Collaborative Pupil Services Initiatives

Professional Development for Pupil Services Professionals

The Student Services/Prevention and Wellness Team offers professional development opportunities designed especially for pupil services teams and professionals. The trainers are consultants from the Student Services/Prevention and Wellness Team at the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). They come to your community (or your CESA or conference) to present on one or more of the topics (listed below) chosen by you on a date of your choice. There is no cost for the trainers or the presentation materials. Trainers are assigned consistent with their expertise and availability.

The school district, CESA, or professional association sponsoring the training is responsible for making the arrangements for recruiting the attendance of participants, reservations, training site, refreshments, and provision of any needed audio-visual and other presentation equipment.

A minimum of 25 people is necessary to sponsor a training. Smaller school districts may wish to partner with other school districts in the area or work with their respective CESA to sponsor the training.

How do you arrange the training?

Contact Mark Freudenberg and indicate which training(s) you are interested in. He will forward your request on to the appropriate person.
A trainer will contact you to clarify your training needs and schedule the training on a mutually convenient date.

Available Training

What Are We Doing and Who's Doing It? Assessing Your Pupil Services Delivery System
Time frame: One day

This unique training is designed specifically for pupil services teams. Participants learn about the eight components of comprehensive pupil services delivery:

Assessment, screening and evaluation;
Individual and small group student services;
Home-school collaboration;
Classroom instruction;
Collaboration and partnerships with community-based systems;
Services for staff;
Program and resource development, management, and evaluation; and
Systems and policy change.

Teams follow an interactive process to 1) create a detailed, visual assessment of their pupil services delivery system, 2) analyze their assessment to understand their delivery system (e.g., its strengths and inefficiencies, gaps and overlaps in services, etc.) 3) identify opportunities for improvement, and 4) begin to plan changes. Teams address both mandatory and elective services and programs in their assessment and analysis. Additional pupil services assessment tools are shared for later use. The DPI publication Collaborative and Comprehensive Pupil Services is used as the primary reference.

What's the Law Got to Do with It? Legal & Ethical Issues for Pupil Services Professionals
Time Frame: 3-4 hours

Pupil services professionals experience a wide variety of challenging situations that involve complicated application of both legal and ethical parameters. This training provides a review of legal issues of interest to pupil services professionals. Participants have an opportunity to learn more about the four pupil services professions' ethical standards, as well as strategies to manage ethical challenges. Participants apply their learning to address real-life legal and ethical dilemmas experienced by Wisconsin pupil services professionals.

Student Records: How to Handle Them without Getting Burned
Time Frame: 4 hours

A variety of state and federal laws govern how schools manage student records and information, making compliance challenging. Topics covered in this training include definitions of different kinds of student records, access to and disclosure of student records, maintenance of student records, parents' and students' rights, and transfer of records. Practical strategies are shared to help school districts better manage their student records. The DPI publication Student Records and Confidentiality is used as the primary reference.

Navigating the Minefield: Sharing Confidential Information across Systems
Time Frame: 2 hours

The law provides for three circumstances under which confidential information can be shared with someone outside the school system: 1) informed consent, 2) court order, and 3) as provided for in the law. This training highlights the many circumstances provided for in the law that allows or requires schools and other systems (e.g., law enforcement, human services, etc.) to share confidential information with one another. Strategies for collaboration between systems are shared. Training sponsors are encouraged to invite representatives from law enforcement, human services and other systems to foster the development of interagency procedures and agreements. The DPI publication Sharing Information across Systems is used as the primary reference.

Other Training of Interest

Other available training offered by the Student Services/Prevention and Wellness Team that is of interest to pupil services professionals includes:

Both of these full-day trainings are provided upon request. More information is available at the links listed above.

For questions about this information, contact Nic T. Dibble (608) 266-0963

Last updated on 4/16/2012 2:45:29 PM