Minnesota and his MA and PhD in school psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He completed his pre-doctoral internship at Primary Children′s Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, in Salt Lake City, UT. In addition to his faculty work at MSU, Dr. Carlson provides mental health services and consultation to children, families, and schools within his private practice, Child and Adolescent Psychological Services, PLC in East Lansing, MI. Dr. Carlson is currently associate editor of Journal of School Psychology, a leading peer-reviewed journal within the field of educational psychology. He also serves on the editorial board of five journals (School Psychology Forum, Journal of Applied School Psychology, School Psychology Review, Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, Training and Education in Professional Psychology) representing his interdisciplinary research and clinical practice interests. Dr. Carlson has authored or coauthored over 40 articles within peer-reviewed journals and chapters within books. He is currently under contract with Rowan and Littlefield Publishing Company to complete a textbook on classroom management in inclusive, diverse settings. During his tenure at Michigan State University, he has been instrumental in proposing, securing, directing, and co-directing training and research grant projects now totaling over $4,000,000. His leadership and experience pertaining to knowledge dissemination around issues of mental health interventions will be beneficial to the writing of this book.