NASP Communiqué, Vol. 38, #1
September 2009

Student Connections

Interested in Publishing an Article in the Student Connections Column?

By David Klingbeil, Anna Peña, & Mary Beth Klotz

The primary purpose of the Student Connections column of Communiqué is to keep NASP student members informed about the activities, ideas, and experiences of other students in the profession. Articles for the Student Connections column are written primarily by graduate students for graduate students, although faculty trainers and field supervisors are also welcome and encouraged to submit article proposals pertaining to professional development. Some potential topics include:

Making Career Decisions

• Considering after-graduation options, alternatives to the public school setting
• Transitioning across settings, such as moving from a public school setting to private practice
• Deciding to become a professor/trainer
• Going back to graduate school for a doctoral degree or specialized training
• Adding a specialization such as bilingual school psychology, behavior analysis, neuropsychology, etc.

Internships

• Working with supervisors: managing confl icts, making the most of supervision
• Experiences from the field: thing(s) that surprised me most/least
• Chronicle of experience over the course of the year (by an intern or first-year school psychologist)

Professional Issues

• Balancing assessment, consultation, intervention, and prevention programs
• Success stories: great experiences with kids
• Ethical dilemmas and how they were handled
• Working with parents/teachers/administrators: positive and challenging experiences
• Partnering with other professionals or outside agencies
• Something great that happens at your school; creative ideas for others; researchbased best practices
• Stories from the frontlines including interesting cases, learning experiences, service learning projects
• Supervision experiences
• Developing and implementing a program or intervention (from personal experience)
• Convention-related topics
• Working with children affected by terrorism/war/other violence
• Working with culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse populations

Proposals

Proposals should be submitted to the Student Connections editor at mbklotz@nasp web.org via electronic file in MS Word. Please include the name of each author, school affiliation and program, credentials and degrees, phone number, and e-mail. We strongly encourage students to submit completed manuscripts in lieu of a short proposal. A good place to begin may be completed class papers and assignments. If a faculty member/trainer/student feels that a paper for a class may address the needs or interests of school psychology students, this paper may be submitted as a proposal as long as it meets the criteria for manuscripts listed below. The proposal should include the title of the manuscript, subheadings of the areas to be covered, and a well-developed outline.

Topics that would not be appropriate for the column include those that have received extensive attention in the literature and have been reported in School Psychology Review or general columns of Communiqué. In addition, students or other individuals submitting proposals for the Student Connections column should avoid submitting articles on topics with which they lack actual experience. Having read or researched a topic is not the same as having hands-on experience with the topic of discussion. Therefore, authors should avoid discussing topics such as response to intervention (RTI) or program evaluation, development, and implementation unless they have actually been the ones to develop and implement the intervention and/or program and are writing about their personal experience.

Acceptance

Feature article proposals are accepted on a rolling deadline. Articles are frequently accepted well in advance of their publication date; therefore, it is imperative to have articles submitted to the Student Connections editor by the given deadline. Authors will be informed as to their acceptance status via e-mail. If your proposal is accepted, the Student Connections editor will inform you of the initial deadline for submission of the manuscript. Authors of proposals that are not accepted will also receive notification via e-mail.

It is assumed that any manuscript submitted for review is not being considered concurrently by another journal or newsletter. If the article has been submitted to or published previously in another publication, such as a state association newsletter, the author should so indicate in order to obtain permission to reprint and to give proper credit to the original publishing source should it be accepted by Communiqué. The editor reserves the right to edit the manuscript as necessary for publication if accepted, including editing due to space or layout limitations. Please note that NASP will hold copyright on all articles accepted and published in Communiqué.

Format

Final manuscripts should be approximately 1,200 words (including references and Spotlight sidebar) and utilize APA style. Accepted manuscripts should be submitted in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. Exclamation points should not be used in the title and should be avoided or used sparingly in the text of the manuscript.

Memorable Student Connections Columns

There have been several memorable columns since the Student Connections column began running in Communiqué. Over the last three volumes, we’ve published student articles on several topics including special education, leadership in the field of school psychology, and connecting research to practice. Although each article can be considered noteworthy, three articles that stand out are highlighted below.

In 2006, Larissa Morlock, Nathan Jones, and Cathie Wigent from Michigan State University wrote an article on how school psychology students and new practitioners can collaborate with teachers. This article outlined ways to increase this communication for students interested in academia and those becoming practitioners. The article provided useful ways that school psychologists could increase their visibility in schools and foster cross-discipline research between future professors in school psychology and professors of education.

Another standout article was written by Maureen Hicks in 2007 about her experiences as an intern. The internship year can be a great unknown for students who are finishing their coursework. By describing her own experiences and providing strategies to optimize the internship, she was able to help current students enrich their own internship years by being better prepared at the start. When considering topics for future articles, these types of “I wish I could have known that when I started” moments are often an excellent place to start.

The June 2009 edition of the Student Connections column contained an article that was written by two students, Samantha DeWood and Sarah Rhoades, and a faculty member in their program, Dr. Audrey Ellenwood. Their article outlines how Bowling Green State students are able to enhance their cultural sensitivity by studying abroad. DeWood and Rhoades share their own personal experiences and reflections, including their successful fund-raising eff ort to purchase much needed school supplies for two African townships. The article is relevant for other students who are considering studying abroad and for trainers of school psychology who are considering starting a similar program at their own school.

These three articles are, of course, not the only standout Student Connections columns, but together they outline the wide variety of topics that students often write about. They also outline how future authors can write about their own personal experiences or write something more empirically based. Writing an article for the Student Connections column allows authors to be published in the premier professional newspaper for school psychologists, provide important information and advice to their fellow graduate students, and hone their own academic writing skills. We encourage graduate students to consider submitting a proposal for the Student Connections column.

References

Ellenwood, A. E., DeWood, S., & Rhoades, S. (2009). Enhancing cultural sensitivity through education and practica experiences abroad. Communiqué, 37(8), 35. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://www.nasponline.org/pub lications/cq/mocq378culturalsensitivity.aspx

Hicks, M. (2007). Life as an intern: Lessons learned. Communiqué, 35(8), 22. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://www.nasponline .org/publications/cq/pdf/CQJune07.pdf

Morlock, L., Jones, N., & Wigent, C. (2006). Collaboration between school psychologists and teachers: A natural fit. Communiqué, 35(2), 39–40. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://www.nasponline.org/publications/cq /pdf/CQOct06.pdf